With Fresh Summit 2019 just around the corner, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the many moving parts and details that must be addressed leading up to the show. To help put your mind at ease, we’ve collected some of our favorite tips, tricks, and resources for making the most of your experience at the show.
Preparing for a Successful Fresh Summit
- 2019 Fresh Summit Schedule – Familiarize yourself with the most up-to-date version of this year’s schedule. And take it from us: then be sure that you save a copy everywhere for quick access. In the middle of the show, you’ll be happy to have key details of all events at hand. Our team typically makes a spreadsheet of all our planned activities and responsibilities to go alongside the official show schedule in order to help us coordinate. This approach allows us to better strategize who should be attending specific events and where we may need extra support from the team.
- Have you downloaded the PMA Fresh Summit App? We tried it last year and loved it! You can’t beat the easy access to the exhibitor floor plan, which makes the “maze” of the show a little easier to navigate.
- And, speaking of the show floor: spend some time with the exhibitor floor plan and make note of key locations for your brand. Personally, we love to know ahead of time where our favorite brands will be located—you know, the ones we know will be clutch when it’s time to stop in and visit…and grab a quick snack while we’re there. 😉
- If you haven’t already, start outreach to key clients and other contacts you want to meet with at the show. This process doesn’t necessarily have to be elaborate or formal, either: outreach could be as simple as a quick text, email or phone call. Alternatively, you could consider a more involved email strategy to help automate your preemptive outreach (and use that extra time for something else on your pre-show to-do list!), as well as your post-show follow-up.
- Button up any last-minute website updates to ensure that anyone researching your brand before the show is getting the correct and most up-to-date information. The benefits, of course, extend to after the show—you wouldn’t want a potential sales lead to end up with a bad impression due to outdated or missing information despite a favorable in-person interaction.
- Make sure you have established a social media plan for the show. Showcasing your Fresh Summit experience is not only great for a trade audience (we always want to know what’s new with others in the industry!), it also positions you as a thought leader and expert resource to your consumer audience.
- For more insight on creating a smooth experience before, during and after the show, check out these 5 Tips for Fresh Summit Success.
- 90 Day Checklist – We may be a little closer than 90 days out, but there is still plenty on this list to keep in mind as we get closer to October 18. Make sure your brand is squared away during this home stretch—and be sure to give yourself kudos for all the things you’ve already accomplished!
Our best advice? Take a deep breath, take it one step at a time, and remember that the work will be worth it! Whenever the to-do list seems never-ending, we like to take time to remember how lucky we are to work in such a great industry full of empathetic people—people who also happen to know exactly what you’re going through as you prep for the fresh produce “Super Bowl.”
Still feel as though your Fresh Summit to-do list is miles long? Contact us to talk further about how we can support your marketing efforts before or during the show! With the many available tools and resources, we hope your Fresh Summit experience is a breeze. Simply can’t wait for this year’s show? Take a walk down memory lane and revisit What Blew Us Away at Fresh Summit 2018.
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