Your first major show or conference
A show floor rewards a plan. Decide what you need to learn before you see the program, then let the program fill the plan.
Before you book
- Write down the one decision the trip should improve.
- Confirm the dates, venue and hours on the organizer's site, not on a third-party calendar.
- Read the organizer's cancellation, badge and access rules before you pay for anything.
In the first hour
- Find the sessions and exhibitors you cannot miss, and mark the rest as optional.
- Keep the same few questions for everyone you speak with, so the answers can be compared.
- Note who said what, and when.
Before you leave
- List what you still cannot verify.
- Name one owner for each follow-up.
- Separate what you saw demonstrated from what you were told.
More guides
Show planning checklist
The same checklist works for a payments summit, a marketing conference and a machine tool show.
Parking and getting there
Parking and transit change by event and by day. The venue and the transit agency are the sources to trust, close to the date.
Hotels and travel
Use the organizer's official housing page as your starting point. Third-party offers that use a show's name are not always connected to the organizer.
During the show
A claim on a show floor sounds as firm as a published figure. It usually is not. Keep the same few questions in your pocket, and class what you hear.
Meeting planner
A meeting earns its time when both sides know the question before they sit down.
After the show
The value of a show is decided in the two weeks afterward, when notes turn into decisions or get lost.