I took some time yesterday afternoon to walk the show floor and was surprised by two things:

1.  It's never too early to find someone handing out drinks.  (The booth next to ours had fantastic Bloody Marys from the very beginning and it was hard to find an attendee without a Cosmo from Boeing or a cappuccino from Delta.) 

2.  You're a nobody without a lay flat seat.

This second one is a truly amazing concept.  As someone who has attended many trade shows and even been occasionally involved in booth design (including ours here at NBTA) I feel like I have some idea what will be eye-catching for trade show goers.  Each show has its trademark booth attractions:  bikini-clad models at car shows, giant 170" plasma screens at CES, and even a white water kayak rafting demonstration at Outdoor Retailer.  At NBTA, without question, you have to have a lay flat seat. 

Without fail, nearly every booth with real honest-to-goodness airplane seats in it has people lined up waiting to try it out.  EOS, American, Qatar, Malaysian Airways have all hopped on the bandwagon.  I have to confess, I'm not immune to the allure.  How many of us can really afford to travel this way?  How many of us have travel programs that book travelers in these seats?  That said, the marketing behind this booth design is pure genius.  Who wouldn't want to fly this way and who wouldn't want to tell everyone that they have to fly X airline because the seats just have to be seen to be believed?  Showing the seats at NBTA and getting people into them is like test driving the top of the line car at the dealership and then buying the one you can afford.  In your mind, you will associate the car you took home with the souped up version you first tried.

My takeaway?  Sure, we may be a corporate travel management company but next year our booth will feature the all new Expedia Corporate Travel lay flat seat!  We will commit to lead the (corporate travel management) industry in comfort and quality.  (Design submissions welcome.  All promises of said airline seats made on blogs should be considered vaporware until proven otherwise...)  :-)

Seriously, if you're a big follower of these seats, take a look at this excellent blog, which rates them and talks about how to nab one on your next flight.

Eric Heller :: Director of Marketing :: Expedia Corporate Travel