Trade Show Planner: Show Shirts
Your 12 month trade show checklist
Ordering show shirts and other clothing is just one task in a large checklist you’ll need to complete as a trade show exhibitor. Review my entire pre-show, on-site, and post-show checklist of exhibitor planning activities.
Trade Show Planning:
Order Show Shirts and Other Clothing
2 MONTHS TO GO. PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES.
Now that you have a list of all team members attending the upcoming trade show, it’s time to order your show uniform.
At a minimum, you should order shirts with your company logo printed or embroidered on them for each of your staff.
Depending on the length of the show, you may want to provide each team member with a new shirt for each day of the show. For a three-day show, that means each person is provided with three shirts.
If you have a large 30’x30’ island booth and are sending 20 people to staff the three-day show, you will need to order 60 shirts. At $35 per shirt, that is $2,100 just to purchase show shirts.
You could also decide to provide 2 shirts per person for a three-day show and ask that they have the first day’s shirt cleaned so it can be worn again on the third day.
How many shirts you order per person is up to you and your budget.
Trade show shirts are commonly t-shirts, short sleeve polo shirts, or long sleeve button-down shirts. Pick a shirt that fits with your booth’s theme and the tone that you want to set in the booth.
Is your booth casual and fun or more formal and all business?
Create a spreadsheet of the names of your staff. Include a column for their size, how many shirts have been ordered for them, and when the shirts were given to them. This way, you know that you ordered the right size shirt for each person, how many shirts were ordered, and when you gave the shirts to them so they can’t say they never received them.
In addition to the shirts your order for your team, order two or three extra shirts in each size. Ship them with the booth to the advance warehouse or ship them to your attention at your hotel. If a member of your booth staff arrives at the show and realizes they forgot to pack their shirts, you will have extra shirts to give to them.
Most exhibitors purchase company shirts and let employees wear their own pants or skirts. You can require that the pants or skirts are khaki, black, or another color or style of your choosing to ensure everyone looks the same.
You should also ask those team members not doing booth duty if they would like to wear your company’s show shirt or if they will wear a standard dress shirt and suit pants or a blouse and skirt.
Your VP of Sales may choose to wear your company’s show shirt to help increase brand awareness as he or she walks throughout the hall and attends presentations. Your CEO may choose to wear a suit. Don’t assume they will not want to wear the company shirt. Ask them.
CONTINUE YOUR TRADE SHOW PLANNING WITH RELATED CHECKLIST ITEMS.
Are you new to trade show exhibiting and feel completely overwhelmed?
Trade Show 411: The Essential Guide to Exhibiting Like a Pro is a must-have for marketers and small business owners. It gives you both the strategy and action plan to set you off on the right foot. By linking your pre-show marketing strategy to onsite activities and post-show follow-up, you’ll get the most out of your sales and marketing efforts and maximize your trade show results.
