As we all are very much aware, life for trade show managers has changed dramatically over the last nine months. Many of us are working from home, and in the absence of live events, a sizable percentage of us have seen our slate of responsibilities change. Instead of planning for an upcoming in-person expo, we've been tasked with general marketing duties, whipping up virtual events, etc. But at the end of the day, we all serve a purpose through generating revenue or building support and service mechanisms for our customers.

More and more exhibit managers are asking themselves what they can and should be doing during this downtime to be productive, prove their value to management, and still be an advocate for face-to-face marketing. With that in mind, here are four areas in which exhibit managers can devote their time and attention until live events return in earnest.

Prioritize professional development
Now more than ever, it's important to stay relevant and keep learning. While some may be resistant to projects beyond their usual dockets, consider that any additional skills you pick up will help propel you forward, offering you opportunities that you might not have had otherwise. So if you've recently been reassigned to, say, your company's social-media or e-commerce team, don't look at this as a hiccup you "just have to get through." Consider this a prime opportunity to learn new skills and become proficient in other areas of your firm's operation – and look for any golden nuggets that you can incorporate into your exhibiting program. Plus, the hybrid model of events is likely to become more pertinent in the coming year, so any knowledge you pick up on various marketing platforms won't go to waste.

This is also an excellent opportunity to study, attend webinars, and work on your industry certifications. For example, there's the Certified Trade Show Marketer (CTSM) program. I earned my CTSM in 2009, and it has paid off tenfold by now, as I've been able to use these credentials to validate both my knowledge and my experience. The program also offers many eTrak sessions that you can take online from your home or office. What's more, EXHIBITOR's annual Salary Survey shows that those who acquire an industry certification such as CTSM have 20 percent higher salaries and make 34 percent more in additional compensation.

Numerous industry groups, suppliers, and associations are also hosting online-learning sessions on everything from the latest virtual-event platforms to event insurance. Even LinkedIn can be a trove of no- or low-cost education resources. Or if you're looking for something more artistic, take a course on Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. My point is to leverage all the tools out there to broaden your knowledge base and add value to what you offer your company.

Keep up with industry news
With so many in our industry working remotely and respecting recommendations to stay at home, it's easy to feel that the world has been reduced to a bubble that extends as far as your front door. But while many convention-center lights have been dimmed and in-person event calendars are nearly blank, there's still a lot happening in – and to – our industry. City and state regulations on large events are regularly changing, industry coalitions are staging calls to action across the country to raise awareness and lobby Congress for aid, new products and services are being launched to help marketers adapt to the current environment and participate in future events safely, and some countries and U.S. cities have already allowed trade shows to resume with certain safety precautions.

Why is it beneficial to stay on top of these developments? Because no exhibit manager is an island, no matter how small his or her program. A small regional event for an industry unrelated to yours held in an adjacent state may reassure the organizers of a local show that they can proceed with a downscaled expo. A letter-writing campaign to your elected officials could prompt them to support relief programs for the live-events industry. And by reading what steps were taken to ensure attendee and exhibitor safety at an overseas event, you can ask your show rep to implement similar initiatives when events reopen.

Get organized
Why not archive all of your old trade show content? I still have paper show binders for earlier clients, but little by little my team is converting these to electronic files. Since 2017, I have been storing everything electronically and organizing it by year, client, and show, e.g., "2020 > Acme Corp. > ConExpo-Con/Agg." Inside each of these main folders are separate files for exhibit-design concepts, technical schematics, art files/graphics, marketing materials, invoices, and receipts. In addition, by using standardized names to save your files, it will be far easier to locate important documents. A few years ago I created an official file-naming guide so everyone on my team knows how documents should be titled when saved electronically. For example, a food-and-beverage receipt from the show and client listed earlier would be saved as Acme Corp_ConExpo_F&B Receipt_2020. Yes, reorganizing and renaming years of old files is the very definition of busywork, but thankfully it can easily be accomplished whether you're socially distanced in the office or logging into the company server from the comfort of your couch.

Also, I am a huge proponent of using project-management software to stay on top of the avalanche of tasks face-to-face marketers are traditionally confronted with. Since such software can take a while to set up and become accustomed to, getting started during the current lull will free up your time when the industry rebounds. There are tons of options out there, some of which integrate with myriad customer-relationship-management systems – and those that don't can still offer impressive functionality. I have been using the cloud-based system Teamwork for about 10 years. This software allows me to break down each of my projects into milestones, create tasks, add notes, and update lists in real time. And even better, the program enabled my team to develop tried-and-true templates to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Proactively prepare for shows to come
We're living in a period of uncertainty, which makes it difficult to plan ahead. However, there are certain facets of exhibiting that will surely change in the near future, and it's not too early to start thinking of possible ways your program will need to adjust to the new normal awaiting us.

For starters, social distancing will be a given, so analyze your existing floor plans and identify potential changes to ensure compliance. This might mean spreading activations farther apart, bringing fewer products, and tweaking your meeting-room space – or striking it altogether. While the current distancing recommendation of 6 feet apart may change depending on show, venue, city, or federal guidelines, at least you'll have the framework of a plan in place and won't be starting from scratch.

You can bet you'll also need to rethink your in-booth activations in order to minimize contact. Pen-and-clipboard signup sheets will be out of the question. And what about touchscreens and their fingerprint-laden surfaces; hands-on product demonstrations; and virtual-reality headsets and their controllers? Mountains of antibacterial wipes and gallons of hand sanitizer are one route, or is there be an opportunity to develop something even better? Small exhibitors may be tempted to throw up their sanitized hands and say they don't have the space for a socially distanced theater or the budget for a projection-mapped product demo, but now is the time to think outside the box and brainstorm ingenious alternatives. I for one think that we're at the start of a creative renaissance in face-to-face marketing. That's not to say that you need to execute a game-changing endeavor while still in your WFH sweatpants. I simply encourage you to start imagining.

And speaking of imagining, I hope you all can envision a world in which we're together again on the show floor. We'll get there one day, and we'll come out the other side of this stronger than ever. So stand tall and exhibit on, my friends. E