Organizing A Successful Trade Show
Organizing a trade show is seemingly an overwhelming task. It is a challenging task even for the seasoned event management professional.
Even if you have organized a trade show in the past, read this article for a quick review of all you have to do for a successful trade show.
As the show organizer, you need to choose the venue, negotiate numerous contracts and make travel and hotel arrangements too.
You also have to organize the exhibition services, promote your event with better effectiveness to potential vendors, plan and implement the innumerable details that form the logistics of the event.
Bringing Together Buyers and Sellers
Since the main purpose of a trade show is to bring together buyers and sellers, the most important undertaking is identifying these audiences.
Conduct thorough marketing research and develop a comprehensive marketing plan to avoid event common mistakes.
Your market research will begin with a database that contains information about buyers and sellers. You can contact your regional trade association for a list – or you can also contact Evenesis that has the most powerful event registration & management platform and can help to match you with thousands of exhibitors, trade visitors, companies and investors.
If you function within a regulated industry, you may be able to access public records.
Two other options for this information could be commercial brokers that sell company listings for various industries or partnerships with trade publications that could share their subscription lists for floor space at your trade show.
Sales Kit
Prepare your lists and reflect upon the needs of these businesses.
Design packages to market your event to these vendors, which could include floor space, ads in the trade show directory and possibly an appearance in a panel to make the participation worthwhile for them.
There are some finer details that you should also keep in perspective.
The timing is extremely important and every industry has a schedule that needs to be respected.
If you are creating a trade show for retailers, plan it in a way that they have sufficient time to fulfil orders they get at your event in time for Christmas.
Strategic Location
Your choices for event location is another deal-breaker.
If you want to organize a trade show for men’s wear, the suitable choices are LA or New York because these places have the market presence or perhaps Las Vegas as it is located close to LA and because it is a good crowd puller.
Fulfilling Needs
A successful trade show cannot be a fill-in-the-blanks job. The participants and visitors both will be industry insiders and as the show’s organizer, you will have to prepare a show that meets their needs.
Trade shows organizers have evolved through the years from being perceived as real estate people selling floor space, to facilitators successfully bringing together the visitor and the vendor.
