Hello Everyone! It’s been a week now since we’ve gotten back from the Landscape Ontario Congress trade show. We enjoyed the trade show and had a great time at their tailgate party. It was the first trade show we have been to in Canada and we were able to meet a lot of great and new people. We were also fortunate to have fun booth neighbors (if any of you have had to work a trade show booth, then you know how much better it makes the trade show when your neighboring booths are cool). If you haven’t seen the video from Landscape Ontario check it out on our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/crewtrackersoftware.
We find that the biggest reason to go to trade shows, educational seminars, and industry events is the opportunity to find people we have never met and listen to them talk about how they do things. This kind of networking has benefited us more than all the schooling we’ve paid for; real world experience from others who have done it is extremely valuable! Use Landscape Ontario for example- we have clients in Canada already but there is still so much more we need to learn about the Canadian Snow Market. We learned a lot from the individuals who stopped by our booth but we would say we learned even more from talking with other exhibitors at the show.
Some of you are the type individuals that have no problem walking into a room and meeting 20 new people, and then for others, it’s hard for you to talk to one new person. Here’s some general rules to keep you on track:
- If you’re at a trade show and you get someone’s business card, write notes on it. (What you talked about, and other details like their likes and interests). It’s very easy to forget all of that the next day.
- Make a goal. How many people do you want to talk to? Are they current friends? Are they all new acquaintances? Are you looking to meet other peers or potential clients? If you walk into a networking event with goals, you will get more out of the event.
- After you meet someone at a show, try to stay in contact with them. You will find that a quick introduction and initial talk will lend to an ongoing deeper relationship.
Last but not least we would like to invite you all to come see us at the New England Grows trade show in Boston, February 2nd-4th. Look for us at Booth #557. We will be testing out our biggest trade show booth to date!
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