Chamber of Commerce: Trade show success depends on exhibitors' attitudes

Chris Tuckness is Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce vice president of community development and special events.

The area's largest business trade show is about to happen, and business leaders are finding advantages to participating, either as exhibitors or attendees. Trade shows can be beneficial in many ways, but they can also be a waste of time.

Business & Technology Expo, sponsored by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, is set for Oct. 10 at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. The one-day event brings together businesses of all kinds and sizes, showing off the latest in technology, products and services.

"If there's one event in the year to make for both corporate and personal connections this is it," said Stormee Bane, Great Southern Travel marketing director. "It helps build business relationships you need now and in the future."

Bane's company is one of the 150 that will be setting up an exhibit at the expo. Many, like Great Southern Travel, come back year after year.

"It's amazing how many people participate," said Joyce Ivy of US Bank. "It's the networking with other companies to see people we haven't seen before. And with this expo, everyone is under one roof. It's handy."

Some companies laud the new clients and connections that come from the trade show.

"In the first hour of the first expo we were in, we got a lasting customer," said Roger Wasson Sr., owner of Elite Promotions. "It's good exposure for us. It lets people see the wide range of products we have."

Wasson said he and his staff use the expo for networking. "We're not after the quick turnaround, the quick sale. We want them for life," he said. "Expo literally does what it says: It's a business-to-business trade show."

Others are exhibiting for the first time. Kelly Fernald, leads manager for Modern Exteriors, chose to have a booth and also to display an 8-by-18 trailer, showing their siding, windows and an actual sun-room. The display will be located outside, where attendees can get the feel of an actual sunroom.

"It's an excellent opportunity for excellent exposure," Fernald said. "We saw an opportunity and wanted to take advantage of it."

On the other hand, some companies complain that their expo experience was a waste of a good business day. Many times, the reason can be traced to the representatives themselves.

For instance, if the salesperson is sitting down, cup of coffee in hand, only slightly nodding to the passersby, there's good reason to believe not many will stop to see what the company has to offer.

Advance preparation is important, too. The staff working the exhibit must know who the company's clients are and who is a potential client.

Then there's the request: "May I have your business card? Here's mine." This is the effort that must take place if the staff is to be successful with the company's exhibit.

Pretty pictures and fancy displays do not make a trade show booth successful.

It's the people who work the booth, who realize the day spent at the expo is a day that can either be highly successful or it can be a flop.