You probably don’t know whatgoes on behind the scenes at a trade show. Mostly, you buy your ticket and follow the crowd, listening to the guy selling aluminum siding, the one hawking Ginsu knives and that interesting fellow demonstrating the Magic Chamois Cloth guaranteed to make any car look new.
The event manager arrives around sunrise and immediately calls in the clean-up crew to deal with the overnight flood caused by the leaking water tank at the Aquatic Plant World booth.
The doors open at 10 a.m. and crowd members surge in waving their free plastic shopping bags. The vendors kick their spiels into high gear, and the guy with the Magic Chamois Cloth begins furiously polishing a deeply-tarnished car hood.
By noon,everyone is complaining about the heat and the event manager makes an emergency call to the air conditioning guy. By 2:30 p.m., vendors are sweating, visitors are fanning themselves with their Magic Chamois Cloths and the AC guy is muttering obscenities.
Meanwhile, the event staff plows ahead selling tickets and announcing special Weed and Feed demonstrations on the center stage, while one of the security guards–fondly known as the Food and Beverage Policeman –sternly advises visitors they cannot take their expensive lattes and deli sandwiches inside. Few complain, however, and the beer and hot dogs they find inside make up for their loss.
Around 4 p.m., the AC suddenly whistles into high gear, and within 30 minutes, frost crystals are forming on the walls. Shivering visitors wrap up in their Magic Chamois Cloths.
The show closes at 9 p.m. and the clean-up crew begins pushing brooms through the aisles. Around midnight, the event manager locks upand leaves. The water tank at the Aquatic Plant World booth starts leaking shortly before 3 a.m.