Well, now we’re back from ISC West and per usual it’s all been a blur. A successful blur but still a blur. I’m one of those weirdo trade show-going people who actually enjoys Las Vegas and to be honest, trade shows in general (see my previous post about the joys of shows).
Seriously though, in the days of Skype, constant email messages, texts, social and never being ‘off the grid’, the trade show conference puts you more on the grid than ever – for a limited time, of course. Being in the forefront of the grid and face-to-face with clients, partners, media and show organizers recharges relationships and gives that extra motivation to go a great job for each other and make everyone’s business successful – the joys of b2b!
Being on the non-exhibitor side of things we do miss out on booth set-up and break down (boo hoo) but our show prep is pretty intense. We’ll start a few months out from the show with show planning – restaurant reservations, media appointment scheduling, press and collateral material and general booth strategizing (among various other things).
Also, as non-booth-having show ‘attendees’, our days are jam-packed with running around the show floor from booth to booth helping to field media appointments and interviews, press inquiries, video shooting and even general program ‘catch-up’ with clients. And our evenings are always busy with cocktail receptions and dinners and – if you can muster the energy – drinks to debrief the day at the end of the night. That leaves you with pretty much no downtime.
The intensity of this exercise can seem a little overwhelming to some but as an agency, we’re built for this. We’ll always staff a solid crew at the show to be sure all these carefully planned activities roll out properly. We thrive on supporting our clients on the regular, but at the shows it’s much more fulfilling to be there physically alongside them as we promote their business, technology and of course, products.
This takes a huge burden off of our clients knowing that we are there to assist with and sometimes actually take the reins on managing portions of the planning and supervision – something that may seem like an overwhelming and massive undertaking.
Bring on the next one! Viva la trade show!
