The SXSW Trade Show is a great place to network and learn about all the cool new companies with a message to share.  With that in mind we have come up with what we’d like to see from the Trade Show companies.

Booth Design

Booths should be inviting and allow for space for visitors to enter the booth instead of just talking across the table from the aisle. This allows for better traffic flow and provides for better interaction.

 Staff

Some visitors will want to chat about the product, others may just want a pamphlet. To avoid scaring away the masses, don’t play used car salesman (ie; don’t jump on each visitor with a canned spiel). Instead introduce yourself and offer to answer any questions they may have.

SWAG (What everyone *really* wants)

We’ve seen every sort of SWAG, some that stick around and others that just get discarded. For the best impact and long lasting brand recognition, we suggest the following pointers:

Stuff we can use DURING SXSW:

• Sharpies – either the regular ones or the baby ones. These are almost a necessity during SXSW and are guarded jealously
• Pens (but Sharpies are better)
• Small notebooks – not everyone comes prepared for class
• Blistex – This is really useful, and if you use the name brand item it is more likely to be held onto past SXSW (ie lasting brand recognition)
• Sunglasses – cheap is okay, there are going to be lost, broken, forgotten shades, and they will be retained past SXSW
• Gum
• Bandannas

Stuff we can use AFTER SXSW:

• Bottle openers – unique shapes will catch the eye.
• USB drives – these are a great resource. We’ve even seen some companies provide content on them, which is very useful, but don’t make it so that the drive cannot be formatted for general use after the content has been viewed, otherwise it winds up in the landfill.
• Phone cases
• T-shirts – These are always a favorite, but try to have “SXSW 2012” somewhere on it, it’ll mean more and be less likely to wind up at Goodwill.
• Reusable shopping bags

Stuff that doesn’t have staying power (stay away from this, if it is taken it will most likely not stay around long)

• Lanyards – everyone already has one. Suggestion: pony up to sponsor official SXSW lanyards.
• Mints – especially in non-recycleable containers
• Mini flashlights – most people just use their iPhone so these wind up in the trash when the battery dies
• Hand fans
• Stickers, magnets, sweatbands, guitar picks, lighters etc. (unless your marketing plan is to advertise on guitar cases)

By the way, SXSW announced their list of Trade Show Exhibitors yesterday. Go check it out.

For some reason the press need to find a new service at SXSW Interactive and anoint it as “the chosen one.” It’s all rather silly to my eyes and ears, but never let it be said we don’t listen when the masses have spoken – which normally happens on Twitter.

But that’s okay, because the next web company that’s going to try to wrestle the mantle of SXSW success is based around Twitter. We’ve mentioned Lanyrd here before, but they’ve just launched their SXSW Interactive Session Planner over at sxsw.lanyrd.com. Punch in your Twitter name and  you’ll not only get alerts on your favourite sessions when they are about to start, but also see which sessions your friends on Twitter are attending, which have the buzz, and which will be attended by the TNW crew and Hermionie’s ever-present video camera.

I love that Lanyrd lets you export the data in a common format so you can pop it in your electronic diaries. Perfect. Seemingly they have more tools to come out over the next four weeks to keep the press hype going… the cads.

Yep, the designer behind the Fail Whale is behind the design of the Interactive canvas bag for 2012. And here we are at The Baby! thinking that the SXswag site was meant to cut down on all the freebies, bags, and directories…

Willo O’Brien has got in touch with us at The Baby! (you can too) with details on her “CraftMakerCamp” at this year’s SXSW Interactive:

Are you a designer, maker, mover & shaker selling your goods online? If so, then stop by the first-ever CraftMakerCamp at SXSW to meet like-minded souls. With a full day of programming specifically developed for creative entrepreneurs, CraftMakerCamp at SXSW will inspire and educate you for a more successful and productive year ahead. Check out Schedule.SXSW for complete details on this all-new space.

Now this sound fun. I mean everything sounds fun at SXSW, there’s buckets to choose from, but I’ve noted it down in the diary and will swing by the sessions and spaces to see what’s going on. There’s so much buzz around hand-made and small run goods that I can see a lot of people swinging by to share ideas and learn something new.

You’ll find more details on Willo’s website.

Looking to get the competitive spirit out of your system in Austin? Interactive gets their inaugural Ping Pong Tournament at the Start-up village  on Friday March 9th, 2pm-6pm; Music fans have the regular BBQ and Softball tourney on Sunday 18th March; and Film attendees can… er… do a marathon running between the Alamo South Lamarr and the Paramount?

The Baby! spoke to Lanyard’s founders last year in Brush Square, and we’ve been watching the progress that Simon and Nat have made with their social directory software (it’s impressive, and you should  check it out before March). They’re coming back to SXSW for 2012 with more people from their team including Sophie Barrett, who’s put together some tips from her first timers experience last year:

Take lots of business cards with you, and keep a fine Sharpie handy so you can note down important information on the back of each one you take. You’re likely to meet lots of people and forget what conversations you had, so little reminders can make all the difference.

More hints, and links, over on the Lanyrd blog (and thanks to Sophie for linking through to us). And if you want to keep an eye on Lanyrd, they have a dedicated twitter feed for Austin… @LanyrdSXSW.

There’s talk every year of the smartphone application you just have to have at SXSW, and to be honest it’s not something that can be answered until we get to Austin, play with the releases in the week before, and also see which of them are “annointed” by the tech bloggers, Google plusers, and Twitteratti (which pretty much guarantees that it’s going to be something from the Silicon Valley ecosystem).

That’s assuming we’re looking out for something new to pop up – many people forget that Twitter and Foursquare had a few years at SXSW to cement their “overnight success” tag. Given that, there might already be a victor in the App Stores and Marketplaces of the world… Eventbrite.

If you look at the huge number of parties and events being organised at Southby (especially during Interactive) you might notice many of them using the Eventbrite events and invite website. Which means if you’re being smart and signing up to a bundle of parties, your Eventbrite account has tickets and timing filling up your profile. What better way to have them close with you that through Eventbrite’s own smartphone application – giving you a personal guide to SXSW and QR codes to replace all your tickets?

Available right now for iOS (with a promising “Coming Soon” for Android), it might not be flashy or catch the headlines, but Eventbrite might just be the app to have at SXSW.