You ask for Internet access in your hotel room; that’s $24 for 24 hours.  Two computers?  Double that.  Need it on a plane? That’s $10 to $25 per flight.  Seems pretty expensive until you order trade show wireless Internet as an exhibitor for your booth (cue the horror flick music).

How about five PC’s accessing the Internet for your booth? Are you sitting down?  Have you taken your blood pressure medicine today?  How about $3,500?  REALLY? Are you (insert your frustration-based adjective(s) here) kidding me? I wish I were kidding. It makes me feel good about that first text message bill for my daughter’s new cell phone many years ago. It was $200. Chump change by comparison.

There was a time not long ago when the only option to show labor was.. floor labor.  You didn’t even think about screwing in your own light bulbs.  There was a time when lead retrieval was also “take it or leave it” until NewLeads changed the game in 1996.  And there was a time before we all had iPhones, Androids, iPads, personal Internet access points (miFi) and broadband USB sticks.

The Berlin Wall in trade shows has already fallen and show labor is no longer a monopoly, lead retrieval is often substituted with third party vendors, and it’s high time for the “Wicked Wardens of WiFi” to step down and stop abusing exhibitors. Time for a Trade Show Spring. Time to use your own MiFi and broadband cards or choose a third party for Internet access. Time for some good old American capitalism to work in a free market where competition drives prices down and quality up.

Aside from the forklift driver services you buy that equate to $500 an hour (known as drayage), is there anything more egregiously priced than Internet access for your booth?  If it makes you irate, you are a sane and rational person; if it doesn’t, consult your psychotherapist, rabbi or priest at the next possible juncture. Better yet, aim your frustration at the party that allows this to happen: your industry association or trade show organizer/owner.

For years, transparent pricing has been discussed in both HCEA and TSEA circles.  And you know what is said about talk: It’s cheap. Lot’s of gab and no results. A long time ago, English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Edward_Bulwer-Lytton,_1st_Baron_Lytton) declared, “The pen is mightier than the sword!” and American humorist Josh Billings (http://digital NULL.lib NULL.lehigh NULL.edu/pfaffs/p167/) declared (paraphrasing), “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” This is about your anger turning to progress: writing a letter. Notice I did not state “email” or “phone call” or “face-to-face battle” or “grab a drink or a cup of coffee” (although that last one could be part of the plan in addition to the letter).

A letter–that old-fashioned thing that nobody writes anymore because email is ubiquitous–is all the more powerful today than it was ten years ago.  A well worded letter sent registered mail will have a great impact.  individual letters from your colleagues will magnify the impact.  Withdrawing your sponsorship from a trade show will even make a bigger statement.  And while you’re at it, send a letter to the association that is purportedly representing your interests as an exhibitor or meeting planner. Can’t they spend some of those dues on advocacy? A letter is a powerful thing.  Write it, send it registered mail, don’t accept the abuse any longer. And just think for a moment: what you ‘d do with an extra $3,500.

Or you can just keep paying the Politburo.