Being an entertainer for college events and corporate events, I do A LOT of trade shows every year. They are old school but still essential for a lot of schools and businesses. A trade show for me consists of me standing in a booth handing out promotional materials, doing magic tricks, networking, and trying to get the word out about my show. 3 sore spots for me at trade shows are sleep, breakfast, and travel boredom. Here are three ways to help to remedy those.
Sleep
You aren’t going to get much of it but when you do get it you need it to be QUALITY sleep. You are probably sharing a room with others (school or boss man needs to save some cash) which means you might get stuck with a snorer which means ear plugs. Even if you don’t get stuck with a snorer, you have the middle of night bathroom breaks, and insomniacs that will play their headphones too loud. Go to a pharmacy and pick up the small squishy ear plugs, they are cheap, and they will help you sleep. Also pick up a cheap sleep mask for those potential light switch malfunctions.
Breakfast in Bed
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and you need a good one to get you through the long convention days. Unfortunately there usually isn’t time, or you want to use every last second in the morning for sleep. Buy a couple boxes of instant oatmeal and use the coffee maker (EVERY hotel in the world has one in the room, not every room has a microwave) to heat up water to mix with it. Bam! A pretty nutritious, quick, cheap breakfast. PS don't forget the plasticware.
Travel Boredom
Most likely you will be flying or driving a long way to get to your trade show and that can get boring, I have a solution: podcasts. I am a podcast maniac! One of my favorite podcasts is Freakonomics Radio. You’ve probably heard of or read the book Freakonomics but now they have a podast, no reading required! I always learn something new from listening to this. But even more important, it makes travel time fly by:)
I hope something in here will help you next time you travel. Do you have any travel tips? Do you like these tips? Comment below I'd love to hear what you think!
-Peter