How Trade Shows Help You, Your Department, Your Company and Your Industry

July 21, 2014

You probably have heard the question many times: “Why exhibit at trade shows?”   And you’ve likely answered the question from the standpoint of how trade shows help your company in the marketplace.  Yet there’s a lot more to it than that.

Here are 4 sets of benefits trade shows offer, at all levels of your professional life:

How Trade Show Helps You:  Whether you are working your trade show booth, attending keynote sessions, or just meeting people in the aisles, trade shows provide a fertile ground for advancing your career.  You learn more about your clients, prospects, competitors, and industry, gaining insights that never would have come to you while sitting at your desk.  You enhance your professional networks. You may even meet the person who will give you your next job.

How Trade Show Helps Your Department: If you’re in sales, you get a pile of leads, talk to clients, strengthen relationships, and get more face time with the same people you’ve been trying to reach for months, even years. If you’re in marketing, your brand is enhanced, better known, and your products get seen by a broad audience.  If you’re in engineering, by working in your tradeshow displays, you get first-hand feedback on your new products.  And if you are in company management, you get to see how your company compares to its peers in the marketplace – and even improve its standing.

How Trade Shows Help Your Company: Trade shows help your company become a player in its market.  It is an efficient way to reach various audiences, including clients, prospects, potential employees, and business partners.  In helping achieve your company’s sales and marketing goals, trade shows provide an essential service to your company’s overall core needs.

How Trade Show Help Your Industry:  Your overall industry gains advantages when it gathers together at its industry trade shows.  They gain consensus on the direction of your industry, while they take the pulse of its top issues, trends, and concerns.  Trade shows foster and accelerate innovation. They offer an exciting and efficient marketplace of products, services, and ideas.  Trade shows strengthen the professional and personal bonds between industry members.  They help provide a forum to voice new issues and growing challenges. Trade shows help bring new professionals into the fold, and educate them on how to succeed in their jobs. Trade shows provide an avenue to celebrate success.  And large trade shows can create such a large footprint for your industry that it breaks through the collective clutter to provide your industry with national, even international attention.

Trade shows provide multiple dimensions of value, for you, your colleagues down the hall, and your peers across the country.  So the next time someone asks you, “Why exhibit at trade shows?,” share with them the big picture of how trade shows help provide value on so many levels.

 

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NO WISH IS TOO BIG AT THE ORANGE COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER
Overview: The award-winning Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) goes the extra mile to make every day extraordinary by offering customer service excellence and industry-leading partnerships. From their dedicated in-house Rigging team to their robust Exhibitor Services, The Center of Hospitality brings your imagination to life by helping you host unforgettable meetings and events. With more than 2 million square feet of exhibit space, world-class services and a dream destination, we are committed to making even the most ambitious conventions a reality. In October 2023, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners voted to approve allocating Tourist Development Tax funding for the $560 million Phase 5A completion of the OCCC. The Convention Way Grand Concourse project will include enhancements to the North-South Building, featuring an additional 60,000 square feet of meeting space, an 80,000- square-foot ballroom and new entry to the North-South Building along Convention Way. “We are thrilled to begin work on completing our North-South Building which will allow us to meet the growing needs of our clients,” said OCCC Executive Director Mark Tester. “As an economic driver for the community, this project will provide the Center with connectivity and meeting space to host more events and continue to infuse the local economy with new money and expanding business opportunities.” Amenities: The Center of Hospitality goes above and beyond by offering world-class customer service and industry-leading partnerships. From the largest convention center Wi-Fi network to custom LAN/WAN design, the Center takes pride in enhancing exhibitor and customer experience.  The OCCC is the exclusive provider of electricity (24-hour power at no additional cost), aerial rigging and lighting, water, natural gas and propane, compressed air, and cable TV services. Convenience The Center is at the epicenter of the destination, with an abundance of hotels, restaurants, and attractions within walking distance. Pedestrian bridges connect both buildings to more than 5,200 rooms and is within a 15-minute drive from the Orlando International Airport. The convenience of the location goes hand-in-hand with top notch service to help meet an event’s every need. Gold Key Members The OCCC’s Gold Key Members represent the best of the best when it comes to exceptional service and exclusive benefits for clients, exhibitors and guests. The Center’s Gold Key memberships with Universal Orlando Resort, SeaWorld Orlando and Walt Disney World greatly enhance meeting planner and attendee experiences offering world-renowned venues, immersive experiences and creative resources for their events. OCCC Events: This fiscal year, the OCCC is projected to host 168 events, 1.7 million attendees, and $2.9 billion in economic impact.  The Center’s top five events during their 2022-2023 fiscal year included:  AAU Jr. National Volleyball Championships 2023 200,000 Attendees $257 Million in Economic Impact MEGACON 2023 160,000 Attendees $205 Million in Economic Impact Open Championship Series 2023 69,500 Attendees $89 Million in Economic Impact Sunshine Classic 2023 42,000 Attendees $54 Million in Economic Impact Premiere Orlando 2023 42,000 Attendees $108 Million in Economic Impact
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