As if Florida in January wasn’t already a great idea, the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI), is holding its next trade show in Orlando on January 4th to 6th, with exhibits on January 5th and 6th. For certain, we will be there.

Because it is the first ASI show of the year, ASI Orlando is regarded by the people in our industry as the initial launching pad for new products. You see everything from classics like promotional drinkware and desk toys, to the latest in wearable products and techniques in embroidery, direct-to-garment (DTG) digital printing, and other finishing techniques.

All in all, more than 6,000 distributors and 700 suppliers cross the country to exhibit, connect with new and existing industry partners and kick off the new sales year.

Looking ahead to 2016 and the ASI Show! Orlando, Idea Custom Solutions has been thinking about how to get the most out of exhibits. Sure, there are some basics like having an eye-catching booth and a compelling product presentation. But we’ve discovered that making trade shows successful — no matter what industry or sector you are in — comes down to communicating and engaging with the very people you’ll see at the event.

Let People Know You’ll be There
Most conferences and trade shows provide programs of the people who are speaking or presenting, and the exhibitors. Sometimes registered attendees are listed with their email addresses or contact information.

According to trade show expert and author Rhonda Abrams, you should not be afraid to send attendees a notice ahead of time, with details like “booth number — and, ideally, an incentive to come by (‘we’re giving away an iPad’ or a ‘show special.’). Definitely try to arrange meetings with key customers or prospects ahead of time.”

More importantly, make sure to inform the people you already have relationships with — customers, resellers, or even prospects to who you’ve been talking with or have presented but not yet sold. You don’t need to be “salesy” about it. Just tell them you hope to see them there.

Connect with Different Types of People
In a funny post from earlier this fall, Media Post identified a number of different personalities that you are likely to encounter at trade shows.

•    You might meet “Connected Connie” or the slick “Agency Alec” looking for new business.
•    There is also “Swaggy Steve”, the attendee with the trade show bag overflowing with the giveaways — mugs, pens, caps and especially the branded snacks he’s collected.
•    And then there’s “Brand Betty”, the rainmaker at a major company, perhaps your ideal customer or power partner, who sits quietly in the back of presentations and breakout sections, without her name tag.

Regardless who you are looking meet, or interested in building a business relationship with, be ready to connect with all types. Make sure to be present in conversations with everyone you encounter, and recognize that your ideal client might appear when and where you least expect it.

We’re Excited

Gearing up for the show, we’re also excited to unveil some of the new services that Idea Custom Solutions has developed over the past year. We always aim to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) better their marketing and sell more to enable their businesses to grow. That’s why we launched the new tagline: “Your success. That’s the whole Idea!” in 2016.

With the same mission, we introduced Custom Creative services, which includes logo design and re-design, as well with custom t-shirts, event banners and posters.

This new service is a natural extension of the embroidery digitizing, vector artwork and image editing work we do for clients in the promotional product, award, sign, printing and other related industries. Like these other services, Custom Creative designs will be completed in fast turn times at competitive rates.

But what makes this offering especially attractive is that, when our clients sell logo and other creative designs to their customers, it opens the door to for them supply an entire range of new marketing services — business cards, marketing collateral such as brochures, promotional products and more.

As you can tell, we’re looking forward to the ASI Show in Orlando. We hope to see you there!