Bubbles Top 10 Tips for Exhibitors and Visitors at IBC2022

At Bubble Agency, we know how overwhelming a tradeshow can be if you are exhibiting. There are many components that need to be brought together, from stand designs to freighting.

They can also be just as overwhelming for visitors. IBC2022 is made up of 13 halls, which can make the experience quite stressful, so knowing where to go and how to spend your time can help make your visit a lot smoother.

Our long heritage attending IBC and supporting clients means we have picked up some helpful tips along the way. We hope you find them useful at this year’s show. 

Our Top Tips For Exhibitors at IBC: 

  1. Create a theme – it makes it easier to make design decisions, and makes it memorable for visitors. Have you seen a stand that is memorable? If so, think about what you liked about it and how you can do something similar.
  2. An experienced show coordinator will know how to get the best out of the organizers and suppliers, and who to borrow a spanner from when you need one! They don’t have to be in-house and it’s a service that the Bubbles offer.
  3. Communicate your attendance to all of your audiences, everywhere – visitors’ time at a tradeshow is very limited so the chance of them wandering by your stand and buying from you is slim. Email, phone and post something to your key contacts, advertise, use social media and PR to highlight your presence, and try and get as many pre-booked meetings as you can.
  4. Run a competition so on your stand so that the people you don’t know are drawn in as they walk past. The prize should be something that appeals to personal greed, not a year’s free software license!
  5. Brief your stand team on how to behave – no crossed arms, no checking their phones all day, no chewing gum – tell them to be welcoming and have a smiley face, even if they are a little jaded.
  6. Your stand design – tell people what it is you do on the signage in big letters (don’t use marketing speak, use clear and simple language).  Make it a welcoming space, have somewhere for people to sit, provide drinks, and make sure you have a storage place for your team’s bags and coats. Also, make sure you use a proper freighting company – they may cost a little bit more but it’s worth it to have a stand at IBC and not stuck in an airport or dock somewhere – we recommend Exhibition Freighting.
  7. Stand builders – use someone you can trust for when things go wrong, as things always do. If you don’t know who to use, ask around – whose stand did you like at the last tradeshow? Also, using a company that is already building at that show will save money in staff and freighting.
  8. Lead gathering – don’t employ someone to zap every man and his dog at a show and then expect to measure your success of the show based on these. Think quality, not quantity. Leads should only be people you actually want to speak to afterwards. Put one person in charge of following up, and be creative with your follow ups – maybe send them a hand-written note? Make sure you have ‘LinkedIn’ with them – and take them off your database if they aren’t relevant.
  9. Get social – #IBC2022 and #IBCShow are both important hashtags of the show if you want to find out what is going on. Make sure you use them in other social conversations and groups to promote where you are and what you are doing.
  10. Take a break – tradeshows are tiring and you never know when you are going to get food next, so don’t forget breakfast, and pack some snack bars to fuel you throughout the day.

Our Top Tips For Visitors at IBC

  1. IBC is made up of 13 halls, plus outdoor exhibits, and takes up 55,000 sqm of exhibition space – so plan ahead. Make sure you have planned walking time to make a meeting in Hall 7 if you are coming from Hall 12.
  2. Swat up on the latest acronyms and trends before you leave. VR, AR, AI, blockchain and machine learning will be big topics at the show.
  3. It’s a bit old-school, but print out a copy of your schedule – with time-zone changes your phone calendar can go a bit topsy-turvy when you hit another country – plus, a piece of paper will never run out of battery.
  4. Don’t wear new shoes; in fact, don’t wear new clothes as all body parts rub at a show! A capsule wardrobe is a great idea as it will be much easier to pack and decide what to wear in the morning, and in the evening when you have 15 minutes to change.
  5. Get some fresh air. Shows in the broadcast sector can either be full of dark halls or blindingly bright if you’re in the camera/lighting hall, and there is never any natural light – a bit of fresh air will perk you up. The Beach at the RAI is a great place to sit; there are also some food vendors out there.
  6. Phone charging – as well as taking a  multi-charger or power bank  with you, a lot of exhibitors now have charging points on their stands; whilst you are having a chat with them, make sure you plug in as you will not know when your next chance might be!
  7. Show daily magazines – Dailies are a great resource for what is going on at the show and who has launched something new. They also have a handy exhibitor list and map in them (and can be used for sitting on outside the exhibition center if the floor is dirty).
  8. Many exhibitors will use the amount of people they have ‘zapped’ as a KPI, so rather than have your email end up on hundreds of lists, set up a spam email account such as bubblespam@hotmail.com, or just politely say, “No thank you, I won’t be relevant to you.” Unless of course they have coffee, a sofa and a phone charger – then tell them to zap away!
  9. Opening hours – try not to be caught out by getting the opening times wrong. The first day starts at 10.30am, but then it’s a 9.30am start for the rest of the show, and a 4pm close on Monday.
  10. Remember that some people may be more Covid conscious than others, so before you go in for a hug or a handshake, please check to see if that is ok with them.

For a bespoke plan and help with your IBC planning, contact us at hello@bubbleagency.com

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A Few Kind Words...

Kapil Gadhire, Head of Marketing, Magnifi

From the word go, team Bubble was super detailed, efficient, and exhaustive in their approach. They are true partners and make an effort to understand the ideology and end goal to plan the perfect media pitch and strategy.

Lauren Myers, Director, Integrated Marketing – Ross Video

Working with Bubble during and after IBC 2022 for PR and press support was exceptional. Their professional approach, strategic communication, and extensive media network generated significant exposure for our brand. Bubble's on-site support was outstanding, ensuring our story was accurately told to a global audience. Their post-IBC efforts further amplified our reach and provided valuable analytics. An experienced, professional team and a total joy to work with.

Andrew McKinlay, Marketing Director, Avolites

All amazing, just grateful I know I can rely on Bubble to get the job done brilliantly.

Tanya Rai, Marketing and Communications Manager, Pebble

Team Bubble are an extension of our own team. They are wonderful to work with, reliable, get the job done and gain great exposure for our business in key publications.

Mike Ward, Head of Marketing, Singular.live

Since we first started working with them, our team at Bubble have acted very much like an extension of our team. They work with us to try and help us achieve our goals and we very much feel that they have our interests at heart as well as having our backs when we need it!

Gavin Bunker, AE Live

Bubble were fantastic throughout the whole process and helped us deliver a successful event to celebrate our 30th corporate anniversary with industry peers.

Robert Cloudt, Synchronized

Bubble has been tremendously helpful to bring our marketing communication to the next level, very responsive and thinking with us together on the rightful messaging and timing across different media’s. Definitely a recommendation in case you need a well balanced media agency to help you out.

Carla Molina Whyte, Farmerswife

Working with Bubble Agency for a tradeshow has been truly amazing. The bubble team is incredibly helpful and talented. We are very happy with the results and with all the coverage we got prior and during the tradeshow!

Silvia Candido, Ateme

As usual, we were super busy before and during a tradeshow this year. What a luxury to have Bubble take care of our media relations and our social media accounts! We saw a surge of followers on LinkedIn and got good coverage in a number of publications.

Meg Travis, Iron Mountain Entertainment Services, Director, Global Head of Marketing & Communications, Entertainment Services

The Bubble team made everything easy at MPTS! From advising before the show, to facilitating client and press conversations during the show, to making recommendations on how to make the most of the connections we made there - we rely on Bubble as a key strategic partner for our sales and marketing teams.