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I have been attending trade shows for over twenty years. My trade show experience began with my first profession as an inventor of modern confectionery products. I traveled the country exhibiting at various trade shows and focused on marketing confectionery to children.
Since moving into business real estate in 2016, I have continued to attend trade shows. Although business shades come in all shapes and sizes, I have noticed some similarities.
This article goals to share my insights to make it easier to get the most out of any trade show you exhibit at or attend. Below are five concepts to maintain in mind.
1. Travel
I all the time recommend staying in a hotel inside walking distance of the conference. That way you do not have to struggle to get to the conference in the morning or find other transportation. The conference organizer often provides discounted rooms for attendees. I like to recommend booking your hotel as soon as the information is sent out. Hotels near the conference venue are often booked first.
If you have to fly to a conference, I like to recommend booking your flight as early as possible. This will make sure you get the best flight. I like to recommend flying direct at any time when possible. Even if you have to go to an airport that is farther from your home, it is value it. You won’t have to fret about missing any changes to your schedule if you have a direct flight.
I all the time get a flight that enables me to reach early and depart later. That way, there is no rush to get to and from the conference. Since conferences will be expensive, I find it vital to reach early and stay longer to get value for your money.
2. Networking
Remember to all the time take a lot of business cards with you. Many people are now opting for an electronic business card. It’s a personal selection, but I still like the old-fashioned business card. The problem I see with electronic business cards is that once you have the person on your phone, it’s cluttered with all your other contacts.
Contacting people you met at a conference will be intimidating. In my opinion, it’s still best to have physical business cards of the people you’ve contacted. If you’re contacting someone with an electronic card, you possibly can all the time take a picture of it after scanning it and saving the details to your phone. At least that way you possibly can go back to your pictures and find their contact information.
3. Continuation
Speaking of taking pictures, I wish to take pictures of my cards during conferences. That way, if you lose your card, you have a backup on your phone.
Another follow-up tip I exploit is to create a spreadsheet for follow-ups after the conference. The spreadsheet comprises all the tasks I promised to follow up on. Once I’m done, I adjust the spreadsheet to show that the task was accomplished. These spreadsheets help me hold myself accountable for follow-ups. I also love checking off items on my to-do list.
4. Notebook
A small notepad and a few pens in your conference bag are essential. You shall be interacting with many people during a conference; if you don’t write down your interactions, you won’t remember them. I like to recommend having a few pens on hand in case some stop working or you give away pens. Having pens with your contact information handy out is all the time nice.
This notebook must be used to maintain track of your notes during the conference and who you spoke to. At a recent conference, my managing broker informed me ahead of time that he would love to know how many people I spoke to after the conference. This prompted me to number the people I spoke to and write that number down in my notebook. It ended up being a nice conversation piece to let the other party know what their number was. It also made it much easier to follow up.
5. Snacks
Have snacks ready when you get to the conference. I all the time plan and pack snacks in my suitcase. For small bottles of water, I often stop at a market or food market when I get there. Food and water at conferences will be hard to come back by and expensive. If you prepare ahead of time by stocking your conference bag with snacks and water, you’ll have a more productive trade show experience.
Many of the above are obvious, but I often see individuals who are unprepared at trade shows. If you propose your travel ahead of time, are prepared to network, have a follow-up plan, and pack a conference bag with a notebook, pens, and snacks, you’ll make the most of every trade show.