To Exhibit or Not to Exhibit? That is the question?

This past week, I attended a new "networking" event that debuted in Indianapolis. The purpose of this event was to give business owners, entrepreneurs and sales people a chance to peddle their products and services to each other and attendees. The question that I was asked by a few people that exhibited or attended this event was, "Do you think it's better to be an exhibitor or to simply attend and network?"

The same question can be asked about a chamber of commerce trade show event or small business expo you'd find in other cities. Are these events really worth it or are there better uses of your networking time and energy. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Let's look at some of the things you should consider.

Cost
How much does it cost to purchase a table or booth? They can range from $50 for smaller events to thousands for very large, multi-day events. You need to determine you overall cost of exhibiting and then calculate how much business you need to close from the contacts you make at the show. Let's say the table costs $200. Add in printing of sales collateral, signage, and promotional give-aways. I then figure in my time. Just for example, let's say you are an attorney that bills out at $175 per hour. If you have an hour of set up and and hour of tear down and the event is eight hours long, you've suddenly got almost $1,600 plus your other expenses...for a total cost of $2,000.

Location
Just like any other business, location is extremely important. Is the event easily accessible? Are people going to take the time to drive there? And, is there enough parking for exhibitors and guests? In the case of this particular event in Indianapolis, the parking was very limited and people who did park further away had to track through mud. And there were several cars that simply left because there were no parking spots.

Timing
When is the event scheduled? If it's during the weekday, are people going to be able to take time off from their jobs to attend? Will people actually fight noon time or rush hour traffic to make their way to an event? Personally, I believe small business trade shows are better attended if they are held on Fridays; psychologically they can finish their work week and attend an event without feeling the pressure our guilt of returning to work.

Exposure
Does your table or booth stand out? Every show has prime real estate. Where your table or booth is positioned within the flow of traffic is critical. If you are in the very front, people will often blow right by you. If you are located in the back, people may never get to you. At this particular event, I went through the same room five times before I finally found one of my vendors who was located around a corner behind a door. Her location was horrible.

Goals
What do you want to accomplish? For some people, they like standing behind a table all day and engaging in chit chat with people who stroll by. But it's kind of like fishing in the same spot all day in hopes of landing the big one that swims by. When you are exhibiting, you really don't have time to become engaged with other businesses or with many of the people attending. And let's face it, most people who exhibit have no idea how to effectively work their booth. But, I'll address that issue in another post.

Audits
One other VERY IMPORTANT thing to ask an event organizer is for an audit. If you invest $1,000 in an event and they sell you on the point that there is going to be 5,000 people in attendance and only 1,000 actually show up. Your cost per person went from an anticipated 20 cents to $1. That's an increase of 500%.

If the organizers are not able to produce an independent audit, then understand that their numbers may very well be inflated or include other exhibitors and workers. Ask for a list of attendees from a previous show or after the event. You are looking for the number of attendees. If they are proud of their attendance, they'll share it. If not, they've probably got something to hide.

Goals
The next time you have the opportunity to either exhibit or attend an event, you need to think about what you want to accomplish. Do you want to generate qualified leads? Do you just want to build your brand awareness? Do you want to form strategic relationships? If you don't have a clear goal in mind, then you are wasting time and money.

For me, I prefer to simply attend these events. My goal is to find potential vendors, business partners, and a few potential clients. But I never go into these events thinking I'm going to land the big fish. I don't need to invest a lot of time and money and have found that I am much more productive as an attendee. I've learned that I can build stronger relationships with both exhibitors and attendees in the days and weeks following an event simply by applying my networking skills.

For more information on how BTK & Associates can help you leverage your next trade show opportunity, visit btkmarketing.com or call 317.493.8964.