In A Digital World, Exhibitions Never Felt So Alive

In a world going more and more digital, believe it or not, fair trades and exhibitions are still valid and getting stronger.

There I was, after waking up before 4:00 am to get my morning flight, it was time for "Munich calling". Me and a bunch of globetrotters ready to rock, smile and talk for five days in a row. First time for me at what is perhaps the biggest exhibition in our industry.  Uniforms ironed, business cards on pockets and all the possible apps on the phone. 

This is pretty much all what I saw during this visit to Munich

No doubts. As the years pass by, we are moving more and more to digital activities – including booking, selecting, inviting and registering customers. No complains. Who really wants to coordinate postal invitations or even sending the paper replies?

This time the customers and prospects were contacted before the exhibition mainly through the digital channels: invitations, meeting arrangements, and advertising (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). However, there at the Messe, the customers were very real.

There is nothing like meeting the customers face-to-face. Call me old fashion. I am not sure if it is because my cultural background or because I am a peoples person but, I really enjoy meeting customers at the exhibitions, and this was not the exception. In addition to catching up with business partners, customers and checking what the industry is offering, it is great to put a face to the sound on the phone. Even better to show our products in a real space, not only you-tube videos or links, here and there. International exhibitions are also amazing to get to know what is happening around the world, what are the trends and what people are looking for. 

On the other hand, I wish I could have had more time to do social media things from there, but you know... limited internet, rush time, a lot of action and especially I was trying to enjoy every possible minute with the customer.s A funny contradiction between my wish to be more social media master and to enjoy more the "here and now".

I confess to be quite a digital person, but events, exhibitions and fair trades are still very valid and important for me, and obviously for many others. No doubt, exhibition is a very strong marketing activity. I have not experienced yet any virtual exhibition, only few broadcast in my previous working life. However, I have participated in about 10 exhibitions in the last couple of years. More and more social media activities are getting there, but the offline activities remain the heroes during the exhibition time.