Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Little did I know that when I wrote in my last blog that one needs to prepare for every scenario when participating in a trade show, that I was about to prove myself right. The ink was still wet on my article about the ups and downs of life as an exhibitor, when our top-level sponsorship of LiftEx looked like being washed away. Chance would be a fine thing.
Returning as the lanyard and water sponsor of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association’s (LEEA) flagship event, we travelled to London’s Olympia looking forward to seeing… guess what… lots of attendees walking around wearing our lanyards and guzzling from our branded water bottles to soothe their dry throats, parched from networking conversations. I was excited about counting those crystal clear bottles and striking Rope-and-Sling-red caps dotted all around the venue’s west hall.
Imagine my reaction then, when on the first morning of the event, we were informed that the organisers couldn’t find the bottles. I felt like I was going to implode. It’s a two-day show with attendance heavily weighted towards the first half of it, and a major component of our marketing package was nowhere to be seen. In fact, nobody could even tell us where our bottles had been delivered to.
Just as I was about to put my foot through our shiny new bar area at the back of the stand, I remembered what I wrote here prior to the event about planning for all eventualities — even, ‘When the ball is buried deep in sand, against a cliff-face of a bunker edge’.
Here I was, in that sandy hole, dwarfed by the steepest of grass banks, wondering how I was going to get out. Back in the summer at the LEEA Golf Day at Belton Woods Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, I barely found myself out of the middle of the fairway, but where I did veer off straight once or twice, I showed poise and patience to get the round back on track.
My strategy at LiftEx, as the doors were about to open, was much the same. Thrashing around or shooting the messenger wasn’t going to get me anywhere. No amount of rage was going to make the bottles turn up any faster. And I had a team to inspire, and customers to meet. We had a great exhibit to work, a fully stocked bar, and appointments in the diary.
It was a cup half full (sore subject) moment.
Turn off the waterworks
There’s a lesson here, in that by overreacting or getting too emotional in business, we can quickly make a bad situation worse. Usually, what feels like a world-ending catastrophe isn’t actually worth crying over. It’s impossible to turn back the hands of time, and overflowing with negative energy doesn’t help in fixing the issue or lining up the recovery shot.
Further, energy is infectious, and negativity rubs off on people quickly. I didn’t want the whole show to become about the water bottles that weren’t there. I knew everything was being done behind the scenes to locate them and there was a good chance they’d turn up eventually. I’ve never liked the saying, ‘Heads will roll.’ I always respond with, ‘How will that help?’ And this was a case in point.
The bad news was that we spent the first day without the sponsored bottles. The good news was that our lanyards looked great, and our stand generated healthy networking from start to finish. The bottles were delivered in time for the second day, at which point they added a fresh touch to our exhibit and created lots of interest. The refillable containers aligned us with the event’s sustainability strategy and quenched the thirst of hundreds in the end. Job done.
Many companies would have put an end to their commercial partnership in the wake of the water bottle misplacement, but, again, that would have been cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. Instead, we emphatically renewed our sponsorship for another year, knowing that the package provides us with visibility that would be much harder to achieve without it.
As I told trade media, we’ve built our business on loyalty and longevity — and we’re looking to cement a LiftEx legacy. There’s a synergy between our growing presence at the exhibition and our expansion away from the aisles in terms of an ever-expanding network of national depots. Recently unveiled plans will take the total to 14 UK facilities.
I also referenced in the press release confirming our plans for LiftEx 2025, that the opening day of the event was once again by far the busiest. As I anticipate that LEEA and their organising partners will make sure the water bottles are on our stand before the doors open next year, I also expect any show committees they have to be trying to troubleshoot a dramatic fall-away in footfall on day two. It’d be good to put a stop to exhibitors wearing their own lanyards too.
Generally, I’m excited about the return to the north west; the show takes place 18-19 November at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool. We had a great experience there in 2023 and it feels like something of a spiritual home for the event, having played host once before that too. I remember driving to visit LiftEx 2015 on Merseyside, talking to Alan Varney, now engineering services director, about our plans for the business. A lot has happened since, and the show has always served as a reference point by which to measure our progress. Next year will be no different.
Thirsty?
Business bunker
The business sector has got to plan its next moves carefully, still reeling from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ widely criticised budget. At the centre of it were hikes to employer national insurance contributions and the minimum wage. I read with interest this week that many hospitality businesses have urged the Chancellor to revisit these policies, and it remains to be seen if their appeals will fall on deaf ears.
Industry is resilient and proven it’s got a lot of bottle when it comes to forging ahead, despite government decision making. The lifting sector especially has rolled with the punches of recessions and pandemics. Once more, we must show daring and dynamism, regardless of the level of support — or not — from Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street.
Steve Hutin
Managing Director
Rope and Sling Specialists Ltd
