THERE ARE LESS THAN 10 DAYS REMAINING TO ENTER IAEE’s ART OF THE SHOW! HURRY, SUBMIT TODAY!
IAEE’s Art of the Show Competition celebrates outstanding promotion of exhibitions and events in 15 categories, including Signage/Decoration and Sponsorship Development Program. 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:
Signage/Decoration
The general look and/or feel of an entire event, exhibit hall or booth. A photograph, montage, portfolio or drawing of creative use of space at an exhibition. Judges take into consideration creativity, design, layout of space, attendee attractiveness and overall presentation.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Think BIG. You have your universal design principles (ie., no more than 2 fonts) and then you have your design principles for signage. Keep in mind the distances from which your signage will be viewed and design accordingly.
- Images must be high resolution. You cannot make a respectable sign using a 10kb image file downloaded from your website – you need a high resolution, preferably vector, file. There is no such thing as “up res”-ing a low resolution image. Please don’t ask your graphic designer to try. Not. Possible. (Not yet, anyway).
- Milk your brand. This is the time to incorporate your event’s brand/theme, whether it be through the color scheme, the tagline, the imagery or all of the above. Signage should incorporate the branding gracefully, but there should be no doubt about whose sign it is!
Sponsorship Development Program
A visual of a sponsorship development/management program and the effect that it had on an event. Measurements must be provided as well. Judges take into consideration overall development and outcome measurement.
A few things to keep in mind:
- What’s in it for you? Be clear about your goals and strategies for the program, and define how the sponsorship meets those needs.
- What’s in it for them? In order for a sponsor to be interested in the program, you must show them the value proposition you bring into the agreement.
- Show me the money! Track your results. A full report will not only show the success of the program, but will give you something to build on as you develop future opportunities.
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 last year’s winners here.
Oh no, I missed Tips #1-6! No worries, click here.
