#plus the person i emailed for more details? sent back a seven page document

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Preparing Your CTSM Portfolio Part 8: Overall Format & Contents

There are seven sections to write and illustrate for your Certified Trade Show Marketer portfolio, but you will also be evaluated on Criteria 8: OVERALL FORMAT AND CONTENTS. The best and most up-to-date information on creating and formatting your CTSM portfolio can be found in the CTSM area of the EXHIBITOR web site. 

Following instructions, including those detailed in the Portfolio Checklist, will help you turn in a successful portfolio. The Portfolio Checklist is an extremely valuable resource. I can’t emphasize that enough. It’s a roadmap to getting where you want to be. Check the contents of each section, and make sure you’ve provided everything required.

All seven sections must be present and well organized. Listen to your advisor’s feedback about this. I’ve had to tell more than one candidate that they could not omit a section, or submit one that was way too brief and vague. And once or twice I’ve had to stop a candidate from adding a section not included in the checklist. (There’s room to be creative with your portfolio, but be creative within the required sections!) More commonly, some candidates put information in one section that should be in another.

In addition to the seven sections, you need to include a title page, table of contents, and a session reference page. 

An appendix is optional. If fact, as I’ve said before, an appendix should only be used if you have a lengthy exhibit schedule, lots of survey data, multi-page RFPs, or other key information too extensive to fully include in the body of a section. Do not put material in an appendix that belongs in the sections themselves, or things like extra photos of your booth or event. If you do put material in an appendix, reference it by page number, or by tab, in the text of your portfolio.

All photos and illustrations should be captioned, and the captions should be in type large enough to be easily read.

Your entire portfolio should be in type that is easy to read. Background graphics or attractive headers and footers can add visual interest, but not if they make it tougher to read the contents.

Separate each main section with a tab. Use plastic-coated tabs, as paper ones bend easily in transit, and print on them can flake off. Tab only the required sections, and the appendix, if you have one. Do not tab sub-heads.

Reference a minimum of 8 CTSM-required sessions and 2 elective sessions. You are welcome to include more. You may reference a specific session more than one time, but keep in mind it still only counts as one session reference. In other words, you need to reference at least 8 DIFFERENT required sessions plus two DIFFERENT electives. 

Get help with proofreading. When working on a long document, it’s very easy to start overlooking typos and missing words, because you know what you meant to say. Have someone, or better still, more than one person good at proofreading go over your final document before sending it in for review. This is a professional document, and you want to be at your best.  If you're advised to get assistance with writing and grammar as well, do it. One candidate turned to an English teacher and an English professor for help in this area.

Once all of the above is done, combine all the sections, plus the title page,  etc. into one document, print out a copy and check that all page references are correct. 

Send a digital copy of the combined portfolio to your advisor for final review. 

Once your advisor has signed off on your portfolio:

Email a professionally done, digital headshot to the CTSM Office.

Prepare 3 hard copies of portfolio, with a CD or flash drive digital version attached to each, and send them to CTSM Office. These copies will be sent to the members of your portfolio review committee. (The copies will go back to the CTSM Office after review.)

You have a choice of types of binding for the hard copies you submit. Three-ring binders offer the most flexibility.  If you find an error or decide to add something just before you send in your portfolio, or if your review committee needs you to re-do and re-submit a section, three-ring binders simplify the process.

Heed the adage: “If you don’t have time to do something right the first time, when will you have time to do it over?” Not preparing the hard copies properly will only delay the certification you seek. Seriously, I’ve seen portfolios that met all of the criteria for content get sent back for revision because of format.  Don’t do that to yourself.

Avoid turning in your portfolio at the last minute. If the deadline for completing your portfolio is coming up, or you want to be part of the next CTSM graduation ceremony at EXHIBITORLIVE, be mindful of the deadline for submitting your completed portfolio and make every effort to finish it well before then. Allow some time in case you need to make revisions. Rushing can significantly impact the quality of a portfolio.

If working right up to the deadline is unavoidable, as in the case of a recent advisee whose major annual show took place weeks before the deadline, plan carefully and do every that can be done in advance ahead of time.

Remember, anything worth doing is worth doing right!