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Grossology and Trade Shows
By Julia O’Connor

OK, I have to start with this...There’s a great traveling exhibit visiting science museums around the country. It's Grossology® The Science of Really Gross Things.

Their web site starts out..."Sometimes it's stinky. Sometimes it's crusty. Sometimes it's slimy. But hey, it's your body...

Most of the time you don't find your own smells and scabs and oozes too disgusting. It is usually the same stuff on someone else's body that's really gross. But the reasons for the ickiness are identical whether it's you, your uncle, or the kid down the street. So as a beginning grossologist, you will find out a lot of sickening things about everyone."

As you can tell, this is the ideal field trip for boys? But what does that have to do with trade shows? Well, we all grow up...and go to trade shows...and sometimes, it can get really gross.

Follow these tips to be a grossologist in name only:
STINKY #1 - Surely you've seen enough advertisements to know about deodorant, mouthwash and other potions so you won't be stinky. You must pay more attention to your personal hygiene at a trade show because you have fewer opportunities to freshen up.

STINKY #2 - Change your clothes - every thing - every day or more frequently if possible. Travel and trade show venues are often smelly places. Your clothes pick up odors that seep into the fabric - alcohol, garlic, smoke, perfume, dust. You may not be aware of it, but visitors surely will be. You may not get that lingering conversation you want, because something is lingering on you.

CRUSTY #1 - Carry a small first aid kit with you at all times. Paper cuts are frequent when you are handing out brochures, exchanging cards, opening boxes. Treat them quickly before they become infected and look gross when you extend your hand.

CRUSTY #2 - Too little sleep makes you look dull. Too much makeup makes you look....well, you know. It's important to be and look attentive; otherwise you'll look grouchy even if you're not.

SLIMY #1 - Wash Your Hands. This is the number one thing you can do to prevent the spread of germs. Think how many times you shake hands at the show, in seminars and just traveling. Think of all those icky places you might put your hands-restroom doors, escalator handrails, taxi seats, under a table. Wash, wash, and wash those hands with soap and water. Carry sanitary hand wipes for the in-between times. Use hand lotion - men and women - so your paws are soft after all that washing.

SLIMY #2 - Your mother told you—cover coughs and sneezes. Now is a great time to remember that advice. Always carry tissues and dispose of them properly. We have lots of new diseases to worry about besides the common cold. Try to protect you, your family and others from spreading germs around.

Learn to be a grossologist so you can practice preventive grossology. Check out their site too at www.grossology.org. Enjoy your next show!

This article is re-printed with permission from the author, Julia O'Connor - speaker, author, consultant and owner of Trade Show Training, inc. (TSTi). She has designed, manufactured and worked for exhibit and display companies. And through the years, she realized that often the impression attendees had of a company was not the fancy exhibit or graphics, but the guys who stood in the booth - and didn't know why they were there. Thus began her study of the psychology of the trade show environment, and turning reluctant participants into knowledgeable, enthusiastic staffers. She teaches the WHY of trade shows as well as the how.

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