The haiku, a short form poem of Japanese origin, was in the news recently when Sun Microsystems’ CEO Jonathan Schwartz quit (via Twitter) by posting this haiku:

Financial crisis

Stalled too many customers

CEO no more

That news reminded me of some near-haiku I had read recently in an unexpected place.  While reviewing responses to a survey question about booth staffing, I was struck by several exhibitors’ concise, almost poetic language, to the point that they reminded me of haiku poetry.

(In case you don’t remember from school, Haiku are very short, three line poems of only 17 syllables.  The first line has 5 syllables, the second 7, and the final line has 5 more. )

Inspired by former Sun CEO Schwartz, I went looking for more within the survey answers.  While a few could almost stand verbatim, I still made some nips and tucks to ”find” 17 haiku about booth staffing, one for each of the haiku’s 17 syllables.

Because so much of trade show success hinges on the quality of your booth staffers, many of these haiku extoll the virtue and nuances of choosing the right staff:

1.
being excited

to be at the trade show makes

a huge difference

2.

once used tech people

we cut that back and now send

sales & marketing

3.

one man one woman

in the booth at every show

when it’s possible

4.

staff who can perform

are able to work the crowd

not the booth work them

5.

staff with the people

that know specific products

for specific shows

6.

to pick our staffers

how they engage customers

handle travel well

7.

technical product

must answer detailed questions

staff with salespeople

Other haiku promote the value of pre-show meetings, and what should be covered at them:

8.

hold pre-show meeting

every morning of the show

outline objectives

9.

offer much info

to each booth staffer pre-show

even for veterans

10.

pre-show meeting share

last show ROI results

salespeople respond

11.

have a trade show guide

that outlines expectations

and where to find things

12.

those working the show

must have a clear idea

what is expected

Two haiku go to the heart of what a good booth staffer needs to do to succeed:

13.

remain attentive

listen to the customer

no email or phones

14. 

keep the contact brief

this is not the place to sell

generate interest

Often one finds wisdom shrouded in classic haiku.  These haiku proclaim the wisdom of training for your booth staffers:

15.

with booth staff training

get better quality leads

plus we get more leads

16.

more and more training

product, industry knowledge

assess client need

17.

hired an outside firm

train and monitor booth staff

improvement result

Thank you to those who shared their wisdom that inspired these haiku.  Feel free to share your own trade show haiku in the comments box below.  And I would love to hear if you offer these haiku as part of your exhibit marketing preparation and training! 

To get more, albeit less concise and poetic trade show booth staffing tips, click here to get your free copy of the 48-page Booth Staffing Guidebook.  “many articles / many worksheets and checklists / help you prepare staff”