Those of who are involved in trade shows are in the heat of the battle: Fall show season is in full swing. It seems like a good time to remind ourselves why thousands of trade shows attract millions of people each year:
Captive, targeted audience. Look into the eyes of customers (potential and existing!) and ask them how we can help them.- Catch-up with old industry friends and find new ways to work together.
- Network with other professionals who are experiencing the same challenges as we are.
- Learn about the newest trends, cutting-edge technologies and latest services and solutions.
- Attend, sponsor or lead education sessions that don’t include self-promotion and actually serve the industry.
- Learn something new – whether it relates directly to our profession or not.
- Honor, recognize or engage individuals at a live event that can’t be replicated online.
Unfortunately, trade show booth “workers” often focus on everything BUT the opportunities that are available. You may recognize yourself in some of these reasons NOT to attend:
- Gossip with other company employees in the booth about anything and everything except the task at hand.
- Torture our toes in those new shoes that we thought would be comfortable.
- Fill up on chocolate-chip cookies and truffles and completely over-caffeinate ourselves.
- Stay up way too late trying to catch up on the work we missed by spending the day at the show. Get up way too early the next morning. Repeat three times. OR…
- Stay up way too late trying to catch-up on drinking and partying we missed by spending the rest of our lives at home. Get up too late the next morning. Repeat three times.
Trade shows work. There are a multitude of resources with mountains of research confirming that fact. HOWEVER, each trade show needs to be treated as a unique opportunity to get a specific task accomplished. Always, always, ALWAYS:
- Learn as much as you can about the show. Find out who the show attendees are. Every show presents unique opportunities with a specific audience. The message to a purchasing agent may be completely different than the message for end-user.
- Really LOOK at where you are in the show hall. For example, is your layout facing the “best” direction based on the show traffic? Are you near the food vendors where people may be tempted to eat in your booth? And being near your biggest competitor may provide different opportunities and/or challenges than being next to one of your contractors or current customers.
- Consider your product. Let’s say you sell tablecloths. How many exhibits have tables with rented run-of-the-mill tablecloths? Providing one of yours at a deep discount (or even free!) creates a HUGE increase in your visibility at the show.
- Find the best hotel options and flights. An inexpensive hotel that is miles away from the venue might not make any sense if you need to take a taxi to get there or it takes 30 minutes to drive, park and walk from the rental car. And an early flight out might sound appealing, but consider the real reason you attended in the first place.
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