Best tradeshow marketing tips and case studies. Call 800-654-6946.
Best tradeshow marketing tips and case studies. Call 800-654-6946.

Exploding iPad Use at Tradeshows

A few months ago I took a look at ways you can use iPads at tradeshows. Several bloggers chimed in with apps and ideas that were are worth a look. Given the exploding popularity of iPads once the iPad 2 came out in March of this year, perhaps its time to take another look.

Classic Exhibits of Portland is stepping into the hardware side of the iPad tradeshow discussion by making various bits of hardware, including counter inserts, swivel stands and other frames. Get a look here (yes, we’re a dealer – if you want an iPad mounting unit from Classic, give me a call or drop a line!)…

Roger Lewis at Alliance Tech looks at many ways iPads can be used, including (but not limited to): product demos, lead retrieval,  surveys, electronic marketing and social media. Check his post here.

The National Conference Center Blog chimed in with a few ideas for iPad usage here, including building navigation and white-boarding.

And if you’re considering using iPads at tradeshows, make sure you don’t do a few things, like not confirming you have wi-fi access (and more). This list thanks to FatStax Apps.

Lou Bartizan of Bartizan Connects recently posted a slideshow at Slideshare.net on ways to use the iPad at tradeshows. Check it out here:



  • Jenni_B2BM ,

    Hi Tim, thanks for the follow up blog post, I agree completely that iPads are becoming a must have piece of tech for tradeshows.

    You mentioned that other bloggers previously pointed out to you interesting applications relevant to tradeshows; at the address below you can find a case study on the use of tablet technology for lead retrieval at tradeshows, as posted by tradeshow expert Joyce McKee.

    This case study charts the beginnings and development of the Marketpoint Tradeshow System, lead retrieval software designed for the iPad which has been taken up by some very large international customers so far and is continuing to grow in popularity: http://www.letstalktradeshows.com/3262/tablet-technology-in-action/

    Thanks, I hope this is the sort of thing your are looking for,

    Jenni Summers.

    • Tim Patterson ,

      Hi Jenni,

      Thanks for the tip. I think Joyce’s ‘Let’s Talk Trade Shows’ blog is great and I land there frequently. I’m sure I’ve had her on a podcast in years past – and the post on iPads is a good one.

      • Apple iPad and Tablet PC Options for Trade Shows | Trade Show Tales Blog - classicexhibits.com ,

        […] Tim Patterson at Tradeshow Guy blog writes about the Exploding iPad Use at Tradeshows and how they are being used. Great post with lots of […]

        • Trade Show ,

          iPads are highly marketed because of the Trade shows.

          • Kevin McNeese ,

            I will be attending a music festival next week and I designed an app that we’ll be using on 3 iPads. It’s called iPrizeWheel and it’s basically a virtual prize wheel for the iPad. It collects user data before the spin so there’s no data entry at the end of the festival/conference (what a relief!) and we’re hooking up one of the iPad 2 units to a 50″ HDTV monitor mounted on a TV stand so it will be a huge draw for people walking buy.

            Nothing like this existed so we’re excited for this new tech, and able to make it available to everyone for just $5 (a premium edition is available for an additional $15). Beats spending $800 on a 70lb prize wheel and lugging/shipping that thing around!

            Really excited to put it to use next week at our first booth!

            • Roy ,

              • Bill ,

                Try out expostrut.com

                They do custom apps for trade shows. It’s like an interactive catalog/portfolio of pictures and video. The part we like best is that it is searchable (customers come into the booth and ask if we do X, I search just a few of those keywords and it filters to those items in the catalog).

                It’s great!

                • Meeting Fairy ,

                  Tim – Thanks for the nice article on ipads at tradeshows. We started developing mobile apps for tradeshows two years ago, and it seems that the demand is only increasing.
                  We have three products for tradeshow, conferences and events.
                  Zwoor Events http://www.zwoor.com/products/share
                  Zwoor Events – If you are an Conference or Tradeshow organizer, your Event Materials Go Mobile in just a few clicks. Your attendees carry an iPhone, an iPad or an Android smartphone, and they now expect the agenda, the meeting materials, maps, exhibitors and alerts right at their fingertips.
                  Our native Zwoor Event apps do not require connectivity all the time, and we know that some of the conference or trade show venues are not built with connectivity in mind. We allow participants to store the data on the mobile device, and synch when connected.

                  Zwoor Survey http://www.zwoor.com/products/survey
                  Zwoor Survey is a friendly, robust and cost effective survey platform that enables you to gather real insight into your event participants. Be that in a large,10,000 people keynote event with no connectivity, or in a small presentation, we can handle both.
                  Zwoor Survey is a native application (vs. a web app), that allows timed surveys, answers to a challenge quiz for a prize, or just a simple multiple choice survey. We are not dependent on the connectivity in the venue – we know that some of the spots are without cellular or wifi coverage.

                  Idea Challenge http://www.zwoor.com/products/innovate
                  Idea Challenge platform helps you create and run Innovation Challenges, and focus your participants on solving the wicked problems your organization encounters.
                  The result is an engaged audience before, during and after the event.
                  By incorporating powerful algorithms, tagging, recognition and engagement, we allow all participants to enter the challenge, follow others, submit and rank ideas.

                  The Innovation Challenge provides a new paradigm for connecting your Event for innovation and insight discovery. Using the power of social media technology and the power of individual innovation, our platform allows you to tap into the collective intelligence of an organization and transform it into actionable, focused innovation. Truly 1+1+1 equals 10.

                  http://www.zwoor.com/
                  Zwoor.com was founded on a simple, powerful idea: mobile technology changes how we run events, meetings or product presentation, and how we engage with each other.
                  We want to reinvent what businesses and individuals can do with mobile technology through the Zwoor.com platform, made for a new kind of worker, a new kind of workplace and a new kind of interactions.

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