71 replies to this topic

[jimknecht]

I am looking to attend several regionals next year... especially those within two day shipping of Memphis. So that includes an area ranging from Texas, NE, WI, MI, PA, NJ & the entire southeast. This year I did MAPPS (Dallas) & HPPA (Houston) and they were GREAT shows for us.

I have decided to not do the PPAI Expo & instead concentrate on several ASI shows (I consider them super regionals) along with a few regionals. I was invited to Michigan's show this year but had a conflict, but will plan on attending next year.

So if you have attended or volunteered at your regional, let me know what you think. I would love to hear how many attended. I am including a map provided by RAC. Thanks for what you do Mark.

Also, any discussion of how you pick shows & why you pick them would be helpful. Comments regarding your experiences at regionals would be nice. I am a novice at exhibiting at these regionals but was very pleased... especially where you can have a volunteer man your booth for a lunch break.

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Edited by jimknecht, 08 October 2009 - 07:31 AM.

[cmroma]

Jim...PPAMS is practically in your back yard.
I hear it is a good show, but I have never attended.
However, if you are going to exhibit, it might just give me the excuse to trek on out to Nashville!!


Craig

[jimknecht]

Yep, that one is already on my radar. I am coordination with my good friend Don Sanders with sellpromoproducts.com, as he attends lots of these shows. Actually, we are talking about him handling some of the shows for us. He helped me with the Dallas & Houston shows this year.

I will state my plan is to handle most of these myself. Seems folks like talking with the head honcho as opposed to an employee or rep.

Tell you what Craig, if you show up... I'll be there.

[cmroma]

Let me know the date and I will be there!
Maybe I can even convince the wife to join me. You'll get to see the woman that can put up with me for 17 years and still keep her sanity!:D

[royster13]

Jim I know you like UPS but with Fedex you can reach a larger area for 3 days service than with UPS...See maps attached....

So that opens up SAAC and AZ, UT, WY and Northern NV, etc....

PS..And make you 4 days from me instead of 5....

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[jimknecht]

royster13 said:

So that opens up SAAC and AZ, UT, WY and Northern NV, etc....

Well first of all, I stated within two days shipping... not 3. But even then, I want to see distributors, not tumbleweeds in the desert. :D

[royster13]

I must be dazed and confused....No further comment required.....

PS.....I think you may have mentioned 3 days ship in past threads and it stuck in my mind....

[3Koi Maui]

Gee, I guess that rules us out. Not only the shipping, and hey, we don't even have a regional. But you and Barbara and Nolan are welcome out here, with or without your danged cups.

[jimknecht]

Don't get all hung up on the 2 days from Memphis. I would hope other suppliers could use the info from any & all shows. If it were a good enough show, I would consider attending... no matter where it is located. I just find our core business is located within our two day UPS delivery area. That does not mean we don't do considerable business elsewhere, just that my first goal is to shore up our base. Then later, I can look at branching out farther.

Thing is, I can get a nice ROI, even at a smaller regional. The shows are cheaper, they last only one day & the attending distributors seem to appreciate the suppliers that take the effort to attend. Where at a bigger show, we might be lucky to get 10% of distributors to stop by our booth, however at Dallas & Houston, we saw a MUCH larger percent of attendees. Then on top of that, I find all attendees are much more receptive to post show follow up... even if they didn't stop by our booth. Don Sanders has led my post show advertising at these two regionals & the results have been amazing.

I'm just real curious on how you folks look at regionals. Do you bring more folks with you than a bigger show? Are you more likely to visit suppliers than you would at bigger shows? Do y'all see a nice ROI yourselves at a regional?

[cmroma]

Great question, Jim.
From my perspective, we get a lot more accomplished at the smaller shows. We are able to spend more quality time with each individual supplier and bring away some new ideas.
Now...some suppliers send their "D" team to do the small regionals. This is a supplier rep that has no clue about what they are presenting, or a multi-line rep that doesn't much care about what they are presenting.
This tends to be the downside of some smaller shows.
When this happens, we move on rather quickly and choose to spend our time with reps that know how to educate and inform the Distributor.

Not to say that all multi-line reps are like this...in fact, it is the exception. But it does happen more frequently than you would think.
Some multi-line reps are actually better than the factory reps. I hear that Mark is very, very good (although I am not in his territory...so no first hand experience). I have known Tom Flanagan for many years. He always amazes me with the knowledge he has of each product line that he represents.
He has never told me "Contact the factory about that". If I have a rare question that he can't answer, he gets the answer for me very fast.

We are looking for new products, new ideas on how to sell a line of products, new printing techniques, and relationship building with the supplier.
If it is clear that none of this is going to happen, we move on.

The larger shows are far too busy for any one rep to spend a significant amount of time with you. We get the elevator speech and a peek at what is new.
This is why I prefer the smaller shows.

[jimknecht]

Craig, would you agree that you would be more responsive to post show emails from a small show? Seems you would get less of them to begin with.

[cmroma]

100% agree.

Last time I went to the Expo, I received about 30 to 50 follow-up e-mails per day for weeks after the show. Not enough time to go through all of them...so I selectively deleted quite a bit.

The follow-ups from the smaller shows can be managed much more easily. I read every follow-up from the regionals I have attended.

[jimknecht]

Thanks Craig. It is good to know your practices match up with what I have experienced. Seems to me other suppliers would be interested in this data. Point being, there may be considerably less folks at the smaller shows, however you get a much higher return per attendee.

[DSubasa]

jimknecht said:

Well first of all, I stated within two days shipping... not 3. But even then, I want to see distributors, not tumbleweeds in the desert. :D

HEY HEY HEY... Be nice. That's my backyard you're talking about... LOL

[jimknecht]

DSubasa said:

That's my backyard you're talking about... LOL

You got any grass in that backyard? :D

[DSubasa]

jimknecht said:

You got any grass in that backyard? :D

Just cacti, rocks, and tumbleweeds! ;)

[royster13]

And I bet the AzPPA show is a hoot!.......

[DSubasa]

Its mostly the after party that ensues. :D

[DBeavers]

Jim,

As of last month, your PPA Region map is in dispute.

Houston PPA received permission to incorporate Louisiana into the Houston region. Great move that I may have helped instigate when I joined the Houston association - They host a big annual show every August ans co-host the Souther Showcase in Janury.

For 2010, they'll also co-host the Southern Showcase table top show in Baton Rouge in January.

Compared to the smaller summer showcase that Sunbelt puts on in Alabame every other year - at a much greater distance for most Louisiana folks, and it just makes sense to divorce Sunbelt and marry into Houston.

I attended the Houston monthly meeting last night, which was my 3rd or 4th of their monthly meetings I attended this year. I actually attend more than many of their Texas members.

Kinda like a Chamber of Commerce membership - The more you put in - the more you get out of it.

With Houston PPA reaching more in the Louisiana market, expect attendance to be up next year.

Dennis

[plantia]

Jim, The OPPA Show in Cleveland is usually very well attended. It is usually at the IX Center next to the Cleveland Airport and is in mid March. Most of the people here attend that show (even me occassionally)! I guess there is another show in the fall in Columbus too, don't know anything about that one.