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Half the year is over and after my visit at CeBIT in March this year my second trade show event, Games Convention in Leipzig is coming closer. Trade and consumer shows do sound like a lot of fun and they are – but they are also full of business opportunities. Over the last five years where I have not just been visiting but mainly organizing and managing clients CeBIT and Games Convention presence I learned – sometimes the hard way- some simple but effective tricks:
1. Always have enough business cards in your pocket. As a female (i.e. not usually not wearing a jacket) that can be quite tricky, but is essential especially for after show events. This leads directly to tip 2:
2. Use trade parties and after show events for networking. This is an easy way to meet potential partners, clients and competitors. If you know what you are dealing with you know how to fight it.
3. Write down notes. That sounds very boring and time consuming but unless you have a master brain that remembers everything this will make the after show follow up so much easier. Write down small notes about what you talked to people about and how they look like (distinguishing features).
4. Know when to go. Every conversation, dinner or party comes to an end and you should know when to go. Acknowledge when somebody tries to close the conversation and let them go. Although somebody has to be the last at all parties and events it doesn’t have to be you and most important never get really drunk. Embarrassing yourself in front of clients or customers isn’t the best advertising and worst of all, will be remembered for a long time.
That’s it from me for now. Stay tuned for some more tips. Uli
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