GABE GOTAY
Hello everyone. Welcome to Promo Perspectives, a new podcast by SAGE dedicated to giving promotional products companies tips to expand their business. Today, we’re going to be talking about mastering tradeshows for business growth. I’m Gabe Gotay, Senior Marketing Coordinator here at SAGE, and I’m so pleased to be joined by Jessica Del Rio and Halayne Tiberius. Can you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about you?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Sure, hi. I’m Jessica Del Rio. I am the Senior tradeshow and Events Manager here at SAGE. I’ve been at SAGE for about seven years now, and before that, I’ve been in tradeshows for over ten years. I’d hate to get the actual year count on that, but I’ve been in industries like oil and gas, hotels, weddings, and I have now found my footing in promo and I don’t plan on leaving.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Hi, I’m Halayne Tiberius. I have been with SAGE for about five years, and I’ve been on the tradeshow side for almost a whole year now. So I’m excited to talk about my experience as my first year being on the operational side of tradeshows, as well as the years that I’ve been a guest at different hobbyist conventions. So yeah, I’m excited to be here.
GABE GOTAY
Well, I’m excited for you guys to share your experiences. Audience, what’s going to happen today is we’re going to go through step by step for tradeshows, from before, during, and after, to make sure you know everything you need to to get the most out of this experience before the busy tradeshow season ramps up, because that’s about to start.
And before we get into all of that, Jessica, can you kind of outline some of the different kinds of tradeshows in our industry?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Sure, so in our industry, we have three different types of shows: national shows, regional shows, and virtual shows. A national show is going to be your PPAI Expo that happens in Vegas in January every year. We have Promotions East coming up in September, and that’s in Atlantic City. And then we have PPPC NatCon, which is also coming up in September, and that’s in Toronto, Canada.
A regional show has two different types. We have shows that are put on by distributorships, and these are private shows that different types of distributors, a part of a group, can invite their clients. And then we also have regional shows that are put on by regional associations where members get to attend at a more local level, and a lot of times these are end-user.
Then, for the last type of events that occur in our industry, we have virtual events. The only virtual events that are currently happening in our industry are put on by SAGE, and we do have one coming up, which is Promo Live, and that’s on August 21st.
GABE GOTAY
When you talk about the national and regional shows and kind of the associations that put those on, I would assume most, if not all, of our listeners are already PPAI or PPPC members. But can you talk a little bit more about some of the regional associations and the benefits associated with joining them?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yeah, so I would say if you are not a member of your local regional association, that would be step one: go ahead and become a member. That is where you’re going to hear about industry news at a local and national level. Also, the benefits of becoming a member include this new network of distributors that you get to rely on and collaborate with. The benefits don’t end there. I would say there are constantly webinars going on, golf tournaments, happy hours, supplier tours. So I would say the benefits to becoming a member would be that, and then also being able to attend these shows for free.
GABE GOTAY
Okay, so there’s lots of these shows. And where do you go from there? Like, you’ve decided you want to start participating in this side of the industry. How do you start to find out where the shows actually are to determine where you want to attend?
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Yeah, so finding shows to attend is a big part of my job. And I would say a great place to start would be the PPAI Industry Calendar. So that’s going to have the list of all the events happening nationwide. It’s going to have their locations, their dates. It’s going to be a really great starting point if you want to start mapping out attending tradeshows.
Next, I would recommend talking to your account rep here at SAGE. Most of our reps actually attend these shows in person, so they are going to have some great recommendations for shows for you to attend, depending on what you’re looking for. And of course, I can’t recommend anything without recommending SAGE Mobile. SAGE Mobile is also going to have a list of all the events happening in the industry. So you can go on to your SAGE Mobile, go on to the tradeshow section, and it’s going to list out all of the upcoming shows. And you can take a look and see even what exhibitors are going to be there and you know, plan out your outing that way.
GABE GOTAY
So once you found these shows, I assume that actually registering for the show itself and, if you need to, buying your plane ticket and stuff, that might be kind of the easy part. What other steps would you say really go into the preparation stage before you even go to the show?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yeah, um, so I feel like planning your trip to the show or planning what you are going to be doing at this show is probably more important than anything that you do. So the first step I would do is find out what education sessions are going on. If there are any other events that are taking place at the tradeshow, a lot of times these events will have a pre-event happy hour, post-event happy hour. They’ll have a charity golf tournament. They will do, um, they’ll feature like a supplier sip and see of a supplier factory. I would go ahead and find out what is going on with that.
The more important thing though is education at these shows. I, I feel like the most valuable. So these education sessions are typically featured around AI marketing, your business, social media, um, new tips and tricks for selling promotional products, uh, like different softwares in our industry. So I would say find out what’s going on with the show schedule. It’s always posted online before the show starts, and then a lot of times the show schedule is featured in SAGE Mobile.
The next thing I would do is invite your colleagues to the show because you’re a member of these regional associations, um, your colleagues can also come with you. A lot of times you have back-office staff that are not familiar with our industry like you would be since you are the forefront of your company. So I would encourage you to invite your staff, invite accounting, invite the receptions, invite anyone to attend so that they can get a better understanding of our industry and then they can in return do their job better for you.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Another tip I would recommend is talking to your clients before attending the show. So if you have never been to a tradeshow before, when you first get there, you’re going to walk out onto that show floor and you’re going to see every booth decked out head to toe in promo. It can be a little overwhelming. So by talking to your clients before the show, you can have essentially like a little shopping list of things that they’re looking for, solutions that they need, that you can go in with a game plan and maybe not get a little overwhelmed by all of this selection.
Um, and while you’re talking to your clients, look to see if the show is end-user friendly. Some of these shows, especially these, uh, the association shows, are going to be end-user friendly where you can invite your clients to directly come to the show and actually see the products in person. It’s always fun, there’s always a lot of good giveaways. They always have a great time. So look to see if it’s end-user friendly and if it is definitely invite your clients.
Now, some of the shows aren’t going to be end-user friendly. So in those cases, I would definitely recommend taking advantage of social media, post that you’re going to be going to these shows, um, start getting excitement around it. If it is an end-user show and your client isn’t able to attend, by posting on social media, you can show them how fun these shows actually are and it’s going to help them prioritize attending the next one that you invite them to.
GABE GOTAY
I’m somebody who’s got a foot pretty firmly planted in the digital marketing side of things, unlike y’all who are boots on the ground, which tradeshows or, you know, our account executives who are really more sales and talking to the customers. I like to be behind the computer, so I’m glad to hear the social media advice making its way in there.
So moving on from just before the shows, let’s talk about what to actually do when you get there, and let’s keep on that same thread about social media because I know, for instance, Halayne, I’ve seen some really interesting things that you’ve done with social media while you’ve been at some of these tradeshows.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Oh yeah, you definitely don’t want to stop at social media just before the show. While you’re at the show, definitely take advantage of all that content that you can get. Um, something really fun that I was able to do is I attended PPAI Expo for the first time this year, and I did a little social media takeover where I was posting on our stories, um, and it just kind of gave a day in the life of what it was like for me as my first time. It was really fun. We got a lot of good engagement out of it. So definitely take advantage of that. And then while you’re there, take photos of the products, take videos of the products, um, whether you’re going to use those to show to your clients later or save it for content later, um, you know, if you have a social media person, trust me, that they will thank you by if you gather those content while you’re there.
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yeah, so I also agree with everything you’re saying. And while at the show, I think my favorite thing to do, which is no shock, is I like to, um, build meaningful relationships. So every time I go to a show, I’m constantly following up with people, seeing how they’re doing. And this is also something that should be done, um, by you with these suppliers that are attending these shows. So when you’re at a local show, the best thing about it is the suppliers that are coming are typically your local suppliers, um, they are the local reps. So take time, stop at the booth, and yes, take photos, gather content, but also talk to them, see how they’re doing, build that relationship. Maybe there’s someone new there that you have not met. Take the time to engage with them and collaborate with them on ideas for your clients.
The next thing I would do is look at self-promo for yourself. So yes, we’re always looking for products for our clients, but don’t forget about yourself in this. A lot of times suppliers will have specials for self-promo items. And so yeah, there’s lots of great and new items for your clients, but then you can also come back with, um, items to give to your clients as self-promo for yourself, um, so I would say those are probably my two biggest pieces of advice: you know, harvesting these, uh, meaningful relationships and then don’t forget about yourself and self-promo.
GABE GOTAY
Absolutely. And kind of touching back on something you’d said in the preparation stage, you know, you’ve already done all the research as to what events and things are going on. Make sure that you’ve planned, you know, I would say to make time in your day to attend as much of those as possible, right? Uh, I mean, like I agree with what you said earlier about education maybe being the most valuable thing you can get out of these shows, um, so you leave the show, you take everything you’ve learned with you, and you take all these photos home with you, all these connections. What tips do you have to our distributors to help them make the most out of all these things after the show to really drive home the value from having taken the time out of their lives to attend?
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Well, I would say the biggest thing is just follow up, follow up, follow up, follow up, uh, whether you’re taking photos and notes in the SAGE Mobile app or you’re collecting the photos on your phone for content, you have that list of all the items that your clients are looking for. Don’t forget to follow up with those clients. Say, “Hey, you told me you’re looking for this. I went to this tradeshow. I found this amazing item. I know you’ll love it.” Make sure to follow up with them, make sure to follow up with those exhibitors of those products you saw, so that way you can order those samples, get that content, bring it to, um, bring it to your clients. So yeah, follow up. Don’t let all that hard work go to waste.
JESSICA DEL RIO
I totally agree with that. The follow-up is, I think, you know, the cherry on top, the most important thing to do. Um, also, don’t rely on other people to follow up for you. Go ahead and take that step forward and that initiative and follow up with suppliers afterward to get, um, your samples, get products ordered for your clients.
GABE GOTAY
Excellent. Any other tips related to during, before, or after the show before we move on?
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Um, I would say a really big thing is the travel preparation. So, um, if it is a local event, then that’s going to make it really easy for you. But if you find yourself traveling to one of these national events, travel prep is going to make the whole thing so much easier for you. Uh, so I know one thing Jessica was telling me about is that she recently upgraded her luggage, and that has been a game-changer for you.
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yes, I, oh gosh, my old luggage until you have gone through an airport with a bum wheel, the pain sits kind of deep in my soul now. So upgrading my luggage to, um, you know, it doesn’t even have to be fancy, but something that you can trust and something that, um, will kind of just bring that extra like level up to your travel game. Um, there’s nothing worse than kind of having that situation. And I hope no one has to.
GABE GOTAY
Oh yeah, you got to, you only discover really after you’ve gone through it a handful of times the best ways to deal with airport travel. Luggage is important. I have some of the most gross and obnoxiously colored luggage so that I can spot it coming off the conveyor belt easy. Uh, I would say my biggest travel tip, especially for the airport, is to get TSA Pre-Check. It’s just one of those things that it’s so easy and fast. It seems like it’s an inconvenience, but for me, it was less than a week between filling out a form online and getting my Pre-Check stuff, and it makes life so much easier. Um, so any other kind of general travel tips, not necessarily airport-related, but maybe for things actually at the show?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Um, I would say being familiar with the actual airport. So, um, Halayne is really, really good about kind of mapping out airports, and she definitely, and anytime I travel with her, I can trust that she’s going to know exactly where to go, and I can kind of turn off and follow her. So I’ll let her speak more on this tip because she definitely has some valuable advice on that.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Yeah, I would say if you have any amount of travel anxiety or maybe you don’t fly that frequently, definitely take a look at the airport that you’re going to be flying in and out of in advance. Uh, for example, a lot of airports only have one TSA line, and if that’s an airport that you’re used to flying out of, you might think that every airport only has one TSA line. Well, for example, we fly in and out of DFW, and DFW has multiple lines in each terminal. So if you didn’t know that going in, you might walk in, and I’ve done this before, and you see there’s 200 people in line. You’re even there 2 hours early, and you’re thinking, “Oh my gosh, I’m not going to get through this line.”
I know at DFW, if you walk four minutes in the other direction, you’re going to find a line with nobody in it. So if you ever have any travel anxiety, look up the airports ahead of time. Sometimes they’ll even give the estimated wait times, so you know how early to arrive. But I would always recommend arriving at least 2 hours before because you can always get through TSA and relax on the other side.
GABE GOTAY
Alright, so now I kind of want to move forward into just some more fun questions about your personal experiences at some of these shows. To start off with that, I assume that all of you both have taken the opportunity to walk these show floors yourselves multiple times. Is there any particular piece of promo or category of promo that always sticks out to you as the favorite that you’ve seen at these shows?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yeah, I, I’m notorious for this. So I grew up like in the Lisa Frank era, stationary playing teacher. So anytime I can get my hands on good notebooks, good pens, any kind of backpack organization, cord organizers, I, I have to have it. Doesn’t matter how many I have, I have to get my hands on it. So those are my favorite.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Me, I personally love a reusable bag. I live on a second-story apartment. So any type of groceries or shopping, I, my closet and my car are both fully stocked on reusable bags, all of which I have gotten at trade shows. So I’m always looking out for those bags. Another thing are the food items. A lot of these booths are going to have food samples for you. So cookies, chips, whatever you’re looking for, um, yeah. So if you’re feeling a little peckish out on the show floor, uh, you should be able to find at least one booth that’s giving out some food samples.
GABE GOTAY
Yes, that was something I wasn’t even aware of until I started going to the shows because I would have figured there was stationary and cable organizers and things like that. But when I was working at one of the SAGE tables and one of the suppliers came up and gave me a custom-printed cookie, I, I tell you, A, I mean, a cookie is good anytime, and B, you don’t want to get hangry on the show floor in the middle of the day either. So it’s always good to have something like that come through.
So how about any particularly memorable experiences that come out from your travels?
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yeah, I feel like these shows, they, they have a knack to them, right? So a lot of the organizers are hosting them at some really great venues, um, so the actual going to the show, yes, very memorable, but they’re adding that level up experience where they’re at a stadium. I think I’ve been to a stadium with both of you actually, two different stadiums, um, and I don’t think I’ve ever been to so many stadiums in my life.
But they, um, they typically host it at some really fun venues, and then they add on to that even more by, I’ll give an example. So MIPPA Promotions at Roar, it’s at Ford Field. Then you walk in, you get to see the mascot, the mascot Rory is walking around the show floor looking at products. You get to take pictures, then you get to go on the field, you get to kick the football, you get to kick a field goal and then have a chance to see who kicks the longest field goal. They also do free stadium tours. And this happens at so many different events, and I think it is so cool where you get, yes, you’re going to the show floor, sometimes you get through that show floor quickly and you’re like, “Okay, what do I do now?” You get to go have some fun. So definitely, um, those are some more of the memorable experiences that I have. And I will say I just gave an example about MIPPA, but that’s at almost every show I go to.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Oh yeah, um, something that’s definitely stood out for me, uh, so when you are going to these shows, you definitely want to look at the education, uh, sessions that are going on, but also look at the social happenings. Sometimes it’s an impromptu, you know, happy hour in the hotel or there’s a more formal event like we got to tour museums, before, do the Coliseum tours. It’s so much fun. So you definitely want to take advantage of those. And if you’re thinking like, “Oh, I don’t know, I’m, you know, putting myself out there and you know, talking to these people might feel a little intimidating,” something that I’ve learned in my first year is that going to these shows, a lot of times it’s a lot of the same suppliers, it’s a lot of the same representatives who are coming. So it’s almost like a little family reunion. I see Jessica walks in, she hugs almost every supplier that walks in the door. And as I started attending the shows more and more, I start recognizing these faces, people recognizing me by name, uh, some people that I’ve only talked to over email. I’m like, “Once I hear their name, it clicks.” And I thought, “Oh, I’ve been talking to you for six months. I just didn’t, I’ve never met you in person before.” So having those like one-on-one interactions are so nice. And if you’re thinking like, “Oh, I’m a little nervous going up and talking to these people when they all know each other so well,” just remember that is what we’re all here for. And I have never had a negative experience starting up a conversation and then having someone not want to talk to me. They want to talk to me about their products so badly. They want to talk. Don’t be afraid. That’s what we’re all here for. And so the biggest recommendation is just go, just talk, start that conversation, just do it.
JESSICA DEL RIO
I agree, um, I, there’s something to be said about these shows because it is so many like-minded people. And I do remember your first show. You’re like, “Okay, what do I, it’s like, what do I do with my hands?” And it’s like, “Just talk to people.” And you would be surprised by how many people just want to talk to you too. So walking up and just striking up a conversation like, “What was your favorite product out there?” or “What new products do you have?” And this can be at a booth, at the bar, at the registration table, wherever. I promise you, no one is going to say, “I don’t want to talk to you.” I promise they are all going to want to talk to you. And the best thing about it is when you see them again, the conversation is not, “Hey, you know what’s your new product?” It’s, “Hey, how’s your mom? How’s your dog? How are your kids?” kind of conversation. And then now you’re friends, then you become friends on Facebook, and now like your family at that point.
GABE GOTAY
I love it, you guys. Um, so here’s just kind of my last fun question for you, unless you guys have anything you want to add in after, um, what are kind of the secret weapons in your day bag? Like, if you’re going to go to a trade show on a desert island and you’re only allowed to bring three things with you personally, what are you bringing to the show?
JESSICA DEL RIO
That’s a hard one.
HALAYNE TIBERIUS
Something about me is you will not catch me without my refillable water bottle. I, I have it on, I have it in the airport. I empty it out before I go through. I fill it up when I get in. I am staying hydrated the whole time because it can really sneak up on you, especially if you’re in a new climate and you’re walking around the whole time at a lot of these shows. For example, PPAI Expo, they even have water refill stations. So you will never catch me at a show without my refillable water bottle.
JESSICA DEL RIO
Yeah, I, I would, if I were to guess one item, it would be that wherever you see Halayne, you’re going to find a water bottle. I promise, um, for me, I’m a mom, so I always have snacks. But that’s probably not the best tip, bring snacks, right? We’re telling you to get snacks on the show floor. Um, mine would be maybe a power bank to charge up your devices, um, make sure you have all of your charging cables, um, I feel like I pack under everything under the sun. So I, I have a sack of tricks, every core that I’m going to need, a box cutter. I, I have everything. Come to me, I’m Mary Poppins. I can’t just pick three items. Oh no, I, I need the multi-tool.
GABE GOTAY
And honestly, both of you, if I were to pick three items, two of your items would have been two of them. Um, the only other suggestion I would have on your pack is anything for your health. Like, I have, I’ve got a pretty weak immune system, and travel will take it out of me. So I’ve always got like a little bag that’s got EmergenC in it. It’s got all the allergy pills I could possibly need, you know, Advil in case you get a headache on the show floor, liquid IV to really enhance that hydration. It is these are really fun experiences, but they’re long days. You’re on your feet. You can lose track of taking care of yourself. So I think these are really important things to keep with you.
Before we wrap it up, is there anything else you guys would like to share with the audience?
JESSICA DEL RIO
I would say if you’re on the fence about attending a show, we are entering into a very busy show season. So I promise there’s a show probably in your area, um, and if not, there are some national shows coming up. So if you’re on the fence, just go, like Halayne said, go, just do it. Um, shows can be found in SAGE Mobile. If you have any questions about where local shows are, you can call PPI, you can call SAGE. We’re happy to help you out in any way.
GABE GOTAY
Just to do it. We should make that our SAGE, like slogan or something.
I wonder if that’s taken
JESSICA DEL RIO
Trademark laws?
GABE GOTAY
Yeah. Well, thank you everybody for listening to this episode of Promo Perspectives. Keep an eye out for registration for the next live stream that we’re going to be doing on August 28th. I’m going to be joined here in the SAGE Studio by Josh Ellis, publisher, and editor-in-chief from PPAI. We’re going to be talking about their annual greatest companies to work for list, talking about company culture, what it takes to make a great company, and what it takes to make a list. Halayne and Jess, thank you all so much for joining me today.