Thieves in Broad Daylight.

In her book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,
JK Rowling wrote:
“Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors,
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.”

It seems that in our age of consumerism we have managed to accumulate more and more things for people to steal. This includes everything from identities, ideas, inventions and even inventories of things we need to keep our trade show exhibit alive. With all the worry about ensuring that our exhibit and peripherals arrive at the show on time, leaving security as a nice too item leaves you vulnerable to the whim of some unscrupulous person who sees something of value in an unmanned booth and takes it for his own.

The reality is that products, equipment, computers, giveaways and personal items disappear from exhibitors booths at an alarming rate and the exhibitor has very little they can do to compensate for the loss. Planning for theft makes an incredible amount of sense

And should be an important element on the show checklist. You should focus on three areas of show participation: before, during and after.

Before the show

Make a complete list of everything you are shipping to the show including items that your staff will be carrying with them.

At the show

While show management will have security for the show floor, you are required to provide your own security for your booth

After the show

Is security worth all the bother? To paraphrase the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

You have so many things to orchestrate to make your exhibit a success; don’t let the acts of thieves derail them.

© 2014 by Barry Siskind. Barry Siskind is author of Powerful Exhibit marketing. He is also President of International Training and Management Company who offers a number of services to exhibitors including the creation and implementation of a mystery-shopping program. Contact Barry at barry@siskindtraining.com for more information.