Nith Sisombath

What Gives You Peace of Mind?
April 4, 2008

I knew starting my own company wouldn’t be a walk in the park but then most things in life that are worthwhile usually aren’t. When I started with Advanstar Communications over ten year’s ago it was just six weeks before one of there major tradeshows. I still remember it pretty vividly; trial by fire is definitely the best way to get burned or to learn. I’ve experienced and learned a lot of things since then. I know what it takes to put on a successful tradeshow. I know what makes up a successful consultant or contractor. 

To me a successful contractor or consultant is someone that when hired will eliminate me from having to worry about that part of the tradeshow. It’s someone that will give me piece of mind that once I hire them I won’t have to give that piece of the puzzle a second thought everything will be done correctly and within budget. A professional is someone that will work within the current base of power and control to improve their work within the limits not someone that will find excuses of why they can’t do what they have been hired to do without presenting a solution. That is a mark of a true professional. 

Being in show management for most of my tradeshow career I had exposure to lots of these individuals; Libby Durfee with Pisces Planning, you won’t have to worry about registration going right. It will. But she will ask you some very tough questions to make sure you get what you want. Or if you hire one of the following security consultants: Peter Alexan with RA Consulting or Dan Taylor Jr. with Dan Taylor & Associates. You won’t have to worry about guards asleep or missing from their posts and you will see a dramatic increase in performance from your security company.   I mention these two areas because registration and security are sometimes the toughest things to handle on a show. 

These are tasks show management shouldn’t really need to think about because let’s face it there are a million other things to deal with for a tradeshow. I was dealing with so many things that I really did not have time to deal with the most important things, one of which was developing and maintaining a relationship with my clients. Listening to their needs and helping them develop ideas to make their exhibiting experience at the tradeshow better and more profitable, hence developing a stronger, more trusting and longer relationship with them. 

I usually ended up putting out fires and dealing with the urgent tasks instead of the important ones. The important tasks to me are the true long term goal reaching activities where as the urgent ones only last for the moment but need to get done. It really doesn’t matter what your show cycle is whether it’s every quarter or every three years. Tradeshows still follow very similar production schedules.

I wanted to establish my company to provide the same level of professionalism or better to my clients like the professionals I had worked with.  That was the theory anyways but sometimes theory needs some time to develop into practice. I found that out the hard way after losing a client. I realized that just because something gives me peace of mind does not mean that it will give someone else peace of mind. Peace of mind can and usually does vary based upon the individual. I know better now and feel that I am much closer to practicing my theory then ever before and sometimes you need to take a step back before moving forward in the right direction.

So let me ask everyone out there:

What has recently given you a little peace of mind?

Posted by Nith Sisombath on April 4, 2008 | Comments (1)