Larry Kulchawik knows a thing or two about international trade shows. He’s been intimately involved with them for 43 years. He’s a former president of the both of the largest trade show organizations, and has served on the boards of several others. He knows first-hand the secret sauce for making trade show exhibits smoother for the organizers, and converting them to buying customers.
Looking back on his career, he realized that learning how to organize a successful trade show — especially one with international customers — came slowly over a lifetime of hands-on learning. There was no guide to help those relatively new to international trade shows. And so he wrote “Trade Shows From One Country to the Next” as a way of giving back to the trade show community.
His book is a well-organized and easy-to-read guide on some of the key trade show differences in 43 countries. It starts out with a fairly long preface or introduction about international trade shows generally — a piece that could easily stand by itself and should be required reading for anyone involved in international shows.
The remainder of the book consists of 43 chapters, each dedicated to a particular country. Larry prepared these chapters using his own experience as a guide, but then drew on his deep network to gather advice from local experts in each country.
To standardize the information, he used a consistent questionnaire. Each chapter covers many of the basics a trade show exhibitor should consider when showing in that country. There is basic information about the country itself, cuisine, business etiquette, and some of the other cultural differences. The key trade shows are described, as are many of the “nitty gritty” details, such as audio and electrical considerations, flooring, how to get good local translations and graphic work done, shipping considerations, and many other details that will help make sure your exhibit is smooth to set up and a success with your customers.
Although, for example, the German and other European chapters stand by themselves, it will be helpful to the exhibitor team to read the U.K. chapter, which also includes an overview on European trade shows generally.
Larry is already working on the second edition of his book, which will include even more information, and also will cover several additional countries.
Participation in an international trade show is a significant investment — even for large companies — so it pays to plan carefully. “Trade Shows From One Country to the Next” is the only resource I know of to show exhibitors how to do that. It’s the “go-to” resource for improving the return on international trade shows.
You can visit Larry’s website or order his book on amazon.com. You can also listen to our upcoming podcasts with Larry, where he shares many more tips!
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