Those of us in the conference world—and the physician recruiters who are road warriors for their organizations—enjoy these few slow months of summer to relax a bit from our busy spring season.

But all too soon, fall will be here again—and we need to gear up for another very busy few months of recruiter meetings and physician specialty conferences.

The lazy days of summer are a great time to start looking at ways to refresh your booth presence and recharge your trade show display. Here are a few ways physician recruiters can refresh and recharge their presence on the trade show floor.

1. Upgrade your booth

Here at PracticeLink, we work with a local exhibit house that manages our trade show display components. This works well for us because we have many booth properties and a hectic conference schedule.

Exhibit houses are great, but I bet that you (and most physician recruiters) maintain and store all your own display items instead of having them managed by a third party.

Because of this, it makes sense for you to order any new booth properties from online display companies. With so many choices, you may wonder where to start. It’s hard to know who has a quality product at a reasonable price. I have come up with a few suggestions that I can personally recommend:

• Displays2Go
  This website offers everything you might need to furnish everything from a 10x10 booth space to a 6-foot table at a PracticeLink Live! Physician Job Fair. You can order back wall displays, banner stands, table drapes and many kinds of booth accessories that will make you stand out from the other vendors.
  
  
• PostUpStand
  We have ordered some mini banner stands from PostUpStand (they’re a great way to add an extra message to your standard booth.) PostUpStand makes online ordering very quick and easy, and you’ll receive a personal email from your representative immediately after placing an order. Orders typically ship within 48 hours, and pricing is extremely reasonable. They offer design assistance, too, which is a big help if you need it.

2. Update your look and feel

Speaking of graphic design…now that you have a starting point for places to look for display exhibit items, you are probably thinking about new design ideas to make yourself stand out. Here are a few things to keep in mind when laying out your graphic design for the trade show environment.

• Keep it simple
  Your display isn’t a paper brochure! Treating it like one is the single biggest mistake exhibitors make. Keep your booth messaging clear and to the point. Leave the details for your printed literature. No one is going to read text-heavy graphics, so keep it simple. Strong messaging that can be absorbed in 15 seconds or less will make your display MUCH MORE effective.
  
  
• Focus on branding
  Your company name and logo should be featured front and center. You should communicate who you are and what you do. Remember that your logos and branding should be placed at eye level so that your message doesn’t get hidden behind a table or covered up when someone is standing in front of it. Your tagline should be placed near the logo so physicians will know how your company can help them.

3. Brainstorm some unique, interesting giveaways that will attract physicians

Now that you have a new display, you just need some fresh ideas to get physicians to stop at your booth. Research indicates that people are 52 percent more likely to stop at booths that are giving out enticing promotional items!

When selecting giveaways, try to think outside of the box. It is surprising how many people remember that one cool thing they got from a conference.

PracticeLink aims to give away items that are both useful and creative—and that no one else is giving away! Some of you may have our famous pizza cutter or 5-in-1 charger!

If you need help brainstorming, or just want to get a better feel for what’s out there, feel free to call our guy! We work with a company called A.P.S (Advertising Premium Sales). My contact there is Jim Curran. He would be happy to assist you with any of your promotional needs. Call him at (314) 872-7000.

4. Add a game

There are many ways to stand out in the sea of exhibitors. Incorporating a game is a great way to attract more physicians to your booth. PracticeLink's spinning wheel is a hit—and one way that we gamify our booth.

Trade show game ideas can run from something cheap and simple to interactive and a little pricier. Here are a few simple ideas that may pay off with a big return:

• Counting/guessing games: This is pretty simple and won’t cost you more than whatever the prize will be (or what people are counting). Fill a bowl or jar of candies, pennies or better yet, something related to your brand, and have people fill out a form or get their badge scanned in order to guess how many are in the jar. This is both a contest and an email/lead grabber. You get their name, company, email address—and whoever guesses correctly wins!
  
  
• Trivia: Come up with some industry-related questions (and throw in a few fun ones), and encourage attendees to participate as they come by. You can do a giveaway to people who answer correctly and incorrectly by setting prizes for both outcomes. This game can help with engaging attendees.
  
  
• Photo booth: You could create your own photo backdrop in front of or near your booth (depending on space) and incentivize physicians to take photos in front of it. Have them post the pictures on social media and pick winners. Take the pictures and send them to those attendees in an email. It’s a very easy (and personal) follow-up email opener. Plus it’s a great social branding campaign.

It can be hard to get physicians engaged at conferences. I hope that with a few of these helpful hints you might be able to add some new elements to refresh and recharge your physician recruiting efforts on the trade show floor!

Want to know more about how to maximize your job fair presence? Download these quick and easy tips.