Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan!
Prior to the start of the show, write a goal sheet. What do you want to accomplish, what skills do want to develop, who do you want to meet and why, what vendors do you want to see, and what extracurricular events do you want to attend? From here, create a day by day itinerary in your Google calendar that includes:
- Education sessions you want to attend and the time and location of the class.
- A list of suppliers you want to be sure to visit and their booth numbers in chronological order, as well as specific questions to ask. Some ideas are, "What tips do you have to help me sell more of your product?" "What unique services do you offer that I might not know about?" and "A lot of my clients are in the ______ industry. What projects have you done for people in this industry and what were the results." Anyone can show you what's new, but it's more important to know what works!
- Events taking place after the show floor closes. Yes, it's been a long day and you'll be wanting to go back to your room, but guess what? So much of the tradeshow experience happens at the dinners, networking mixers, and parties that happen outside of tradeshow itself. While it will be tempting to kick off your shoes and disappear, try to resist the urge to hideaway. Instead, take a few minutes to research what events are going on before, during, and after the show, and then plan to mix and mingle with your fellow pros. You'll be glad you did!
- Make a packing list. This seems like such a no brainer. Clothes, shoes, wallet, keys, phone. What more could you possibly need? Well . . .You know that cliché that says, "Do something today that your future self will thank you for?" This is it. Make your list. Check it twice. Some things you might want to be sure to add. Comfy shoes, a phone charger and backup charger, a power bank, comfy shoes, hand sanitizer, ibuprofen or some sort of pain reliever, packets of hydration assistants (think Liquid IV, Zipfizz, or even Pedialyte), a refillable water bottle, comfy shoes, a backpack to use in place of the traditional show bag, oh - and did we mention comfy shoes? There are a few other essentials for sure. Just visualize what you are doing each day and write down items that you might need for each part of the day.
Now, you've got your plan and you're ready to go. All that's left. Work your plan!
Tradeshow season is right around the corner. Where will 2020 take you?
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