Trade Show Marketing Blog

Glenda Brungardt, Hewlett Packard’s Event Marketing Manager, spoke today from 10:00AM - 10:45AM on ways companies large and small can make their trade show display systems more environmentally friendly. Tech giant HP received a lot of press in the early part of 2008 when they converted their old, 30,000-pound exhibit into a much lighter system constructed from more eco-friendly materials. In place of steel, toxic PVC, MDF, and maple veneers, HP chose to use aluminum, formaldehyde-free plywood, bamboo, and recyclable carpet, resulting in a much greener exhibit system.

Glenda promises to help exhibitors differentiate between truly green exhibits and impostors, and providers of eco-friendly displays are hoping that she will push for a set of criteria that trade show displays will need to meet in order to carry the “green” label. Many companies use green exhibits as a marketing tool without any real intent to improve the environment, and weeding out some of the impostors would help exhibitors make better choices when purchasing a green exhibit.

Going green is not as simple as exchanging non-green components of your display for green components. As Glenda Brungardt of HP (hp.com) would surely tell you, there must be a change in the overall outlook of your trade show marketing staff. Changing out the parts can serve as an effective temporary measure, but in order to take your green exhibiting program to the next level, you must start from scratch and analyze your new exhibiting goals.

Congratulations to HP on their green marketing initiative.