Taking Control of a Trade Show – Making the Most of It
This is an article designed to be a guide for how to maximize your time at a trade show. Read the Introductory article here. Since IMS 2009 (International Microwave Symposium) is the next significant conference I will be a part of, it will be the example used throughout these short articles.
For the attendee, there are three distinct aspects of the Symposium that ought to be taken advantage of. The first is Networking, the second Vendor Qualification, and the third Education. 
This first short installment is designed to give you some recommendations on how to capitalize on the great opportunity you have to meet people.
Pre-Event
Taking advantage of the Symposium involves a pro-active, pre-event initiative. There are many tools available to help you get in touch with people who will be attending the conference. If you do not already have a profile on LinkedIn, it is important that you do so. LinkedIn is a very powerful resource and continues to gain prominence. My colleague Blake Imeson has written a great piece titled 21 LinkedIn Hacks, Tricks and Ways to Make Your Profile Better. Be sure to reference this as you go about developing your online LinkedIn network.
On LinkedIn you ought to RSVP for the Tradeshow in the events section. If it has not already been created, then take it upon yourself to create the event. You will gain prominence by doing so. Click here to RSVP for the IMS 2009 LinkedIn event. Once you RSVP you will be able to see others who have done so, and you will be able to connect/message with them. Make sure that you’ve followed the steps in Blake’s article about connecting with power users. I have put a list of a few power users in the PCB industry who will help you gain access to even more people.
Also, take advantage of Facebook if you are a user. There is a Facebook group for IMS 2009 as well.
Email some of your business contacts a quick email asking if they, or anyone that they know, is attending the show. More than likely you will be put in touch with a friend of a friend who is just as overwhelmed by the prospect of networking as you are.
As you begin contacting all of these people, keep a clear calendar of the show in front of you. It is important that you have read the materials concerning the show so that you know what nights have mixers, city excursions, etc. Make sure that you schedule times to meet with the various people that you are networking with, but also make sure that you block of times where you do not plan anything ahead of time. You want to be available so that when you meet people at the show, you can meet with them too. Also try to avoid too many exclusive meet-ups, but make sure that you have a healthy balance of group activities. This way, if there are a few people you want to spend time with and it comes down to only one available time for everyone, there is no awkward canceling of plans, simply bringing more people along.
At the Event
You are going to be busy at the show, and hopefully having the opportunity to meet and greet those people you have been in touch with the few weeks before the show. However, make sure that you have plenty of business cards with you so that you can create more contacts.
Be careful not to gravitate toward one group of people the entire time. Stretch yourself and branch out. Split up from your co-worker for a meal and go sit at a table of people you don’t know. It might be slightly uncomfortable at first, but the event is designed to foster networking and cliques need not apply.
Remember to be yourself and have fun. Trade shows may be a lot of work and continued education, but the interaction with people who are there can make it one of the best weeks of the year.
In the comments section below feel free to share your tips and suggestions for how to take full advantage of the Networking possibilities. I look forward to hearing them.
Listen, listen, listen and take copious notes in a pocket-sized notepad while attending. Don’t even attempt to depend on your memory or think you’re actually going to lug a laptop around to capture your notes on the fly. Something that seemed impossible to forget at 9:00 am on day one is often long gone by day two or three of a busy conference.
If there’s something specific you want to remember about a person for later follow up, note it right on their business card. Use your own system to link the note on the card to your more detailed notes so you can blow them away with timely, detailed follow up at your earliest convenience.
David Vye, editor of Microwave Journal, is suggesting Twitter users tag their tweets from the conference with the hashtag #IMS2009. A quick Twitter search on your PDA while at the conference will give you a heads up to any spur of the moment events not on the show schedule.
Take as many pictures as you can without being a pain in the neck, and if you’re snapping posed shots of people in groups, get their names, including correct spelling. Posting the pics to the show group page in Facebook enables you to tag the people in the shot, creating yet another touch point for building rapport and creates the potential for collaboration.
If you have a blog, it’s also becoming more common to post event pics on there including meta tags to render the pics searchable, creating a digital footprint, associating you and the other folks with the event.
People may grouse about having their photo taken, but they’re always happy to see it later when it shows them in the thick of things with other movers and shakers in the business.
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