JUDY’S THEORY OF DISORIENTATION -- UNDERESTIMATING CONFUSION AND OVERESTIMATING OUR ABILITY TO COPE

What really does us in at trade shows is that we expect to be able to handle the confusion with a degree of success -- after all, aren’t we really good at what we do? Shouldn’t we be at the top of our game? After all, everyone is here and "on."

We need to change the paradigm in our heads and acknowledge what the sheer volume, logistics and noise do to our ability to problem-solve and strategize. We overestimate our ability to cope and handle details. PR and Marcom professionals are particularly vulnerable to this syndrome since we make our living planning events and press conferences for less experienced people who rely on us.

Sensory Overload

Let’s recognize the reality that we are much less efficient once we move out of our normal world with its support systems and routines. The basics of survival -- finding people, getting through on the phone and arriving at a meeting reasonably on time -- take all our mental and physical energy. Sensory overload numbs and overwhelms us. Fatigue sets in and as the show wears on, we become sleep deprived. Our ability to remember simple facts -- phone numbers, security codes, voice mail routines -- fades and we become impatient and even cranky (though we wouldn’t admit that to a client).

Loss of Control

Regroup and assume you will have no control over your schedule and that it will be a struggle to organize even a few meetings. It then becomes a challenge to reduce all activities to the simplest logistics. If you have a fixed time that you’ve been assigned to be at a certain places (e.g. at a company hotel suite or booth), plan appointments around those times so you have a much higher chance of not getting confused. Even when logistics work, and I’ve been in the middle of a conversation, the PR person was pulled away by an unplanned editorial visit or a supervisor’s request. The truth is appointments at shows are a best guess, not a sure thing. They work in about 65% of the cases.

Keep Arrangements Simple

So, what to do? Give yourself and your clients extra margins. Each appointment could easily start 15 minutes late due to transportation problems (not just yours but everyone else who needs to be there.) Try to set appointments physically close to each other (or in the same place). If you plan to meet over a meal, start early and see if you can get a reservation -- better yet, can you arrange for catered meals in your suite or booth? If you will be out for a late dinner or reception, and need to be alert for a full day of meetings, avoid the temptation to schedule four early breakfasts in a row. Plan down time during business hours for phone calls to the office and for adjusting appointments that inevitably change.

Managing Information Flow

Put every piece of information you need in a database. Of course, your laptop will have a complete record. However, most attendees are walking from appointment to appointment and cannot carry their laptop, which means relying on a "palm pilot" or heaven forbid -- paper. Make several copies of your most important printouts (date them) and leave one complete set in your hotel room. Keep another back at the office – be sure everyone knows where it is. Ask your office "back-up" or coordinator to keep a copy of the information at home as well. Be sure you have all of the work, home, and cell numbers of your staff should you have an emergency and need to reach them. Fatigue will impact your memory, so tape removable strips on your phones and equipment with key numbers written where you can’t miss them. Have a sheet stored in a safe place with access codes, roaming numbers (to call for your voicemail) and security codes.

Team Up

Here are a few other suggestions to increase your effectiveness. Team up with a coordinator in your office who becomes your "point" person and receives all calls that impact your day. Check in with that person every morning at an agreed upon time to compare notes for adjustments, instructions, etc. At the end of the work day ask that person to send a fax/e-mail or leave a voice mail mentioning any critical changes that have occurred that need your attention -- either at the show or at home. Keep your cell phone on or check VM regularly for messages from that person. Brief your coordinator thoroughly before you leave and instruct clients, and people you are meeting to call him/her with adjustments. Also ask that people wanting to reach you quickly -- call or send an e-mail to you personally as well. It is important to build in redundancy. At conferences messages frequently are lost or late to reach you.

If you don’t have a coordinator, record reminders for yourself. Commit everything you can to writing -- on your laptop, in a diary or whatever system works. As I’ve mentioned, date it, print it out and leave copies at the office, home, hotel, and have one set with you. Keep those papers organized. I use a "Levenger" attache insert that is a lightweight vertical file with dividers (www.levenger.com) that fits in my bag. Every day I put new messages, papers, faxes in it so I have only one place to look for important information.

Setting Up Appointments/Basic Information

In setting appointments leave nothing to chance. Assume it will be difficult to keep on schedule and that there will be a need to communicate last minute changes or delays. Agree upon a margin that each of you will wait for one another and exchange cell phone numbers so that you can adjust or cancel at the last minute. If you have two cell phones or a pager and a cell phone, give the numbers out selectively. Use one number for important calls only and keep that one on except when you cannot be interrupted.

Request the following information (or ask your office to fill in the information once the appointment is made).

• Full name, title, company and location.

• Phone number of individual and his/her admin and general number of organization

• e-mail address of individual

• Hotel phone number at the show, when arriving and departing,

• Cell phone(s) and pager

• Note on the form what is the best way to reach the individual, via office or other/special notes or instructions

• Reconfirm a day before (ask your admin to do this) -- early enough so that a return call can be made -- and request a reconfirmation from the person (you are seeing) or his/her coordinator.

The appointment itself requires the same attention to detail. Specify the date and day (people loose track of what day it is at conferences) and time. If you are meeting in a location that is open to the public at certain hours, e.g. at a booth or on the show floor, be certain both parties can gain entrance. (One of my clients asked that I meet him before I could enter the show floor. Another asked me to come early to a locked office and there was no receptionist to admit me.)

Confirming the Details

If you are meeting at a hotel, list the address, phone number and the name of the specific restaurant. If there are several, describe the location in the hotel. Confirm that the restaurant will accept reservations and agree to meet at the table with reservations in the name of ---. (There is no confusion if you are both in the same spot. But be sure there is only one host/hostess to seat the both of you.) If the restaurant will not accept a reservation, agree to meet at the entrance and describe yourself. Will you be wearing a badge? Will you be carrying a cell phone or distinctive accessories? Ask what is the best way to make contact in an emergency. Again, agree to a margin of time that you are both comfortable with, and if the individual does not appear or call, then get on with your day.

Another critical area for all of us technologically dependent professionals is the tools of the trade. Remember to take: your laptop with backup batteries, phones, chargers, extension cords, plugs, adapters, backups of your database, other important software, and pager with extra batteries. I’ve created an appointment sheet form that we use. You can find it on our website at www.jc-a.com/trip_apt.htm along with a detailed trip planning checklist, www.jc-a.com/trip_check.htm.