Nelson Maldonado’s Post

How many cups of coffee does it take to plan an event? And are you on your third or fourth today? ☕ Whether you're fueled by caffeine or sheer determination, 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 is here to make your planning process 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Let us handle the details so you can focus on what really matters like your next coffee break! 🤎 #EventPlanning #BoothCentral #CaffeineAndConquer #ExhibitorLife #ConsumerShows #TradeShows #EventMarketing #VendorEvents #EventSuccess #SmallBusinessSupport #EventVendors #ExhibitBooth #EventPromotion #VendorOpportunities #MarketYourBusiness #BusinessGrowth #EventStrategy #EventParticipation #ExhibitWithUs #VendorShowcase #EventExhibits #BusinessVisibility #EventDisplay

How many cups of coffee does it take to plan an event? And are you on your third or fourth today? ☕ Whether you're fueled by caffeine or sheer determination, 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 is here to make your planning process 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. Let us handle the details so you can focus on what really matters like your next coffee break! 🤎 #EventPlanning #BoothCentral #CaffeineAndConquer #ExhibitorLife #ConsumerShows #TradeShows #EventMarketing #VendorEvents #EventSuccess #SmallBusinessSupport #EventVendors #ExhibitBooth #EventPromotion #VendorOpportunities #MarketYourBusiness #BusinessGrowth #EventStrategy #EventParticipation #ExhibitWithUs #VendorShowcase #EventExhibits #BusinessVisibility #EventDisplay

Showing up at any event, big or small, is a reflection of your brand. If you’re sending a tent and a wrinkled tablecloth, it might be time to rethink things! Set your team up to win, because how you show up matters everywhere. 🚀 #BrandMatters #EventSuccess #ShowUpStrong #DetailsCount #WinTheDay #EventPrep #FirstImpressionsMatter

Excited to Attend the Jfood Show Today in New Jersey! Why am I attending? As many of you know, I dedicated two years of hard work and significant resources to organizing a Kosher food show in Europe. With over 250 Kosher brands from around the world signed up to exhibit and thousands of visitors expected, it was set to be a groundbreaking event. However, Hashem had different plans, and Covid forced us to cancel just five weeks before the show. Common Questions I'm Being Asked: 1.When are you doing the food show? No set date or plan yet, but we are working on it. 2.What happened to the show you were supposed to do? Covid, Brexit, and Hashem had other plans. 3.But you are still planning to do it? Absolutely. Never give up on something you believe in. We are carefully considering our next steps as a lot has changed since we launched it three years ago. Attending Jfood will allow me to connect with existing exhibitors, meet new potential exhibitors, and discuss how the UK can benefit from a future show. Wishing everyone an amazing show. See you there!

The only thing I miss when im at a trade show is the damn Starbucks order at work! 🙄 Check out a little behind the scenes action at IME West where Kyle Milan, Mason Palmer, and I walk the floor to learn about whats up and coming in the industry and form those relationships with future clients! #plasticsindustry #medicaldevicemanufacturing #industrial #tradeshows #behindthescenes #salesandmarketing

Check out our latest blog post for a round up of Taste @ Lomond 2024 and for some exciting news regarding our 2025 show!

A successful trade show...or not? Or how to judge the value of a trade show. We've just recovered from spending 3 days at the Farm Shop & Deli Show at The NEC, Birmingham. It was a jam-packed 3 shows, where we showcased our kits, gave out samples of two of our curries (our hot Madras Curry made with chickpeas and our flavoursome Sri Lankan Curry made with potato and mixed vegetables), and met lots of lovely customers and fellow exhibitors. One of the first questions people ask during and after the show is: ❓How was the show for you? This is a difficult question to answer. How are we judging the success of trade shows? Unlike consumer shows, where you're selling product and the primary goal is revenue, trade shows are somewhat more ambiguous. Are we basing success on: - 💰 Number of orders taken? - 🧠 Knowledge gained on our category (e.g. via 1-2-1 discussions)? - 👂 Increased awareness of industry trends (e.g. listening to panel discussions) - 🤝 Relationships built with customers/suppliers/other exhibitors? - 📧 Follow-up emails sent out? I think the true success of a tradeshow can only be determined months down the line. When the dust settles, and you have the benefit of hindsight. So ask me again in 6 months and I'll have an answer for you. In the meantime, I'll continue to say: "It was good, yeah" 😂 As always, the best part of the show was was getting to meet a lot of new and familiar faces, including Mudassar A., Tara Patel, Alexa Fernandez, Sukhi Sindhu 👅, Regina Antony, Dan O., Thiviyan Umapathysarma, Paul Hargreaves, Cecil Adjalo, Stela Aleksieva, Mariam M., Olly Pinder, Julie Mills, Paul Abley, Sam Akinluyi

We learned some hard lessons exhibiting at our first show. Here’s my breakdown and lessons learned. First - to recap - doing physical events to expand our brand reach is an important element of this year’s growth strategy. We know that many manufacturers aren’t active/connected online - and that these are exactly the kinds of folks who need us most! We chose the WSWA (wine and spirits wholesalers association) show as our first toe in the water. Alcohol manufacturing is a vertical we have a toehold with a handful of good customers, and where we see most producers have legacy systems or no systems for production and inventory. Here is the breakdown. 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: 10,000 (flights, booth, fixtures, etc… all in) 3 days for me and for Toby Petit Opportunity cost of whatever else we would have done 𝐑𝐎𝐈: 8 leads Client engagement (we have some existing clients in the vertical) That's 1250 per lead. (our sales cycle is too long to wait and do the analysis later when when they have all closed or lost) Compare that with leads from google search which cost us 900 👎. Where it gets really interesting is this; Leads earned by walking around and introducing ourselves on the floor: 8 (100%) Leads from standing at the booth and trying to draw people in: 0 So lets reimagine this show done “right” where we didn’t have a booth presence. 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: 2500 (flights, hotel, meals, client dinner, etc.) 3 days for 1 person (not 2) 𝐑𝐎𝐈: Exactly same return as if we had a booth… Cost per lead 312! Compare THAT with 900 for google ads 👍 So the primary lesson is pretty obvious: Attend the show, don’t exhibit Another lessons learned: Focus attention on clients and request introductions Our adjusted strategy for the remainder of the year: Do more shows, at lower cost by not exhibiting Focus on shows where we know customers can make some introductions for us. BTW This is NOT a dig at the WSWA show by any means. I have no cause for complaint. Other exhibitors (mostly alcohol brands) were able to attract traffic to their booths. I don't think its fair to extrapolate from our experience. PS all figures in CAD. Multiply by 0.74 for USD.

When I worked for a national food retailer, one of the most fun experiences was going to the Fancy Food Show. I loved seeing new products, finding interesting trends, and meeting new people. It was always overwhelming (like most trade shows!) and everyone had their own strategy for attending. My advice for smaller, independent brands: go with a purpose and a focus. If you don't have a booth and you are there to explore, that's great. See what others are doing and what experts are talking about. Be clear on what you're doing there. Buyers often have their calendars set and have specific items they are seeking. If you can get meetings on the calendar, all the better. For those who are responsible for buying or bringing in products, I hope you'll leave time for those who may not be able to attend large shows. And finally, wear comfortable shoes and drink a lot of water. Have a good show! #fancyfoodshow #fancyfoodshow2024 #makeroom #specialtyfoodassociation #tradeshowstrategy #tradeshowlife #favoritedaughterfavoritethings #favoritedaughter

I recently attended an SME Conference, but left after just 30 minutes. Why? The event was overrun with "freeloaders," and I couldn’t even get a chance to engage with booth sponsors because they were swarmed by attendees chasing freebies instead of meaningful conversations. In Singapore, we affectionately call these event freeloaders "cookie monsters." It might sound cute, but for #eventprofs, it’s a real challenge. At one point, we even kept a blacklist of email addresses to reject if we saw their registrations! While it’s almost impossible to completely avoid this at free trade events, we’ve found ways to minimize their impact. One simple tactic: we reject registrations from generic email domains like #gmail, #yahoo, and #icloud. Fellow #eventprofessionals, any other strategies you’ve found effective in dealing with "cookie monsters"? Let’s share ideas! #EventStrategy #FreeloaderFree #EventPlanning #TradeShowTips #EventManagement https://lnkd.in/g8sxSHSv