Hi guys,

I am planning a trip to the USA in March 2002 and wondered if any one had any recommendations of trade shows to visit whilst there...I will be in California form around 2nd -24th March 2002

Any recommendations would be great.....

Cheers
Damien

you plan on going to computer trade shows while on your holiday??

thats either HUGE dedication or a HUGE case of Geekyness

:rolleyes:

would i do the same??? erm... maybe :D

I don't know about any California trade shows, I live right by New York so for me it's easy, but here is some advice about getting business from trade shows:

Take about 500 business cards and a digital camera.
Visit every booth. At most trade shows the out edge booths are run by sole individuals while the big guys are in the center. The people you desire to target are at the edge. walk around introduce yourself, tell them you run a web design company ( or in my case consultant ) and you would like to offer your services. make a pitch, take a picture of the person and of thier product and get thier card.

Next:
Write on there card ( as long as they are not an asian firm because the business card is a very import thing to the asian cultures) what you spoke about and the photo number ( this way you don't mix up the prospects.

That night, type a nice letter and send it to them with there picture. link the phote to your web site and get the stat showing that they looked at it.

You'll commit about 16 hours of your time doing everything but the payoff is sometimes huge.

Results for me are about 10 accounts for every 150 booths I visit and sometimes I get lucky and get a full contract for everything which I broker out to people that I trust... web hosting, site design, product filming and training course filming...

-Sqposter / Michael

what ive found is that people like it more when you give them discounts at these places. Say that you will give them a 10% discount if they need a hosting plan or a designer.

Another thing is that its not always the booths that your after, sometimes its the other people walking around the place. You may want to get a Polo Shirt made with your logo on it, and then walk around and sometimes people will approach you.

Jim