thoughts on my first trade show

Last week my company participated in a local trade show. The theme was Business to Business and there were over 500 companies participating. It is very interesting being a part of a trade show in Florida, especially in June. First, everyone was soaked in sweat from lugging in their wares in the hot summer sun. I was literally dripping with sweat when we were finished bringing in our gear. Embarrassed, I hustled over to the men's room to clean myself up. It was then that I noticed that EVERYONE was sweaty. This was going to be an interesting day.

Once we were set up, I took a walk around the venue and was amazed at the number of people who were in attendance. At times we were literally arm to arm walking through the booths. Some companies took a novel approach and hired young girls to hand out their materials, not a bad idea considering they had no problems giving away their stuff. I was tempted to take off my shirt and walk around, but figured that might not be a good idea for our prospective sales.

Most interesting to me were the number of people who were walking from booth to booth dropping their business cards and taking ours, without even knowing what these companies do. They are obviously going to spam everyone with whatever they are selling. I don't like that approach very much, but I guess it comes with the territory.

As the day wore on and the attendees began drinking, the tone took on a more casual feel. After a couple drinks people were much more friendly and it made my job easier (I wasn't drinking). I noticed a slow progression as the day wore on towards people not feeling nervous about coming up to the booths. That was great. I think they should have served booze all day!

The biggest thing I took away from the event was that it is so tiring. From being on my feet all day, to greeting countless new faces and companies, by the end of the night I was exhausted. I fell into bed and was asleep in no time.