TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY DISCLAIMER ABOUT TRADES SHOWS, BOOTHS, ETC. Trade Shows are NOT Home Shows! Trade Shows should not replace a Home Show Trade Shows should be viewed strictly as a great prospecting or booking opportunity to meet NEW people and help you reach a new target group! Types of Trade Show Opportunities There are so many opportunities to exhibit your business. You must decide which venue is right for YOU and YOUR Business and YOUR Personality!!!! Do you want Corporate Setting? Do you want Casual Setting? What Target Audience do you want? How far are you willing to travel? Can you afford a booth fee? What are the hours of the booth? WHERE TO START???? Schools Opportunities to ask for: Holiday Bazaars, Booth at a game or cheerleading event, fundraiser with Open House Display Daycare Contact the Director - ask to do an employee show; booth at an open house or holiday expo Elementary PTO President - as to do a set up at Back to School Night; Fall Festival, Spring Festival, during a Book Fair, during A Teacher's Appreciation, Band/Chorus Concert Ask for a fundraiser opportunity too. Middle PTO President - as to do a set up at Back to School Night; Fall Festival, Spring Festival, during a Book Fair, during A Teacher's Appreciation, Band/Chorus Concert Ask for a fundraiser opportunity too. High School Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY Contact PTO President, Coaches, Individual Clubs PTO President - as to do a set up at Back to School Night; Fall Festival, Spring Festival, during a Book Fair, during A Teacher's Appreciation, Band/Chorus Concert Ask to set up a games, competitions Ask for a fundraiser opportunity too. College/Universities opportunities at the University range from Trade Shows, Alumni Events, Career Fairs and Job Expos, Employee Appreciation Days and minority business expos. Employee Events - Contact HR Dept on University Website Fraternities/Sororities - contact the Pan-Hellenic Council which is the board for the Greek Life -it lists every fraternity and sororities greek like council. The Greek life has parent's weekend full of events in the Fall and Spring. They also have social events and are required to do a certain amount of community service hours and events. These can range from Family Day Festivals or charity events. Ask to do a booth at any/all of them. Diversity Fairs - contact the Purchasing Dept. You can always do a search on their website. Alumni Office - speak to alumni member services City/County Festival - Holiday events downtown, or themed local events July 4th, St Paddy's Day, Thursday Night Live (example) Craft Fairs - Art Festivals, etc. Do a search on local city websites using Google. Apple Orchards Ask for the owner or who is in charge of the weekend festivals and events. They have weekend events but only choose a booth when there is a big event with the media or a family day. "City's Name" League of Cities They help run and train mayor's offices throughout your state. Do a search on local city websites using Google and see if they have an event calendar. They typically do and then you can see when and where their conventions are held. County Offices They hosts a tremendous amount of conventions and conferences. Do a search on local city websites using Google and see if they have an event calendar. They typically do and then you can see when and where their conventions are held. Church Festivals Fall Festivals call church office and just ask Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY Women's organizations through church call church office and just ask Associations Chamber of Commerce (local) and State Chambers They host Business Network Receptions, Cheerleading competitions/tournaments Google websites and search for "events, competitions" Junior League they strictly do community fundraising but host several events Baseball Leagues go the website and see if there are any end of the year festivals Insurances search their website and look for annual conventions; Type in "insurance conventions, state name, Women's Associations NAWBO, Junior League, Women's Club, Mom's Clubs BNI opportunity for a visitor's day, or as a member you get a day to speak Conventions Do a internet search by typing in organization name and your state or city. Then look for a convention, event or calendar link on their website to find out when and where they are planning to host this event. There is typically an exhibitor form and information. Be sure to go to your Visitor's BUREAU website and pull the convention calendar from the website that is booked somewhere in your town this year and next year. From there you can do a search on Google to get to the actual event or organization's webpage to pull information on the specific event. Professional Organizations: Some organizations to Google -be sure to include your state or narrow it down by including your city too; they are usually held at your convention center or local hotel chain. NAWBO Real Estate for example new Orleans annual conv is 11/5-11/8 Paralegal Insurance 8.14.11 Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY Pest Control Literacy Nurses Medical Sales and Supplies Health Fairs - check your local hospitals too!! Car Shows Home Health Home & Garden Shows these are typically very big, very expensive and range over a period of days. If you decide to do this it is most advantageous to pull in your team to split the cost and the days to man the booth. Manufacturers They may sponsor events with a big speaker Bridal Shows offer to help with a Fashion Show; do an ad in their program and attend the event to talk to the other vendors. I do not find this to be cost effective as the bride is too focused on booking her photographer, caterer, dj, limo, etc that offer great incentives at the expo. Corporate Kiosk Corporate Kiosk is a national corporate planning service that sets up booths and expos inside businesses. Go to WWW.CORPKIOSKS.COM or 781-209-2000. OTHER Big Companies/Corporations Many large companies in your town will host a employee holiday day where they invite vendors in for their employees to shop. Country Clubs They typically have a holiday boutique for their members. You need to contact event services and see how you can become a vendor at their event. Ask people you know that belong to a club about their events. Create your own Holiday Boutique Shopping Day at a Neighborhood Clubhouse or your home invite other direct sales companies and vendors to do your own holiday bazaar. Everyone is required to invite at least 20-30 customers or friends to come. Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY FEES What fees can you expect or think about?: May charge a booth fee May ask for a percentage May pay more for better location or bigger booth space Electricity is typically extra WHERE AND HOW TO FIND THEM? Internet Search by "industry name, city and state" (i.e. - Home Health, Lexington, KY) Visitors Bureau - search for the convention calendar Chamber - both city and state Newspaper Business section lists events for the week. Call the person at the paper to learn about future ones. Eventlister.com go there and enter your specific parameters to be notified of events coming to your area ASK your friends, customers and hostesses they typically are involved in things you are not and may know of booth opportunities already. Ask them to keep you in mind if they hear of anything. Things to Ask Before Paying for a Trade Show Booth: Exhibitor Fee - is there one and how much? Size of Booth space Do you have an alloted space with partitions? (such as piping curtains, 10*10 or just a table) What size table? Do you need to bring a table? What do you get for your fee? Typically you get: A 6 or 8 ft table Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY 2 chairs waste basket is there a piping backdrop? Can you bring extra tables of your own Is there an extra cost for electricity? How many people can you bring to work your booth? Is there a fee to bring extra jewelers with you? Are there other conventions to exhibit? What other conventions do the administrators know about that they think would be a good venue for you to attend as an exhibitor - ALWAYS ASK!!! And ask other exhibitors at the trade show!! Other Questions to Ask? Do you get an attendee list? Do you get an exhibitor list? What else is going on at the convention that you should know about? Is there a band? Is there another convention? Where is the exhibitor space compared to the actual convention? What are the times that the exhibitor booths are open to the attendees? What time can you set-up? What time can you break down? Is there security on site? Can you SELL AT THE EVENT?? Do they provide food or drinks for the exhibitors? What is the attire of the convention for the attendees? What is the typical attendee like - or what does he/she do that brings them to this? What is the average age of the attendees? What is the ratio of men to women at this convention? YOU MUST EVALUATE IF THE BOOTH FEE IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT!!! I have to caution you that you should not be spending a ton of money on a booth fee. The heart of our business is at the HOME SHOW!! You should approach these booth opportunities as a venue to meet new customer, hostesses and new jewelers. It will get you out of your "circle". But it is not to replace your home shows! THINGS TO BRING WITH YOU: Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com TRADE SHOWS HOW TO PARTICIPATE AS AN EXHIBITOR WITH PREMIER DESIGNS By: Melia Hord, Lexington KY TRADE SHOW CHECKLIST -EXHIBIT B Very inclusive Checklist for you to review and consider. It thinks of almost everything….but you may not need everything or want to do it all! Keep in mind your ultimate goals for the booth! THINGS TO REMEMBER TO DO: Dress the PART and be dressed appropriately for your audience. Talk to other exhibitors Be excited! SMILE - LOVE WHAT YOU DO Hand your business card to everyone that comes to your booth! Be Prepared! see Trade Show Checklist Melia Hord 859-351-3661 or melia@premierdiva.com