Internext Booths

[McAttack]

Taboo, I haven't been to Internext myself, but I've done major trade shows in the past, both as an attendee and an exhibitor.

The best thing to do for what you sell is offer a comfortable area to talk to people. You'd want one or two meeting rooms, behind closed doors. Outside on your main floor, probably a stand-up coffee bar type of thing. Just a tall table that people can stand around and write stuff down.

The reason for all this is booth traffic. Don't put sitting areas out front cause you'll get people that are tired sitting there and they are most likely not even interested in your product. So standing tables out front are great for quick questions from leads, and if the person seems genuinely interested, bring him in the meeting room.

I personally like to have a minimum of wo meeting rooms. One for appointments with clients, the other for on the fly private conversations. In the meeting rooms, I like a relaxed atmosphere. A couple of couches, a coffee table and a laptop. Also have some refreshments, either in a fridge or a cooler.

Whatever you do, DO NOT blow the budget on a booth, it's NOT worth it. A booth is more of a branding tool. Sales are not made there. Initial introductions are made, deals are rarely struck in a booth. Look at a booth as more of a leads generator. Also, if let's say you spend $75k this show, and next year you say "Bah, we didn't need all that stuff, let's cut the budget to $45k". In the eyes of the attendees, they see that you cut costs, so either business is going down, or you didn't manage your business properly for the last show and realize you messed up.

These are just some pointers for you from my experience in trade shows. And I used to do huge shows in the gaming industry, which is notorious for spending a crapload of money for nothing.