Dot Dash Design’s Nick Goodman shares his personal top tips for getting through the show.
It’s almost show time once again for the licensing industry and preparations are being made by both exhibitors and visitors.
Nick Goodman, creative director at Dot Dash Design, has been kind enough to share his very personal top tips for surviving the show all, he says, gained from “bitter experience”…
- Always bring a mini tube of eyelash glue. It gets hot in those halls and the lashes can begin to slide. I gave this tip to Kelvyn Gardner a few years back. It’s changed his life!
- Sweets – if you have a stand then ALWAYS have bowls of sweets on the front desk. They seem to have been in decline over the last few years and although we all know that sugar is now B.A.D those sweets are the only thing that keep us going through the day. Oh, and if you’re on the BBC stand and have the TARDIS prop to hand then please pop back to 1975 and get us some cola flavoured Spangles and a couple of Mint Cracknel bars…
- If you’re going to The Licensing Awards a month before BLE – and why wouldn’t you – it’s always a fabulous evening – be warned… that person who sat with you in the toilets (while you wept into your goody bag shouting – ‘Barry… I love that man… I love him… I LOVE HIM …’) will be the first person you bump into on day one and you won’t know who the hell they are
- Dress conservatively – there’s nothing worse than those people who throw on everything and the kitchen sink. Ignore them… it’s attention seeking
- If you’re from The Sock Mine, then don’t dress conservatively – we miss those suits!
- Don’t wear high heels. Yep, you’re going to look stunning running up the steps on day one with your newly minted pass and your Jimmy Choos, but by 2.30 you’ll be walking like Margaret Thatcher i.e – ‘here’s me head me arse is on it’s way!’
- Lunchtime etiquette – You know what it’s like. You’ve been on your feet all morning. You’ve got a gap in your diary – it’s time for a sit down and a sandwich. So you can bank on it that every eaterie will be packed to the rafters with people who finished their lunch long ago and are waiting for their next meeting in a couple of hours. Don’t panic. All you have to do is purchase your food and drink, approach a table and ask them politely and calmly if they’ll vacate a seat for you. And if they refuse threaten violence… it works!
- Hand and Flowers etiquette – don’t go would be my advice. Especially if, like me, you’re not very good at keeping count on how many Pinot Grigots you’ve had. There’s nothing more embarrassing than being chucked out in front of the whole industry while shouting “Of course there’s room for me to do the Wuthering Heights dance routine!” Believe me, I know.
- Smile and be pleasant to everyone. People on stands, people walking around, dress up characters, canteen and cleaning staff. You never know who they are and if you’re not nice you can bank on it they’ll be the decision maker at your next pitch/job interview.
- Don’t ignore or be rude to the dress up characters… they will rugby tackle you to the ground…
- Speaking of which – don’t rugby tackle a competitor to the ground in the spirit of playful rivalry… it’ll end badly.
- Avoid all cameras – whether they’re picture, video or phone. You might think that you look like Marlene Dietrich, Clint Eastwood or whoever, but inevitably when the picture/video comes to light you’ll look like old man Steptoe – whatever your gender.
- Don’t stay after closing on the last day. The sight of all the stands being ripped apart, thrown into skips and all that’s been joyful and exciting over the previous three days becoming like a scene from the blitz has scarred me for life. In fact as we tottered through the debris stepping over torn pictures of Teletubbies and SpongeBob Squarepants, I could almost hear the dulcet tones of Dame Vera Lynn singing We’ll Meet Again… devastating.
- But most of all enjoy it. It’s the best three days of the year!
