Abide By Trade Shows Hours

It's been a tough Winter this year for many people throughout the US with massive amounts of snow and rain, and Mother Nature doesn't seem to be done just yet. In February, I exhibited at a show after about 10 inches of snow came through our area. The organizers didn't want to cancel the business to consumer (B2C) show, but they did push the hours back on the first day.

Attendance was lower than I expected and traffic was definitely slower than expected on the last day. Yes, traffic is typically slower on the last day of a show, but we were going at least 20 minutes between seeing a new person walk down the aisle. Most exhibitor contracts state that you are not allowed to tear down your booth before the absolute end of the show. I train people on many facets of exhibiting at a trade show and I would tell any client to stay the duration because you never know what happens.

At this particular show, many of my exhibitor neighbors began closing up shop early. I wasn't about to bow to peer pressure, so I stayed through the bitter end. During the last 30 minutes of the last day of the show, another exhibitor stopped when he saw me and said, "I've walked by here many times, tell me what you do." That discussion was the best discussion I had at that show. He ended up connecting me with a vendor to begin a project that was at the top of my priority list. Not only that, but the new connection ended up saving me at least three months time on the project and at least $50,000.

Not too bad for spending an extra hour standing around at a show you're paying for. Squeeze all you can out of potential connections whether someone is walking the show or a fellow exhibitor.