Again this month, we are thrilled to feature another exciting episode of “True Tales of the Trade Show.” This no holds barred series sets out to capture the the dynamic world of trade shows through the eyes of seasoned veterans who have witnessed it firsthand.
Our second episode continues with Nancy Hollenbeck, Echelon’s (fiery redhead) Senior Account Manager, and a 21-year industry vet. Enjoy!
(Image above: Nancy and her I&D team strike a pose.)
Interviewer: Nancy, how long have you been in the trade show industry,
Nancy Hollenbeck: I’ve been in the trade show industry for 21 years.
Interviewer: Wow. How is it that you’re only 28 years old?
“Well, I applied, I landed the job, and I quickly realized I’d found my home. I love what I do. I love this industry.”
Nancy Hollenbeck: Right, right. They start grooming them so young, so young. I stumbled into my first role as a sales rep and accounting executive. It was actually my husband (at the time) that promised a buddy of ours that I would send my resume to his firm. I was so angry with my husband and this buddy—because what did young Nancy know about the trade show world? Absolutely nothing! Well, I applied, I landed the job, and I quickly realized I’d found my home. I love what I do. I love this industry.
Interviewer: That’s amazing. What’s the thing that you love the most about this industry?
Nancy Hollenbeck: Top three. I absolutely love the variety. One day I’m working with a client that sells high-end jewelry. The next day I’ll be working with one that sells some really out of the box medical technology, like some funky heart device, and the following day I’ll be working with somebody that manufactures fiber optic cable. I love the variety and the fast pace. I love being deadline driven. I love being busy and I really love a challenge… and that’s every day, all the time, in this world.
Interviewer: That’s fantastic. On the same note, what’s the most outlandish thing you were ever asked to do by a client?
Nancy Hollenbeck: My, my. I’d like to say this is the single most outlandish thing, but you’d be surprised how often it happens. And that’s simply sneaking alcohol onto the show floor. You can’t get busted by the catering vendor or you will pay dearly for their corkage fees. But yeah, hide this booze, hide this wine in one of our crates and ship it in. But you’d be surprised how often that happens.
Interviewer: And did you ever get busted?
Nancy Hollenbeck: Well, there was one client that got busted at the very tail end of the show. But, that general contractor (I won’t name names) was a very small GC and it was a train wreck of a show. So when they got bused with the alcohol and the GC wanted to come down and charge him, the client said, oh no, you’re going to look the other way and this is going to happen free of charge, and that’s going to be our credit back for the shit show that this was. And they won. They didn’t have to pay anything. They let ’em drink their fill.
(Image above: Steve, Nancy, and the two faces of the trade show industry.)
Interviewer: Amazing. In a similar vein, even with excessive planning, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. What was one of the biggest plans that imploded for you?
Nancy Hollenbeck: Oh my word. I had a show in San Diego for many years where we always shipped the exhibit direct to the show site. So we scheduled our labor accordingly—four laborers and myself waited. That year we waited six hours for the freight to arrive. But it never came. I was frantically trying to figure out where the driver was, but my freight contact didn’t even know. The driver went completely rogue! So we lost one entire day and I cut the labor crew. But we returned the next morning with promises that the exhibit is going to be there. Once again, I had a four-man crew. And once again, we sat around for four hours, and at lunchtime, I decided to cut the crew and figure out a Plan B. I decided to work with the show’s general contractor to come up with whatever heap of a rental they’ve got. I was going to cobble together an exhibit for this client. So, I’m talking with a designer, a graphics person, and then the association contact. And by now, it’s 1PM and the show opens the following day. We’re just cobbling together what we can. Just then, I see our first crate roll in and then more behind it—just as my labor crew is walking off the show floor. So, I haul ’em all back and we worked until about 11:30PM that night until the booth was built. That took a few years off my life.
Interviewer: I bet. What are some tips or tricks of the trade show that you could offer to a first time event planner or marketing manager doing their very first show?
Nancy Hollenbeck: So first off, I would tell them to watch that episode of Friends where Ross is trying to get the couch upstairs into his apartment and he keeps saying, “Pivot! Pivot!!” They also need to watch a few episodes of MacGyver. The next thing they need to do is breathe deep and relax. It’s a trade show. Just relax and work through the challenges as they occur… because they will occur. To this day, after 21 years in the business, I think what we do is a level 10 miracle. We bring this mishmash of pieces onto a show floor. We build it in a very small window. We give this spectacular presentation for four or five days at the longest. And then we tear it all down again. It’s amazing what we do. So just relax, take it. My mom likes to say, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So just look at the overall picture. Do what you can. Be ready to pivot when you need to. Like Ross Geller, be thinking about how to MacGyver stuff. And you know what? Somehow it all works out.
Interviewer: I love it. Four years after the Global Pandemic Trade Show, attendance seems to be up higher than ever, but what challenges exist in this market post covid?
Nancy Hollenbeck: Oh, that’s an easy one. Everyone is short staffed. I repeat: everyone is short staffed! We are being called on as the experts. We are being called on more and more to be the back house of our clients. We’re doing more giveaway management, brochure management, product management inventory. We’re the ones that have to figure out labor when if it’s smaller show and they don’t necessarily want a formal labor crew. We’re the ones that have to teach and guide the sales reps or whoever how to do the paperwork. I mean, we have to hold hands on a much bigger scale than ever before. And also because everyone is short staffed, we need to produce in a much narrower window because decisions are coming more slowly. There are definitely more decisions by committee, which takes a lot longer. So, we have to really partner with our clients so much more closely to fill in the holes that were left by the pandemic.
Interviewer: Given the hundreds, if not thousands of trade show and exhibit design companies and operation today, what are some of the things that you’re doing at Echelon to stand out against the competition?
Nancy Hollenbeck: We are always looking forward. That’s what I love about this company. I’ve worked other places where it was repetition for 10 solid years. That’s not Echelon. When fabric became the next big thing, we were right there. When specialty lighting became the next big thing, we dove right in. We figured it out. What works best, what looks the coolest? And now we’ve launched into a whole digital age. How can we effectively incorporate your message digitally in the confines of your physical space and beyond? We’ve always been really good at diving into the future trends. Likewise, our size allows us to be very, very nimble. We can turn on a dime and make it happen. We’re not a huge aircraft carrier that takes forever to turn.
Interviewer: Right. Speaking of aircraft carriers, where’s the most interesting place the job has taken you?
Nancy Hollenbeck: Oh, definitely Brussels, Belgium. The first time I had the opportunity to go to Brussels on behalf of a client. The scope of their exhibits program had changed in such way, whereas previously we would send an entire team upwards of eight people overseas. When I had the opportunity to go, it was me, myself, and I. And I’d done quite a bit of international travel, but never completely alone. That was a cool adventure from a business standpoint, but also kind of an adventure on a personal level, traveling alone and just figuring things out on the fly. It was a lot of fun.
Interviewer: Amazing. If you had one word, or phrase, to describe the trade show industry, what would it be?
“Absolute organized chaos.”
Nancy Hollenbeck: “Absolute organized chaos.”
Interviewer: How do you deal with the stress of this industry?
Nancy Hollenbeck: Heavy drinking, Xanax, and Valium. Really, you need to be a special animal to survive and thrive in this industry. I also think this industry is very self-weeding. If you get into this industry, if you love it, you’ll be here forever. If you hate it, you’ll be done in under six months. You’ll never come back.
