I am enjoying my morning coffee while reading Exhibitor Magazine and I come across this in the “Ask Dan” column:
Uh oh, I think….opinions such as this certainly don’t bode well when you are in the business of supplying, well… (must I use this archaic term?)… booth babes. I use this term loosely. We prefer to use the term, booth hostess. And so what if your booth hostess just happens to be a babe too? Is this such a crime? Apparently, to some people it is. E3 recently issued a crackdown on the scant wardrobe of the booth babes, banning the ladies from showing any skin. This a supposed reaction to a sexual harrasment scandal occuring at the tradeshow, which is known for its overabundance of booth babery. And the internet is laden with booth babe haters claiming to be offended by a “girl in a bikini trying to sell them something.” (It should be mentioned that the majority of booth babes do not wear bikinis) So, is booth babery barbaric?
I don’t think it is the existence of the “babes” that should be controversial…the real controversy is in the language, “booth babe”. To the woman who feels “booth babes” are alienating her predominantly female clientele… consider the impact a tradeshow model or “booth hostess” has on your business. Please read a typical job description for a booth hostess (aka booth babe):
“Trade Show Models make a company’s booth more visibly distinguishable from the hundreds of other booths with which it competes for attendee attention. Also, Trade Show Models are articulate and quickly learn and explain or disseminate information on the company and its product and service, and can assist a company in handling a large number of attendees which the company might otherwise not have enough employees to accommodate, therefore increasing the number of sales or leads resulting from participation in the show. Trade show models can be skilled at drawing attendees into the booth, engaging them in conversation, and at spurring interest in the product, service, or company. Trade show models may be highly skilled at screening the mass of show attendees for target consumers or at obtaining attendee information so that they may be solicited after the show.”
If you hire the right booth hostess, one who fulfills her job description*(hire the right booth hostess at cmtagency.com)*all of those things just mentioned above will happen, and that to me, seems like a good thing. And as I said earlier, if she accomplishes all that and just happens to be a babe too… then more power to her.
PS. E3 welcomed back the booth babes for 2009, due to their much protested disappearance.
