Posted January 12th, 2009 by richard in Installers Life
Instant Gratification
The trade show world offers something that no one else in the building world offers: instant gratification. I recently heard that the large hadron collider in Geneva Switzeland took twenty years to build. I would not have lasted. I can barely make it through a movie that is more than two hours long. Building Trade show exhibits offers instant gratification. At the most a booth takes a week to install and then I get to stand back with the client and beam at a job well done. Three days later the booth is packed up and on a truck home I can move on to the next project.
[more after the break]
Unseen Challenges
Being an installer offers a lot of challenges, but many of them are unknown. I don't know why but even when a booth is packed up perfectly back at the shop, something will come along almost every show that offers an unseen challenge. Can we overcome it? Whether it be a post in the middle of the booth or a truck that arrives with the exhibit two days late with twelve hours to go, there are always unseen challenges that make the job exciting and constantly motivating.
Teamwork
Working in the trade show industry puts you in a situation to work in a collaborative sense like no other industry. You have to work with project managers, carpenters, riggers, electricians and all the contractors who make sure a booth is installed properly. But most importantly you form a team with the other installers who work on the booth with you. Sometimes you work with the same crew for a long period of time and you form a close bond like a "Band of Brothers." This is one of the great by products of being an exhibit installer
Travel
Name another industry where you get to travel like the trade show industry? O.k. airline pilot, but other than that? I have literally been around the globe to install trade show booths for my clients. Going to different locations for trade shows has given me the opportunity to increase my knowledge of not only the industry but the world in general
Flexible Schedule
Exhibit install work is somewhat seasonal....Oh sure when the show must get done you may need to stay up all night or work ninety hours a week. But for many of us in the industry, being an installer includes sabbaticals twice a year from four weeks to two months when the show schedule slows down. It allows you to follow your other passions in life.
What would you include in your top five that is not in mine? Why do you love being an Exhibit Installer?
It seems like every other movie is "Gone with the Wind" length these days - what gives? I'm envious that your side of this business has such immediate rewards. So many of our clients plan these shows 11 months in advance these days.