Acres’ Post

We recently held a webinar “Tips for Exhibiting at CHFA NOW Toronto.” You can watch the entire webinar below. Here’s a few tips from me for brands that are exhibiting at the show: 1 Before: Reach out to your retailers with your booth number. Understand where you’d fit in a natural and a grocery store. Be ready and know where you fit in the market. 2 During: Short Pitch: Have a clear concise message for the attendees. Explain your why in a few sentences so we all understand. 3 After: Follow up! Send your sales team (even if it’s your broker, distributor, or your own self) the short notes of your convos. Know when the review timing is for your category and in a succinct email, layout your why and where you fit into their store. Keep it short, knowledgeable and understandable. It’s important that in a moment people can see your value and where your brand fits into their goals clearly. Have fun! It’s the best time of year to connect in person!

What's stopping you from entering your event or your company for an award this season? You worked hard to produce a fantastic event. Now it’s time to get the recognition you deserve; you are ready to enter either the ACE Awards, which are more geared towards caterers, or the Gala Awards, which feature categories for all types of events and producers.   Winning an award, and even receiving a nomination, has myriad benefits: * Build team morale within your company and with your creative partners * A nomination and win are tantamount to a third-party endorsement * The write-ups can be repurposed for content for months to come * It looks great in all your promotional material But, for some reason, the deadline comes and goes and so does another year for your chance to win an award. Why? As someone who has written, and judged, many awards over the years, I've addressed some common questions and concerns you might have have about entering awards in this article published today in Catersource. https://lnkd.in/gZP8NZfQ #awards #benefitsofawards #eventprofs

🚨 Don’t Wait—Rates for WSWA’s Access LIVE 2025 Increase After December 14! 🚨 🔥 85% of exhibit space is already gone! Secure your spot at the wine and spirits industry’s premier event before prices increase on Saturday, December 14. Why WSWA’s Access LIVE? ✅ Meet the movers and shakers: Connect with key players shaping the future of the wine and spirits industry. ✅ Stay ahead of the curve: Gain insights into regulatory changes, emerging technologies, and shifting consumer trends. ✅ Grow your brand: Build your presence, make connections, and strengthen partnerships in a dynamic, high-energy environment. ✅ Opportunities for everyone: Whether you’re a distributor, supplier, retailer, or service provider, there’s something here for you. 🔒 Lock in your space today before it’s sold out! Don’t miss the chance to showcase your brand and unlock new growth opportunities. 📅 Book now and save! https://lnkd.in/eZTR5H-3

We want to hear from you! 💭 As we gear up for another exciting year of ICA Events across the globe, we’re curious to know: what are you most looking forward to at our upcoming events? Is it the cutting-edge technology, the opportunity to network, or something else entirely? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, and let us know what makes our events a can't-miss for you! Plus, stay tuned for a special announcement based on your feedback — because at ICA Events, your insights help shape our future! 👍 Like, 💬 comment, and 🔁 share this post to keep the conversation going with peers who might be attending too! #ICAEvents #Networking #TechInnovation #EventFeedback #EventPlanning

Different > Better I saw this truth in action last week. I had the privilege of being a speaker at the inaugural Laundry CEO Forum. It was hands down the best industry event I've ever attended. → speakers who addressed the audience's needs → armchairs and couches for the main sessions → food that was out of this world → attendees sharing their own resources and insights → people hungry to learn how to do their business better And that doesn't even touch on test-driving a Ferrari! Seriously. Marketing conferences are lame compared to this. The reason it was such a smashing success: It was different. That's what I heard from every attendee I talked to. Nothing like this event exists in their industry. And that's where the value lies. You see, being better means doing the same thing with... ...more time ...more money ...more people But being different? That means nothing in the market can touch you. Kudos to Waleed Cope 🏴☠️ and Jessica Johnson-Cope for such a different and amazing event. I'm already looking forward to next year... ...and that Ferrari Waleed promised me 😉 Want to stand out in your industry? Take a page out of Waleed and Jessica's book. Be different. And give out epic awards to your presenters. They may just make a LinkedIn post about it. ✌🏼 #shftyourbrand

This year we’ve been able to ensure 80%+ turnout on average for our events. This is much higher than your typical sales or marketing event. How do we do it? Invitees are always thinking about a few things: 1. What am I getting out of attending? 2. Is this worth my time?  3. What are they going to sell me? 4. Do I need what they're selling me? Oftentimes attendance rate goes down because invitees are bombarded with the same types of events from multiple vendors. There's nothing novel in another sporting event or restaurant outing. Aside from engaging attendees in a unique experience, they need to know what exactly they’re signing up for. That’s where RSVP pages come in. We’ve been able to drive attendance by simply just telling people what’s in store for the evening. Once they see it’s a unique event, the agenda for the night and the custom garment they'll be receiving, it boosts attendance. Instead of sending a calendar invite and a generic email we’ve found RSVP pages really effective. You can check out our sample RSVP page below!

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗨𝗩’𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 Want to RSVP to that one club meeting? Looking for a local coffee shop event? Just looking to find something to do? The Explore Page simplifies the planning process. Browse by category, and RSVP to the event(s) of your choice in seconds. Life made easier with MUV.

Hot take: I believe trade shows and conferences benefit from being expensive for both attendees and exhibitors alike. Why? Because it creates a filtering mechanism for who really wants to be there. It cuts down on the noise to signal ratio. This is our 2nd National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Annual Meeting... It’s held at The Breakers in Palm Beach, which is one of the nicest hotels in the world. It’s $6k per ticket. $14k for a meeting table. And it and its related events run from Friday morning to Wednesday evening—straight through the weekend. Add in flights/hotels/food for multiple people, plus some trade advertising, and an emerging brand can easily spend $50k to be here. Of course, the big brands/companies spend way more than that. Last year, the first time we attended NACDS Annual, we almost backed out right before the event because I believed “there’s no way we were going to get an ROI on such a big expense for a show that doesn’t even have many merchants.” In hindsight I’m sure glad we didn’t chicken out… NACDS does such a good job pulling the leaders of the industry together that by the end of the first day of Annual we already made our money back by orders of magnitude through unlocked distribution. Alcohol-related health & wellness is a new category. Some merchants are afraid of what their bosses might think if they bring our product in. But we have found that if we get their bosses excited about Cheers, and then they bring it back as an idea that the merchant might consider, then our odds of getting in that chain go way up because the merchant has the blessing. It’s still the merchant’s decision, but now they aren’t worried about any potential internal stigma when making that determination. For us, NACDS Annual = unlock the distribution for the category/brand with retailer executives. And then NACDS TSE = present the brand/items to merchants and make it happen. Both Annual and TSE work together for an emerging brand to work with retail leaders to build out a novel category in their store. Because of NACDS we’ve gone from 0 to 11,000 stores in 2 years. And now we’re exploring Mass & Club. My only regret when it comes to NACDS is that we didn’t join earlier! Of course, while we joined mostly for retail distribution, the supplier-to-supplier networking alone makes it worth it. I feel like we’re playing a game of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” with Regis Philbin… except rather than one phone-a-friend per game, now we have multiple phone-a-friends per question!

Shout out an Event Pro that you think deserves some kudos!! Did you know that the events industry is the 3rd most stressed in the world? Trade Shows shouldn't be all work and no play--you're on the floor to create relationships and memories that influence business decisions down the line. #eventpro #eventmarketing #gamification #fieldmarketing #brandactivation