VoxVoices
Trade Show Managers: Get Customer Approval Always!
Posted on Sep 14, 2012 by Rachel O'Sullivan, Director of West Coast Operations | Subscribe to this RSS feed |
This week a story broke about how during the tribute to American veterans during the Democratic National Convention, a backdrop of Russian Navy images was mistakenly displayed. The Russian warships, many of Soviet-era origin, were shown on a giant screen Sept. 6 above 50 veterans while a retired Navy Admiral honored veterans’ contributions to America. A Navy Veteran who spotted the error, sent the image to Navy Times.
It was strongly suggested the DNC owed an apology, or at least an explanation on how something like this could happen. So, on Wednesday, a DNCC spokeswoman said the image of what seems to be the Russian Black Sea Fleet appeared on screen due to an unspecified “vendor error,” but was unable to say how it had occurred or whether the photo had been digitally altered. Naval experts who reviewed the image believe that the photo is a composite of Russian ships and F-5 trainer jets.
Ok, so now we know (or are led to believe) it was “vendor error.”
But how in the world did this come to pass? I’m stunned that a mistake like this, something so preventable, could happen during an event of this proportion and caliber. As event planners, we routinely coordinate graphics for events. There is a process we follow:
- We consult with our customer.
- We meet with our graphic artists and creative team to put together a concept.
- Once we’ve got an idea, we present it to the customer for input and changes. It is during this process we make sure logos are correct and supporting images are appropriate.
- The graphic artist prepares a proof and, assuming all is good to go, the customer signs off on it.
I can’t help but wonder what the hell happened during their creative process to make such an egregious error. Since I wasn’t there, I can only make a few assumptions.
- The customer (the DNC) told the vendor to make a backdrop using Navy ships. The vendor, probably having no Navy experience, found some pretty pictures of ships. Either the vendor didn’t realize the error, or they didn’t think anyone would notice.
- The quality assurance check by the customer was made by someone who wasn’t qualified give the final approval.
Although the DNC is blaming the vendor, I think both parties (vendor and customer) bear responsibility. There is a reason we have our customer sign a proof and this is it.
The fallout from this debacle has been significant for both political parties. The GOP has used it to illustrate how the Democratic Party is out of touch with Veterans. The Democrats counterpoint is that at least they paid tribute to Veterans during their convention while the Republicans were strangely silent.
And while I believe this entire situation could have been easily avoided, this is an excellent reminder to event planners and trade show managers everywhere on why we have customer approval processes in place, and why, no matter how big or small the event is, we should adhere to them always.
Rachel is Vox Optima’s premiere event planner and trade show master. Along with all her experience managing successful shows and trade exhibits, Rachel most likely has several post-graduate degrees in schmoozing and persuasion (nah, just kidding). You can learn more about Rachel at her staff profile page or connect up with her on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or via email.
Tagged: dnc veteran tribute snafu, event planning, trade show, customer approval process
All Tags
2013 236th birthday 911 accuracy ad content advertising amanda jones american university amy and samy bouzgalo amys baking company ari matusiak barack obama basketball baumgartner belvedere vodka birthday blog blogging book review booth babes branding brittany lowrey budgets business ethics carnival cruise carnival cruises clarity cloud cloud computing coalition building coffee collaboration common sense communicating communication communication counsel communication planning communication specialist consequence of actions content content creation content development content management correcting the record courtney english creativity credibility crisis crisis communication crisis communications crisis management crisis planning customer approval process customer engagement customer service dallas cowboy cheerleaders dallas cowboys dave nagle digital signage digital signage expo disaster dnc veteran tribute snafu drayage charges economic growth employment engagement ethics event planning exhibit planning exhibitions exhibitors exhibits expos facebook family fashion financing free speech gay rights gen mcchrystal gmail google google apps google docs gordon ramsay grassroots gsa conference scandal hampton roads hootsuite horses and bayonets hud human resources hurricane irene hypocritical infographic insightly integrated communications integrated strategic communication internet content interpretation interviewing jack odwyer jason collins jc kreidel job growth jobs john doucette journalism journalists judgment kitchen nightmares learning management margaret thatcher mark mcdonald marketing mcpon media media pitching media relations media spokesperson media training melissa kellerman merritt allen merritt allen hamilton messaging michael jordan mistrust mitt rommney mobile mr media training national address navsea navy nba netflix new mexico new mexico private 100 news news marketing news media news source newsgathering obama administration online reputation opinions outcome based communication overcharging partisanship perception personal privacy persuasion planned parenthood political address politicians politics pop herring pr pr gaffe pr redefined preparation presentation presentation development press release privacy product professional conference professionalism promotional models prsa public corruption public funding public interest public relations quickster rachel osullivan rainn relationships reporting republican response reputation reputation management resolutions rick west rules sales san diego sdvosb service disabled sexist small business social media social media marketing social media planning social media policy social media strategy sotu speaking speechwriting spokesperson spokesperson training sports fan sports illustrated sports reporting staff staff profile staying on topic storm reporting strategic communication strategic communications strategy subscription content surface navy association susan g komen telecommute telework templates texting thanksgiving thomas lake time management today show newsworthy tom mason trade show trade shows transparency triumph troy miller tweeting twitter us embassy us navy va conference scandal veteran owned veterans veterans administration veterans day video video marketing video production vince dickens virginia tech virginianpilot vox optima voxoptima voxvoices wasteful spending website westchester county white house womens health wounded warrior yelp youtube zicam