Hi ,

 

The election countdown is on here in the USA. Just three weeks until we start to count the ballots and watch the results slowly trickle in. Ready for a little mayhem between now and then, perhaps? It would certainly be in keeping with what we've seen already in 2020.

 

Meanwhile in the music world (where I spend a little time now and then), last week marked the passing of the guitar savant Eddie Van Halen. I stumbled across a Van Halen tribute channel on Sirius/XM, which I've spent a little time absorbing. I got to see Van Halen in 1980 during my radio days. Eddie was 65. Born the same year as I was. Also last week, the 80th anniversary of the birth of John Lennon, who, to me, was one of the most creative and interesting figures in the history of rock. Big fan of both men and their music.

 

This week on the blog, an article enumerating sixteen things you can do with a virtual tradeshow booth. Maybe you can think of more. Also, a quick video on ten reasons why you might want to consider changing exhibit houses. And an illuminating interview with Natasha Miller, CEO of Entire Productions.

 

What I'm listening to as I assemble this newsletter: The Marvin Gaye Anthology - all six sides! Marvin of the sweet and sexy voice, and strident political songs, as well as beautiful ballads and soulful hits. From "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" to "What's Going On" to "Trouble Man," "Sexual Healing" and more, Marvin Gaye was a force to be reckoned with. The Anthology that I have in my vinyl library is a six-sided affair, and yes, I'm listening to all six sides this morning. Here's Spotify's streaming link.

From Randy Gage:

 

"Here in the U.S., if evidence has been obtained illegally, the judge can throw it out and prevent the jury from seeing it.  Unfortunately, a lot of people run their personal lives in a distorted version of this process.  People who resist change can rationalize almost anything, if it allows them to continue living in denial. They’ll make a crazy, harmful decision because they wish the world worked a certain way, then rationalize that decision after the fact.  They’ll convince themselves that they’re not obese but simply have big bones, they’re not an alcoholic but merely a social drinker, or not an addict, just someone who uses drugs recreationally.   If there is evidence to the contrary, they throw it out and prevent the jury (their conscious mind) from seeing it."

 

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From Scott Monty:

 

At its core, leadership is about relationships. Expertise, delegation, time management—all necessary functions of the executive—are nothing without relationships.

Relationships are the bedrock to creating the foundation of working together. Without good relationships, we can’t develop our teams, we can't build great products, we can't earn trust from all of our stakeholders.

 

And you can’t develop relationships through vanity, pride and hubris. You need humility.

 

Servant leaders are called to serve others with your talent and skills: customers, board members, your direct reports whom you're training. It’s an exercise in humility.

 

And along the way, you’ll run into some challenges. You're going to find that you need to listen more. You’re going to make mistakes.

 

And as you do, remember this: three of the most humbling words a good leader can say are:

 

 

After All is Said and Done at the Tradeshow: The Follow Up. Here's where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.

 

Low Budget Tradeshow Exhibit Design. You can still catch a lot of eyeballs without spending a ton of money.