CHICAGO — Global Exhibitor, a leader in trade show training, consulting and international business strategies, announced the launch of Trade Show Basics — an in-person training series for those who are new or interested in the trade show industry.
The course introduces the ecosystem of the trade show industry and is curated for supplier-side professionals but is open to all those who want to participate. Trade Show Basics will teach participants about the fundamentals of trade show production, the various roles and companies in the industry and on-site logistics.
Jeff Hannah, Founder and President of Global Exhibitor, will teach the course, bringing decades of experience in various roles all over the globe to the role and educational content.
Who Should Come?
The course is geared toward the supplier side of the events ecosystem, but is open to anyone with less than five years of experience in the industry, regardless of their role or company.
“I feel there is a growing gap between [suppliers and] the brand side because they’re larger corporations, and larger companies normally have larger training budgets. They want people to go through personal development plans and they get regular training, one of those being the CTSM program,” Hannah said. “But there just isn’t that on the supplier side. We’re working on a plan to create a certified trade show professional designation program for people on the supplier side that is not CTSM.”
When/Where?
The first session of the training series will take place in Atlanta on November 14 and 15, and then will tour major U.S. cities so attendees can participate locally. It is comprised of two half-day sessions, and those that complete the course will get a certificate of completion.
“I think people get more out of face-to-face than they typically do from a webinar,” Hannah said. “We’re traveling around to make it more accessible for people across the spectrum of employees from carpenters to shop personnel or detailers to whatever role in a company. If a tour comes to their town, it would be easier for them to attend and meet a few other people that are new to the industry at the same time.”
Stay tuned to Global Exhibitor for announcements about future dates and locations.
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What Are the Benefits?
Endorsed by the Exhibition and Events Workforce Development Federation, serving as part of a pre-apprenticeship program, the Trade Show Basics course will earn participants competency credits to be applied toward the Federation’s Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship programs.
“We [EE-WDF] have been working with the Department of Labor to develop the Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship Program,” said Laura Palker, CEO of Trade Show Solutions Center LLC and Founder/President of the Exhibitions and Events Workforce Development Federation (EE-WDF). “We were officially accepted as a group sponsor of that program … and we were so excited to learn that we can actually get funding to have these road show programs to attract people who may be interested in the event industry, and to be able to use these training programs, no only to build a stronger foundation for our industry, but to be able to feed people into the apprenticeship program and build awareness.”
Cost to Attend
Trade Show Basics costs $499 per person, which includes the competency quiz, online access to supplemental resources and certificate of completion, along with the seven hours of in-person training and interaction.
There are discounts available for specific industry associations, as well as for students, veterans and unemployed individuals.
Why Now?
“I’ve heard some clients on the brand-side who have said that they’re having trouble finding more seasoned trade show counterparts that can help them on the level they need help with,” Hannah said. “And I saw the gaps when I was at a different company, post-COVID, and we had people that had been in the business for one year training people who had been there one week. That’s not a good situation to be in.
“[This course] is technical, it’s how things work. Trade Show Basics gives people a broader foundation so they go into a role, they can learn the activities that they have to do around that specific job. But bigger than that, if you have a broader understanding and foundation of how the whole industry works, not only do you have a bigger picture view of what career opportunities you might be able to go into, but you have a better understanding of how your role and responsibility is interacting with every other aspect of what is happening in the industry.”
