Global Shop 2008 - Tips For Walking The Show

Global Shop 2008 is just around the corner.  This years event is back at Chicago's massive McCormick Place on the lakefront. It is being held on  Tuesday March 18th - Thursday March 20th. As in years past the floor will be packed with exhibitors & attendees.  There are conferences, seminars, and an awards dinner. through out the show.  Topics are  on issues facing different segments of the industry for the coming year.  Most of these special events require pre-registration prior to the show.  I think most people who are in the market for or professional buyers of store fixtures are here for the vendor exhibits.  The following are some tips from experience  to do the show with out wearing yourself out.

The floor is divided into different sections: store fixtures, visual merchandising, P-O-P displays, ect.  so you can focus on your specialty with-out walking the entire floor looking for a vendor that interests you.

• Plan attending the show for two days, minimum.  Depending on what your needs are you may want to spend all three days. If the list is long, break up the shopping list among your associates. 
• Develop a shopping list of the items that you are interested in and prioritize it.
• Print out the list of exhibitors & show floorplan that shows the booth locations.  Mark on the floorplan the booths of the exhibitors that are a must see.  Also mark on the floor plan your entrance location as a point of reference.  The hall is huge and it is easy to get disoriented among the booths and crowds.
• Prior to the show , call your must see vendors and let them know you are coming. Make an appointment to see them at the show. 
•  If your top vendors value your business relationship with them, they might invite you to their hospitality suite or take you out for drinks or dinner after the show.  Hey - a free meal is a free meal when you are on a budget unless your company policy forbids meals from vendors.
• Unless you have seminars scheduled, day #1 of the show should be spent walking and getting an overview of the exhibitors  - and especially of items that interest you. You will spend a lot of time walking.  Do not spend a lot of time on chit-chat.
•  If something really catches your eye, have the booth attendant scan your badge to have literature sent to your office. 
• If it is a potential key vendor that you may want to do business with , make an appointment to see them on day #2.
• Day #2  -  #3 should be spent on follow up visits with vendors that catch your eye and seeing the rest of the show that you missed on day #1. And remember that vendors will follow up with you after the show if you scanned your card at their booth.

Have a good show!