Taking a Punch

Showing attendees how tough our products are is a key part of my company's exhibit-marketing strategy. So when our crowd-gathering tactic took a hit thanks to a faulty piece of equipment at the 2011 World of Concrete (WOC) expo in Las Vegas, I needed to keep a line of waiting attendees entertained in our booth until the cavalry arrived.

As the trade show exhibit/display design manager for Wauwatosa, WI-based Briggs & Stratton Corp., I had developed our booth program for WOC. My company makes small engines that run a variety of machines, and we like to show attendees just how tough our products are.

So to play up this "toughness" concept, the centerpiece of our outdoor exhibit was an arcade-type boxing machine. The device featured a punching bag hanging from an overhead bar connected to sensors that would measure the force of a punch. The idea was to have each attendee fill out a Punch Card, giving us his or her contact information so we could call the daily winners, then invite each attendee to hit the bag. The top three male and female punchers each day would win a $100 poker chip. Since WOC attendees tend to be almost as tough as our engines, our Knockout Challenge would be a great way to attract them to our booth.

A few months before the show, I decided to rent a machine from SJV Entertainment in North Las Vegas, NV. The rental option came with the promise of delivery and installation at the show and fast repair service, which I hoped not to need.

When it came time to travel to Las Vegas for the show, I contacted the arcade vendor and confirmed that the owner would install the machine in the exhibit after my labor crew had set up the rest of the space. So once I arrived at the show hall, I oversaw the installation of my exhibit, which looked a bit like a boxing ring with its 20-by-20-foot square shape and roped-off interior. Next, the arcade-company owner showed up and put the machine in the middle of our "ring." With everything in order, my tough-guy staff even tested the arcade equipment to make sure it worked properly.

The day WOC opened, I smiled as our arcade device drew visitors to our booth like fans to a championship bout. The fun of hitting the punching bag, showing off to friends and co-workers, and competing to win $100 proved to be an effective lure. We had a line of attendees outside the ring waiting to pummel our machine, and our lead count was looking like a knockout because of our little game.

Then just before 1 p.m. - peak time for aisle traffic - my great plan took one punch too many. After an attendee took a swing at our machine, the readout showing the force of the punch registered nothing but zeros. With a line of attendees waiting to take a jab, my boxing machine had hit the canvas, and I felt like the last punch had landed on my own chin.

After wiggling the hanging target and taking practice swings at the punching bag, I went to my first line of defense: the arcade company. I called the owner and told him my boxing machine needed some smelling salts. The owner promised that he'd be at my booth in mere minutes, and he assured me he could have it up and running in no time.

With help on the way, I needed to deal with my second problem. Standing in a line at my booth was a group of attendees who had come to throw punches but stood staring at a broken machine and me. Gulp! Thinking quickly, I told the assembled crowd that our machine had taken a knockout punch, but I promised it would soon be back in fighting shape. Since most of the crowd was standing outside our faux boxing ring, I invited people to step in, promising to show them something really tough while they waited for their turn.

Once the crowd was in the ring, I made sure each person had filled out his or her Punch Card correctly. Next, I talked for a few minutes about our Briggs & Stratton engines, telling the attendees that even their best punches wouldn't be able to knock out our machines, unlike the arcade device, which was momentarily down and out.

As I talked, hoping the technician would arrive soon, I kept everyone interested by recalling the best punches I'd seen that day, even going over some punching techniques with the crowd. Finally, the owner from SJV Entertainment showed up and got to work. In the meantime, I told the crowd to line up since the jabbing was about to recommence.

Taking the machine apart, the arcade-company owner found the problem - a faulty relay sensor - in just a few moments, and he had us punching in less than 10 minutes. Looking around the booth, I could see we hadn't lost a single attendee in the 20 minutes our crowd gatherer had been on the canvas.

With our boxing machine up and running again, I had a word with the arcade-company owner. Worried that the machine might take another dive, I asked him if there was anything I could do should the device falter once more. He ran me through a list of common problems the machine tended to have, and told me some quick fixes I could try myself. Then he headed back to his office.

On the second day, as luck - first bad, then good - would have it, the machine seemed on the blink when I showed up to the exhibit. Once again, the score readout was flashing "000" when we took some practice punches. So I called the owner again and asked what to do to fix it.

Like most shows, WOC turns off the power to the exhibits overnight. So after a bit of discussion, the owner determined that this time our machine simply needed to be rebooted. He quickly walked me through the restart sequence, and a few practice punches showed the machine was working correctly before the opening bell of the second round of the show.

A request to show management for constant power to my exhibit kept the boxing machine ready to go each morning after that. And fortunately, for the remainder of the show, no more sensors went down for the count.

Considering the great customer service, I called the owner of SJV Entertainment after the show and booked the machine for an upcoming construction show, ConExpo-Con/Agg. After all, his quick service, which I would not have gotten if I'd chosen to buy the machine, had been well worth the price of rental. The speedy service response and some fast talking made me look like a champ despite my trade show troubles.

- Eric Johnson, trade show exhibit/display design manager, Briggs & Stratton Corp., Wauwatosa, WI