90 Days until United Fresh: Proactive Strategies for a Successful Show

iStock_000046442606_Medium.jpgYear after year, our favorite events like the United Fresh Produce Show seem to sneak up on us. Now that we only have 3 months (just 90 short days!) until our industry gathers in Chicago, we wanted to provide you with a few helpful reminders and recommendations to prepare before the time comes to pack your bags.

  • Check Deadlines – Review the general information on this page and reach out to the United Fresh Team to request a deadline checklist and other exhibitor resources that will help you stay on top of your game. You can add the deadlines into your planner/calendar and set reminders for yourself so that you accomplish everything you need to be successful leading up to United Fresh.
  • Create a Calendar – “Failing to plan is planning to fail” is a quote we live by here at DMA Solutions, especially when it comes to tradeshows! So we’d like to let you in on a secret tool of ours: a comprehensive tradeshow schedule. We use this tool to ensure we know who will be where at any given time. This allows our team to know who is taking care of client needs, who is attending educational sessions, who is meeting with existing or potential clients, who is walking the show floor identifying leads and who is making notes about new ideas and best practices that we or our clients should employ.
  • Outline your social media approach – Far too often a plan for social media during a tradeshow gets either forgotten or left to the last minute. Don’t let that happen this year – start planning now at 90 days out what your social media strategy is going to be for United Fresh. In fact, you should use social media to your advantage before, during AND after the event. Here’s some tips to help you outline your plan.
  • Set SMART Goals – While we always enjoy the United Fresh opening party, tradeshows offer so much more than simple networking. Before packing up and heading out take time to decide what you want to gain from the show. Set goals that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely) for what you want to accomplish and define what success will look like to you. Take a look at these 3 recommend goals for United Fresh.
  • Identify your lead strategy – Statistics show that 80% of trade show exhibitors don’t follow up on their show leads. By identifying a lead generation strategy before the show, you can include it as a part of your SMART goals and hold yourself accountable to following up after the show. Here’s a couple recommendations for how you can do this that are applicable to United Fresh.
  • Make your reservations now – We’ve made the mistake before of waiting until the last minute to schedule dinner reservations – and reservations in Chicago fill up FAST. Planned dinners are a great way to get some quality time in with customers and prospects, so make sure you secure your reservations early. And once they are made – stick to them! Restaurants in downtown Chicago are not shy about charging for no-shows. You may be asked to provide a credit card for large reservations to secure your spot.
  • Consider refreshing or updating your collateral – Now is also the ideal time to get updated business cards, sell sheets, recipe cards, booth graphics, trade ads or any other marketing collateral you will need for the show. It’s also the time to start thinking through your press release strategy and opportunities for pre or post show communications. If you need help updating any of your collateral or with press releases, we can help!

We’re looking forward to seeing all of you in Chicago in June! If you’re looking for more tradeshow ideas, read these additional blog posts and feel free to reach out to us for our expert advice!