IAEE’s Art of the Show Competition celebrates outstanding promotion of exhibitions and events in 15 categories, including Green Collateral Printed Piece, Industry Promotion and Most Innovative Use of Technology. These elements comprise a well-rounded marketing plan, but what makes them so effective? IAEE asked its competition judges this question and offers these pointers:
Green Collateral Printed Piece
A single sales piece used as a printed piece that is printed on at least 20% recycled material using vegetable‐based inks. Printed promotional collateral must mention the “reduce/reuse/recycle” method.
A few things to keep in mind:
- More folds, less paper. Reduce waste by using folds to create the brochure “look” while using less actual paper to create the illusion of a booklet.
- Use design elements wisely. Separate blocks of content with design elements such as boxes, lines and callouts to make the most of the space on each page rather than assigning a new page to each content block.
- Get touchy-feely. Recycled paper comes in a wide variety of colors, textures and brightness that can be applied in infinite combinations. Mix and match to create a piece that your readers will not want to put down (literally)!
2014 Green Collateral Printed Piece Winner
Industry Promotion
An advertisement or campaign (downloaded from IAEE with either ready-made or with original graphics inserted) used by an organization to promote the exhibition and event industry as a whole. Must have appeared in an industry trade publication, onsite guide, Web site, signage or other marketing collateral for an exhibition or event. Brochures may be included in this category, if they are a part of the overall industry campaign. Example: Big City Convention Center used the generic ad from IAEE with their own photo and displayed it in the advertisement areas of the center. Judges take into consideration relevant audience, creativity, clarity of message, graphic design, layout and copy.
A few things to keep in mind:
- We are all on the same team. Emphasize how your exhibition/event/organization contributes to the overall success of the exhibitions and events industry.
- Location, location, location. Display your industry promotion piece in a prominent place for maximum exposure and audience reach.
- Mix it up. Add variety to your industry promotion campaign through the differing ad size options available.
Most Innovative Use of Technology
This is an open-ended and broad category. We want you to tell us how you used technology to promote, improve or enhance your exhibition. Judges take into consideration creativity, clarity of message, graphic design and innovation.
A few things to keep in mind:
- The sky’s the limit. When we say this is a broad category, we are not kidding. This category includes, but is not limited to, website design, social media use, technology on the show floor… anything tech-y goes.
- How did the technology enhance your exhibition? Provide ample detail about how you integrated the technology into your overall exhibition experience and the effect it had on helping you accomplish your goals.
- Innovation is in the eye of the beholder. Was there a special challenge that you used the technology to overcome? Did it help you reach a specific goal or marker? What made you decide to use this particular medium? Explain what makes it innovative.
2014 Most Innovative Use of Technology Winner -Global Experience Specialists (GES) -Expresso
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm-fnEoSt6o
Do you have great marketing collateral the world should see? Show off your Art of the Show by entering IAEE’s Art of the Show Competition! Click here to get started. See the full gallery of last year’s winners here.
Stay tuned for Insider Tip #5: Print Advertising and Show Daily
