TRADE SHOWS PART 12 - VEGAS RECAP

The National Hardware Show in Vegas turned out to be a great show for us, even better than the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago. We thought the opposite would be true.

In Chicago, one-third of the booth traffic was buyers and the other two-thirds was a mix of reps, industry professionals, and social groups and individuals just out of the house for the day. In Vegas, two-thirds of the booth traffic was buyers, and the other one-third was reps, industry professionals, and only a sprinkling of individuals just browsing. Now that we know, we are less inclined to go to Chicago next year and put more effort into our Vegas booth.

Additionally, the conversations we had in Vegas were quite relevant and convinced us make some major changes in our product manufacturing and marketing strategies, which will help our growth tremendously in the long run. We did not get the same kind of feedback in Chicago.

It may have helped that we changed our booth design for the Vegas show, but it seemed to be more than that. It seemed to be the focus of the event organizers on buying versus browsing. It cost attendees $100 to get into the show, no one under 18 was admitted (no moms and babies out for the day), there were some serious efforts to promote networking among show participants, and overall, it was just a more professional and productive experience.

We will definitely be going back to Vegas, we don’t know yet about Chicago.