9 Lessons Learned from Being an Exhibitor

I had a great opportunity, to be a part of the Inwood/ Washington Heights Small Business Fair .

Despite having the experience of exhibiting for others, finally being able to put Twitter handles to real life folks and the business opportunities abound, there are a few lessons that I’ve learned in the process.

1. Bring your own tablecloth. OK, the tablecloth was ok. But I wish I would of has a white or a black one so that the table would stand out more.
2. Be prepared to weather the storm. That morning it was raining. I should of given myself more time to get there and not have put too much stock in the relatively short commute.
3. Walk around and see what the everyone else is doing. The person I had in mind to help me couldn’t so I couldn’t take a break to walk around as I liked. I did manage to get a glimpse of all the tables during the announcements though.
4. Don’t forget the MiFi. I, of all people should have known better. This is why I had a plan B. Powerpoint slides and the Picture Frame app on the iPad (thanks Jeff Pulver & Sparksheet)
5. Bring extension cords. I brought a power surge, but the outlets were 3 tables away. Luckily, all the gear was charged from the night before, but it would have been nice to have that extension cord, with a converter.
6. Have a container for business cards
7. Bring a folder for anything that’s not a business card (flyers, brochures, etc…)
8. Its OK to accept help from the community, even if its from the 4 legged kind.
   
9. Most importantly. Don’t forget to follow up with all those contacts from the event.