Team Regator were first time exhibitors at Blogworld Expo ’09 in Las Vegas recently. We imagined our three team members rotating between 2 of us manning our booth, while the third attending a session and perhaps grabbed lunch. Well, 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.
I recently posted on TechDrawl the first four of eight ways to make the most of your conference exhibit. Here are the last four tips from our experience as first time exhibitors at a major conference.
- Be approachable. So you’ve spent the money and committed to a booth, then you sit your butt down in a chair, mess about on your iPhone, and wait for people to approach, right? Wrong! There are many ways to draw people into your booth, but that’s not one of them. I saw an unfortunate number of booths manned by people who looked about as excited to be there as a vegetarian in a steakhouse. Why spend the money and time? Never turn your back on the aisle or get so caught up in your own conversations that you let an interested passerby leave without addressing them. Make eye contact, smile at people, and just generally look like you give a damn about what you’re pitching and people will flock to you. We used a bar-level table, which not only made it easier to demo to people at eye-level but also kept us on our feet (literally) all day every day, in front of the table, making us more approachable than someone sulking behind a counter. We were told time and time again how much our friendliness and enthusiasm were appreciated. Remember that you’re there to sell the benefits of your product, not to act too cool for school.
- Don’t miss out on opportunities. You could stand (or sit) there all day, repeating your pitch verbatim and handing out swag but you’d be missing out on the two biggest opportunities you have: the chance to get a better feel for your demographic by meeting your users and the chance to hone your pitch like never before. You might think your pitch is flawless, but it can be better. Answering, “So what is Regator?” over and over for fifteen hours has its benefits. We are lean, mean pitching machines now, and you will be too after your exhibition experience. You are standing face-to-face with your users and potential users. They are telling you, either verbally or through their facial expressions and actions (watch out for a blank “I just checked out” look), what excites them, which features they are most likely to use, and what concerns they may have. Pay attention.
- Have conversations, not one-sided lectures. Ask everyone who stops by your booth about themselves. It’ll teach you more about your userbase and you’ll meet a lot of great, interesting people along the way. A smiley man walked up to our booth and told me, “I love your app! I use it all the time. Your branding here looks great. Your gator is great. I love it!” He was charming. Now if I had just said, “Thanks, have a sticker!” I would not have known that I was talking to Steve Rubel of Edelman (yes, yes, I know I should’ve recognized him—I’m just not wrapped up in that whole “internet famous” thing), who was kind enough to recently write about us in Ad Age, and I would’ve missed an opportunity to chat with him. Speaking of “internet famous,” don’t get so wrapped up in talking to a high-profile visitor to your booth that you miss others who are interested in your brand. The three of us were chatting with Guy Kawasaki when another woman walked up. I turned to her and started explaining Regator and she whispered, “You know who that is, right? You don’t have to talk to me right now. That’s Guy Kawasaki.” “But I want to talk to you right now,” I told her. She ended up being so enthusiastic about the site that she steered several others our way. We’re all just people. Don’t get wrapped up in hype. That’s a tip that’s applicable to any situation.
- Balance your time. Lastly, it’s common sense, but I’ll say it anyway because common sense isn’t always common: If you’re exhibiting at an event that is party-heavy in the evenings, think twice before doing that 2:00 a.m. shot of whiskey. You’ll need to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning. No one wants to stop into a booth and talk to a hungover dude who smells like a nightclub. Networking is important, but so is putting the best face on your brand.
[Second Photo: Edmund Jenks (2009)]
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.
