As part of my outreach efforts, I recently had the opportunity to staff an exhibitor table at a conference for a state health professional association. I have attended a few conferences in my day, so I thought I knew what to expect. As you may guess, my expectations were way off base.

Manning an exhibitor table is hard. You have to make a memorable impression in a very short amount of time – anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Every other table at the conference is competing for the attention of attendees. There are free promotional materials, flashy demonstrations, and enticing contests everywhere. And then there’s my table.

I came with a small variety of information resource handouts and my most charming smile. It quickly became apparent to me that I was ill-prepared to capture the attention of the conference attendees. It didn’t help that I was right next to the table with the best swag. I saw people start to pause at my table, where they would catch a glimpse of the piles of pens, notepads, and bags at the table next to me. They were gone in a flash, drawn to the free goodies like moths to a flame.

That’s not to say the conference was a complete bust – I had several interesting conversations with people who were curious about what I was promoting. I was happy to learn more about what health professionals wanted from an information resource. And people did take a few of my handouts, which was very gratifying.

So, lesson learned: the flashier you can make your exhibitor table, the better. And apparently, promotional chapstick is very popular.