We at F-Origin recently attended SID 2011Display Week in Los Angeles, which was a very nice exhibition. I like trade shows, but not just from the marketing or lead-generation perspective. Personally, one of the best parts of SID and trade shows as a whole, are the one-on-one interactions and discussions that occur “in the booth”.
Yes, business meetings, and the number and quality of the leads are probably the most important parts of a trade show, from a professional point of view. But personally I really enjoy the “unique or challenging” conversations; talking with people who have problems or potential applications that you have never considered earlier.
I had a number of discussions at SID with people approaching me with very interesting problems that our zTouch™ technology might be able to solve, things we’d never thought about targeting. These are the types of eye-opening experiences which are extremely valuable and hence the things I most enjoy with a trade show. These discussions make you step out of your own “bubble or comfort zone” and review your technology/product with a different set of eyes, and this can be truly helpful in the constant quest to understand/attract customers. I’m not saying that we are completely changing our business strategy based on one discussion, but the customer is always right and to meet her/his needs is what keeps us going.
Another thing; which I have seen too many times (more or less at every trade show I’ve attended) is the vast differences/personalities in booth-employees approach to their guests. It’s a real shame to see big (and expensive) booths managed by personnel doing their best to look as bored as possible. If you spend a lot of hard-earned money on a trade show, make sure to send people who really want to be there!
Naturally, there are many other reasons to attend a trade show; it’s a good opportunity to inspect your competition and get up-to-date with products/technologies that are close to your business area or complement your solutions. SID also gave the opportunity just to browse around and check out the latest and greatest in display technology, so I’ll know a bit more about my future television/smartphone display!
All in all it was a very pleasant week in Los Angeles. This was the first time F-Origin exhibited at SID, we were positively surprised by the show as a whole, so we may very well return next year.