1. Your booth looked too boring.  Like too many other exhibitors, your trade show booth has dull colors, too much text and too many small images.
2. Your benefit was not clear.  With all that text, or else none at all, your trade show booth graphics didn’t quickly communicate your product — and why it’s worth visiting your booth.
3. Your booth staffers don’t look appealing.  They looked unprofessional, uninterested, unmotivated, and pre-occupied — not the kind of people a potential customer wants to talk to — let alone buy from, for that matter.
4. Your booth staff didn’t attempt to engage the attendee.  Rather than offer a greeting or ask a question, they stared into space, or talked with each other, or into the phone.
5. Your booth space lacks activity.  It looks too dull compared to other exhibitors who are having energetic conversations, presentations, demos, and more.
6. Your booth wasn’t invited.  Attendees only have so much time to visit booths, so those that asked him to visit before the show get first dibs.  Or perhaps…
7. The attendee already has an appointment.  He breezed past you on the way to a meeting with another exhibitor further into the hall.  But you can still get him on his return trip — if he walks down your aisle again.

The above tips were taken from Skylinetradeshowtips.com.

For more information about exhibiting at INPEX® 2012, held June 13-15 at the Monroeville Convention Center in Pittsburgh, contact us at 1-888-54-INPEX to book your booth today!

Held September 13-15, the ERA D2C Show is the only trade show dedicated to direct response retail sales and product development on TV, radio and online.

I’m proud to report that the InventHelp’s INPEX® New Product Showcase is once again sold out, with 37 inventors getting the chance to present their new products to companies in the direct response television industry! Because this show is typically closed to the average inventor, this is a really exciting and unique opportunity for our clients.

During the three day show, the inventors will attend educational seminars and present their product to a panel of direct marketers and retailers for a chance to be crowned, “Inventor of the Year.”

Also, for the third year in a row, the top five scoring inventors will have the chance to see their product pitched on stage by professional pitchmen & women in front of a live audience.

I’m so excited to go to Las Vegas and meet everyone, and I can’t wait to see who wins “Inventor of the Year!”

Check back in two weeks to see who the big winners were and for a recap of the 2011 ERA D2C Show!

The ERA D2C Show is the only trade show dedicated to direct response retail sales and product development on TV, radio and online! During the three day show, inventors who have booked booth space will attend educational seminars and present their product to a panel of direct marketers and retailers for a chance to be crowned, “Inventor of the Year.”

Also, the top five scoring inventors will have the chance to see their product pitched on stage by professional pitchmen & women in front of a live audience. Inventions are chosen based on DRTV pitchability and DRTV potential.

At INPEX® 2011, twenty inventors were selected by an ERA panel from for an invitation to participate in the New Product Showcase. Along with these inventors, we’re also inviting any inventor who thinks they have an appropriate product to book booth space. Space is first come, first serve, and inventors will need to fill out a vetting form about their invention so that experts from the DRTV industry can pre-qualify them to exhibit at the show.

To see if your invention or new product qualifies to participate in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase contact me, Nicole Hait, at (412) 288-2136 x4159 or email nhait@inpex.com

The inventions were rated on a scale of 1 to 10 for DRTV Pitchability and DRTV Potential.

And the winners are:

Tripod Ladder System – Alan Lo of Troy Michigan

The Steamie – Chris Schutte of Suwanee, Georgia

The Pizzarette – Rob Smedema from The Netherlands

Cool It Now! Chill Cup – Carol Wilding of Pompano Beach, Florida

The Hair Hound – Rhonda Tragesser from Clermont, Florida

Congratulations to all the inventors in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase! We hope to see you all at INPEX 2011, June 14-17 right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As promised, I told you I’d keep you all posted on the winner of “Inventor of the Year.”

InventHelp & INPEX is proud to announce that the winner is…

Chris Schutte, of Suwanee, Georgia, for his invention, “The Steamie.”

Forty inventors from the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase pitched their products to a panel of experts from the Direct Response Industry. Inventions were judged by their DRTV pitchability and DRTV potential. As a prize, Chris received 2 complimentary passes to the ERA Moxie Awards, held Thursday evening at the close of the show. I was honored to present Chris with a trophy at the ceremony on behalf of InventHelp & INPEX, recognizing his achievement at being named “Inventor of the Year.”

Chris exhibited The Steamie at INPEX® 2010 in June, where he presented his product to the ERA panel, and was pre-qualified and invited by them to attend their show in Las Vegas. The Steamie is an adjustable steaming grill that once inserted into a pot, enables foods such as hot dogs, tortillas, lobster or leftovers to be steamed while other foods are boiling. Chris had inventors and business attendees alike waiting in line to taste-test his delicious hot dog samples!

Congratulations to Chris, and to all of our inventors! It was a great week and a fantastic show!

I just arrived in Las Vegas for the ERA D2C Convention that’s being held at the Wynn Hotel September 21-23.

I’m really excited about meeting all of the inventors that are scheduled to exhibit in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase, and to reconnect with some of the inventors that were at our INPEX® show in June.

The InventHelp-INPEX® New Product Showcase is a part of the larger 2010 Annual Electronic Retailing Association’s Conference & Exposition. The ERA D2C Convention is billed as the only trade show dedicated to direct response retail sales and product development on TV, radio and online.
The showcase is designed to give inventors the opportunity to present their products to companies in the direct response television industry. Each inventor will have several minutes to pitch their products to a panel of expert judges. The judges will pick the top inventor, crowning him or her, “Inventor of the Year.”

Last week, we also received some other exciting news!

For the second year in a row, our inventors participating in the showcase have the opportunity to pitch their product to Anthony Sullivan’s team and the Pitchmen crew! They’ll each have a short amount of time to present their product on camera for a chance to appear on the third season of Discovery Channel’s Pitchmen. After all of the inventors at the show pitch their products, the inventor with the “best” invention, chosen by Anthony Sullivan, will take home a $2,000 cash prize.

We can’t wait to see how this exciting adventure pans out for our inventors, and as always, check back here to see if one of our exhibitors won the $2,000 prize!

Keep watching Pitchmen and wish me luck in Las Vegas!

During the three day show, I was pleased to present one inventor with a free INPEX booth for our upcoming show June 16-18. The winners, Chuck and Kristina Beyer, of Columbus, Ohio, received a free 10-foot by 10-foot booth space, as well as two free passes to the INPEX Inventor’s University. The Beyers will be exhibiting their invention, The Calendar Clutch, at our 25th anniversary show.

Congratulations Chuck and Kristina!

For more information about our participation at industry trade shows or to purchase a booth for INPEX 2010, give us a call today at 888-54-INPEX. We still have spaces available on the show floor.

And speaking of Valentine’s Day, I’ll be spending the day in New York City at the 2010 Toy Fair looking to meet toy companies who are interested in attending INPEX 2010. It’s always a great show and a great opportunity to meet toy industry folks. And of course, spending the week in New York City is always fun too!

Booth space on the show floor is quickly filling up, so be sure to take advantage of this offer by visiting www.inpex.com calling one of our sales representatives at 1-888-54-INPEX for more information.

I just returned home from the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. It was so great meeting some of you in the InventHelp-INPEX New Product Showcase at the ERA D2C Show. I enjoyed getting to see everyone’s inventions and prototypes. Many of you received some positive feedback from the ERA members who sat on our Pitchmen Competition Panel. I know many of the inventors mentioned to me how exciting it was to present your products to executives from companies like Guthy-Renker, LiveLink TV and QVC.

I hope that everyone who exhibited had a chance to sit in on the DRTV 101 class! Hopefully you learned something new about the direct response industry that you can take with you. And as some of you know, the crew from Discovery Channel’s Pitchmen was on site interviewing inventors for Season 2 of the series, so be sure to stay tuned for the premiere release date.

I also want to say congratulations to the following six inventors whose products were voted "Most Pitchable Products" by the direct marketers on our panel:

• Terry Lewis – Ab Training Wheels
• Jay Arieli – Cat Litter Sifting System
• Craig Dockal – Cool Caster
• Nick Mazzulla – Smash Yo Trash
• Layne Evans – Selectorized Ab Machine
• Norman Lucas – The Smart Roller

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the status of these and all the inventors who exhibited at the show.

I am happy to announce that the InventHelp-INPEX Inventor’s Showcase at ERA’s D2C Convention is officially sold out! I’m excited to welcome 42 inventors from all over the country who will be participating over the next few days in many activities, including the chance to potentially present inventions to a crew from the Discovery Channel’s show Pitchmen.

We’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with the ERA next year, and will hopefully be able to bring more inventors to the ERA’s 2010 show!

I look forward to seeing you all in Las Vegas and be sure to check back next week for highlights from the show!