As the dust settles from my first major trade show and life at the Caster offices starts to regain some form of normalcy, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my first CEDIA EXPO and put together a little trade show survival guide based off my observations of this past trip to Denver. I am not claiming to be the Bear Grylls of trade shows, after all this is the only one I have attended and I look forward to attending many more. This list should serve more as a guide of things I found indispensable both on and off the show floor.
1. Coffee. Coffee is magical, and you’re going to need it. Either that, or have your own personal stash of caffeine pills. I was surprised by how much of a social event a trade show is, while equally being about the business side. A bit of caffeine in the morning gets the blood flowing and generally helps folks be more sociable, then there are other types of liquids to help you be sociable in the evening. Coffee is such a big player that while at the trade show, I jokingly made a CEDIA13 Survival Guide Twitter Vine which was essentially seven seconds of footage of coffee.
Don’t forget to chase that coffee with water, though. Coffee dehyrates you, combine that with a warm and dry trade show floor, and you could end up feeling groggier than when you started.
2. Combo Pack: Change of shoes & comfortable socks. I have my boss to thank for this one. Left to my own devices I most likely would have brought one pair of shoes I planned to wear the whole time. A shoe change at the end of your time on the show floor before you head to a client dinner or event made a world of difference and comfortable socks just help to make the whole experience more enjoyable.
3. Mini Med-Kit. Recommending you bring a smorgasbord of various drugs may sound bad, but I of course mean legal ones like Tylenol and ibuprofen. My colleagues were right, a trade show is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. By the end of the first day, my everything (but mostly my lower back) was killing me. Having something I could take to alleviate my discomfort was a must-have. Band-aids for blisters will also come in handy.
4. Portable Power. This was huge and I now swear by it. I was in charge of social for our office while at the trade show. Constantly tweeting, recording Vines, taking pictures, scheduling posts, occasionally emailing and texting took a toll on my iPhone’s battery. So much so that by 11:30 AM I was usually staring at about 35% battery after having a full charge at 7 AM. I was fortunate to have my iPad equipped with a Justin Power Case made by one of our clients, Innovative Technology with me which packs an insane amount of portable power into an iPad case that you can then use to charge any of your mobile electronics. The whole time I was out there I didn’t have to charge my Justin Case once and it provided me with enough juice to charge my iPhone roughly twice a day for all three days I was on the show floor.
5. Gum/Mints. Especially to help combat the amount of coffee you’re drinking at the show. You never really know who you might run into or strike up a conversation with at a trade show. For Caster, it could be a new media contact or potential new business. For an exhibitor, it could be a new dealer or distributor. Carrying around a pack of gum or tin of mints is just one of those handy things to have.
To a veteran of trade shows, this list may be a collection of no-brainers but to someone like me, who had never experienced a show before and didn’t really know what to expect, having these few items helped and made a difference. So to those veterans of trade shows, if there’s anything I missed (which I am sure there is) or any tips/tricks you have for surviving a trade show, I’d love to hear what they are!
As always, I can be reach via Twitter at @CasterPete or via email at pgirard@castercomm.com.
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