Eight Ways to Make the Most of Your Conference Exhibit – Part 1
The plan was to do video interviews at Blogworld Expo ’09 and for the three members of Team Regator to take turns going to sessions (and eating lunch) while the other two manned our booth. That didn’t happen (not even the lunch part), but we’re not complaining. Regator’s booth turned out to be far more popular than we’d hoped—with all three of us needed at all times to meet demand.
The second part of the plan was to take the video interviews and things I picked up at panels and put them into a nice Blogworld wrap-up post for TechDrawl. Obviously, that too is out the door. What we did learn, however, is the art of exhibiting at a conference or tradeshow. For TechDrawl readers who are on their second or third well-funded startup, these tips may seem old hat, but we hope that some of what we garnered from the experience can be helpful for bootstrappers, first-time entrepreneurs, or first-time exhibitors like us.
1. Find the right conference for your business. It sounds simple, but there is an ever-expanding universe of events pertaining to social media, technology, startups, and new media. They’re not all created equal. We scoped out Blogworld (“the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of new media including blogging”) last year to make sure the audience was right, the panels were useful, and the event was well-organized. As we left Blogworld ’08,we were already discussing a booth for 2009. Blogworld’s merger with New Media Expo was the final straw in helping us decide that, as a blog-focused startup, it was THE place for us to exhibit this year. Even if you can’t go a year ahead to suss out the situation, do your research: Find out what sort of people typically attend, how many, what other exhibiters are involved, and what caliber of speakers are presenting.
2. Choose the right spot. Most conferences, including Blogworld, have a map of potential booth spaces for you to choose from. In addition to the obvious benefits, like being on the main row if possible, take a look at who else is around you. We situated ourselves across from Wordpress and next to Lijit, both non-competitors whose users would also enjoy Regator. The front of the exhibit hall is typically better than the back in terms of foot traffic. We chose the back in this case because it was a gathering place at last year’s event. This year, we probably would’ve been slightly better off in the front, although there were tables and speakers at the back. Lastly, our position on a corner was invaluable. While our setup stayed within the bounds of our booth, the corner allowed access from more angles and gave our booth a general openness that helped to draw passersby.
3. Know what you want to achieve. Exhibiting is not cheap (we’ll get to that), so you’ll want to have a goal in mind. Are you going in order to increase brand awareness, create content (a la Blog Talk Radio or TechZulu at Blogworld), promote an upcoming product, learn more about your users, or just get to spend all day listening to Adam Carolla’s voice through your curtain (been there, done that, not recommended). Get your goals in order before you plan your booth. If your goal is branding, be sure to brand the hell out of your booth (as we did). If you’re in it to create content, set up your booth in a way that’s well-lit and comfortable for your interviewees. If you’re going to promote a product (as we were with our upcoming paid iPhone app), be sure to provide take-away information about that product. If you’re there to listen to Carolla, bring earplugs because that crap gets old after about eight hours. Whatever you do, have goals.
—Kimberly Turner (@kimber_regator), cofounder of Regator.com and Regator for iPhone
The plan was to do video interviews at Blogworld Expo ’09 and for the three members of Team Regator to take turns going to sessions (and eating lunch) while the other two manned our booth. That didn’t happen (not even the lunch part), but we’re not complaining. Regator’s booth turned out to be far more popular than we’d hoped—with all three of us needed at all times to meet demand.
The second part of the plan was to take the video interviews and things I picked up at panels and put them into a nice Blogworld wrap-up post for TechDrawl. Obviously, that too is out the door. What we did learn, however, is the art of exhibiting at a conference or tradeshow. For TechDrawl readers who are on their second or third well-funded startup, these tips may seem old hat, but we hope that some of what we garnered from the experience can be helpful for bootstrappers, first-time entrepreneurs, or first-time exhibitors like us.
- Find the right conference for your business. It sounds simple, but there is an ever-expanding universe of events pertaining to social media, technology, startups, and new media. They’re not all created equal. We scoped out Blogworld (“the first and only industry-wide tradeshow, conference, and media event dedicated to promoting the dynamic industry of new media including blogging”) last year to make sure the audience was right, the panels were useful, and the event was well-organized. As we left Blogworld ’08,we were already discussing a booth for 2009. Blogworld’s merger with New Media Expo was the final straw in helping us decide that, as a blog-focused startup, it was THE place for us to exhibit this year. Even if you can’t go a year ahead to suss out the situation, do your research: Find out what sort of people typically attend, how many, what other exhibiters are involved, and what caliber of speakers are presenting.
- Choose the right spot. Most conferences, including Blogworld, have a map of potential booth spaces for you to choose from. In addition to the obvious benefits, like being on the main row if possible, take a look at who else is around you. We situated ourselves across from Wordpress and next to Lijit, both non-competitors whose users would also enjoy Regator. The front of the exhibit hall is typically better than the back in terms of foot traffic. We chose the back in this case because it was a gathering place at last year’s event. This year, we probably would’ve been slightly better off in the front, although there were tables and speakers at the back. Lastly, our position on a corner was invaluable. While our setup stayed within the bounds of our booth, the corner allowed access from more angles and gave our booth a general openness that helped to draw passersby.
- Know what you want to achieve. Exhibiting is not cheap (we’ll get to that), so you’ll want to have a goal in mind. Are you going in order to increase brand awareness, create content (a la Blog Talk Radio or TechZulu at Blogworld), promote an upcoming product, learn more about your users, or just get to spend all day listening to Adam Carolla’s voice through your curtain (been there, done that, not recommended). Get your goals in order before you plan your booth. If your goal is branding, be sure to brand the hell out of your booth (as we did). If you’re in it to create content, set up your booth in a way that’s well-lit and comfortable for your interviewees. If you’re going to promote a product (as we were with our upcoming paid iPhone app), be sure to provide take-away information about that product. If you’re there to listen to Carolla, bring earplugs because that crap gets old after about eight hours. Whatever you do, have goals.
- Watch out for hidden costs. A Blogworld booth is $27 per square foot, which means Regator’s 10×10 booth checked in at $2700—or did it? A Blogworld booth is just what it sounds like: a booth. That means:
- No carpet (required and anything but plain gray will cost extra), tables, chairs, or garbage bin (nearly $500)
- No electricity (over $100)
- No internet (Consider BYO internet—we brought Clear and were really pleased. Keep in mind that if a whole room of exhibitors is on the same Wifi, it’s gonna feel slower than your 1994 dial-up.
- No insurance (which they told us was required but never checked…there goes $250)
- No labor costs (we circumnavigated this cost by hand-carrying in all our own stuff—no rolling suitcases allowed, nothing that required tools and/or more than 30 minutes to assemble, per Nevada union rules). And don’t forget that the cost also excludes gear such as electronic equipment and computers, banners and signage, swag to give away, business cards, the cost of actually getting your stuff to the conference, or the value of the time you spend prepping and working the booth. These extra costs are in no way exclusive to Blogworld, and I want to stress that we did find our booth to be extremely worthwhile. The point is that what you’ll get with your space will vary widely depending on the conference. Find out what you’re getting and, more importantly, how much other things you’ll need will cost before you commit.
Stay tuned for Eight Tips for Your Conference Exhibit – Part 2.
Editors’ Note:
Guest Contributor Kimberly Turner is cofounder of Regator.com and Regator for iPhone that let’s you explore millions of quality posts from thousands of the best hand-picked blogs on your iPhone… for free! Turner has an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and has edited and/or written for a number of Australian magazines, including ADB, Roost, Massive, and Outdoor. She’s currently a senior staff writer for Atlanta magazine and lives in Decatur, Georgia.
