If it’s your first or second NAB Show and you’re wondering where to start and how to be sure you get the most out of the show, this webinar is for you.
Find the transcript down below.
Resources and links mentioned in the webinar:
Log into your Exhibitor Dashboard / Portal here – find your target move in date, guest pass code, update your listing, and so very much more
Exhibitor Manual / Freeman Service Kit is here
Rules and Regulations – including work rules and labor union regulations
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You can contact today’s special guest, Thomas Tang, President of Apantac on LinkedIn
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Register for the next NAB Show Webinar here
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Hi, I’m Cindy Zuelsdorf with NAB Show Exhibitor Webinar and Kokoro Marketing. Today we are looking at how to get the most out of your NAB Show in that we’re looking at what we wish we knew at our first NAB Shows, and we want to share that with you. My guest today is Thomas Tang. Hey, Thomas. How are you doing?
Thomas Tang:
Good, and you?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
So glad you’re here. Thomas is the president at Apantac. So, Thomas, I think we should just jump right in. The other day when we were talking, you said you’ve been at NAB a few times, and you were telling me about your first show with your company.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, I’ve been to NAB I think maybe 30 years.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
No way.
Thomas Tang:
I’m trying to guess. If it’s not 30, it’s 28. Yeah. But as Apantac, we founded Apantac in 2008, and 2009 was the first year we attended NAB. Having worked at some major corporations that having your own company let you see what goes behind all the preparation of NAB. Or a matter of fact, any trade show really. Yeah, so-
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
So true.
Thomas Tang:
… 2009 was our first NAB and there are still things that we come up with that we should do better or we could know in advance.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
It’s so true. And so, everybody, we’re going to over three or four areas that we were like, “Oh, man, these are some areas we want to look at and share with you.” One of them is around some dates and schedules. We’re also going to look at some on-site logistics and keeping your team up-to-date. So we’re going to go through those. We’ve got some bonus links and helpful resources for you. So, Thomas, let’s talk about dates and schedules. I think the top thing’s knowing your moving date, but what do you think around dates and schedules for NAB Show?
Thomas Tang:
Well NAB does a good job of keeping us up-to-date. So does Freeman. Now it’s Freeman. When we first started, it was GES. So there are some portals you can get in. Things that are important or discount dates for ordering furniture. There’s a discount date for everything, right? If you’re hanging an overhead, sign you have to send it way before everything else so they can have it in their warehouse and hang before you get there hopefully.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That is true. That got me one year. I didn’t realize about the hanging sign date, and I thought my hanging sign could arrive the same day as my booth. I ended up … Just mistakes over the years that you learn from. That was one of them. It worked out and everything, but boy, was I chagrined when I got there and was like, “I missed the chance to hang my sign? Oh, no!”
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Oh, yeah.
Thomas Tang:
… trip right before the show. One thing that really caught us every year for the first few years was everything’s perfect until you vacuum the booth. And that vacuum draws so much power, it’s average, it takes your booth down.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
It’s true, it’s true. Because on a bigger booth, you might hire the convention center or Freeman to vacuum your booth, right? But on a smaller booth, I certainly was out there with my vacuum, vacuuming my booth myself. Because we pack a vacuum and bring it, right?
Thomas Tang:
That’s right.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
And I was surprised to trip a breaker.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, and the vacuum does it every year, right? So you have to make sure you also … where you plug in your vacuum. Those are things that you don’t plan for until many years later. And we only go to NAB once a year, so …
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
We are going to put some links on the chat, and we’ve got links to a research page that has your exhibitor portal login, so we’ll link to that. So, just chat in if you’ve logged into your exhibitor portal yet. Just let us know, and if you want to be private about it, we won’t reveal who you are. You can just chat to a panelist if you don’t want to tell the whole group. I’d like to know if you’ve been able to log in and find your move-in date and your desk passcode, actually. So let me know in the chat. Thomas, one of the things we talked about, I’m just looking at my notes from the other day is, oh, you had a great story about a chair and renting chairs versus buying chairs.
Thomas Tang:
Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, renting chairs is not inexpensive. So we thought, you know what? For the amount that you pay for the chair, you could buy one and own it, and right away, you’ll be ahead. Right? So we went to the local Ikea and bought some chairs. Of course, that was our first show ever. And we didn’t realize, some of the broadcast engineers are built pretty heavy. So, our chairs … You have to make sure your chairs could handle at least 300 pounds.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
You see the chair starting to bow as you’re standing there doing the demo.
Thomas Tang:
That’s right. They’re talking to an engineer, and he’s getting shorter because the chair’s bowing.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That is one of the best stories. Just a tale of why one might want to rent instead of buy. I also have been a person who’s purchased stuff and brought it in and then later went, “Okay. That worked.” Or in this case, chairs, maybe not so much. It’s better to rent because the weight requirements are questionable.
Thomas Tang:
Those chairs are pretty hefty. It’s not cheap to rent, but they are definitely solid.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
All right. A lot of the things we just talked about deadline wise are on the links that we gave you. And yeah, I’m just looking. Has anybody logged into their portal and check that out? Just let me know. Just wondering how that’s going. Thomas, some of the other things we talked about aren’t really Freeman or NAB exhibitor portal, but getting PR out and photos and stuff like that ready, and I wonder if you can speak to that a little bit.
Thomas Tang:
Well, getting PR out is always difficult because there are so many companies doing it at that time. You do it early, you do it late, or you do it while at the show, you do it right before the show. And really a lot of the … for us is because we’re a hardware company, is to come up with that picture in time; a real photograph in time to be able to actually put it into a press release to show somebody. So that’s always been a challenge for us. I’ll be honest with you, I still haven’t quite figured out the right formula, but with the help of social media, you could do the official press releases, then you could start dripping out all the things. There’s definitely … Since social media, things have actually gotten easier. You do the official release, then you’re slowly putting different story spins around it to have a continuous stream. That’s been really helpful.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yeah. Our one of our recent webinars was about social media. So if any of you are on the call wondering about that, you can watch a replay, of the social media, what’s working for NAB Show, because it’s exactly what you’re talking about, Thomas. You can take one piece of content, and then we call it a story set; spin it out into a ton of different stories. So you take that one piece of content, a press release, a video with you, something like that, and then turn that into a lot of posts, and you can schedule it in advance with your … get your coffee, get your beer, whatever, sit down for an hour and schedule it out and know that that’s all done between now and NAB. So, that’s a super good point.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, that’s … We’re learning as we go. Even after 12 years, we’re still learning as we go because there’s so many new things that comes up. Right?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
So true. All right, so dates and schedules. I’ll just recap that, and then we’ll move on to another topic. So, know your move-in date, and I think I saw some of you guys in the chat talking with Maddy about the move-in date. I heard NAB Show sent a calendar out that was a printed calendar with dates on it that a lot of people got. And so if you have your calendar, you can use that. Otherwise, use the links that we’re providing on the resource page that will take you to an online calendar. Thomas, did you get that cool calendar? I heard it was awesome.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. Unfortunately, I get somebody else to look at that now.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. One thing that was interesting this year because NAB starts at a different time, Sunday, but the move-in date calendar didn’t really change. So essentially, you lost half a day, right? That’s something that if you need to, you need to contact your Freeman contact person and to see if you can move that half a day early or a day early. That’s been … Because we looked at it as, okay. We plan everything according to how many days we have to set up from booths to equipment, to the latest firmware update. Right? So, half a day is a big deal.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
It’s true. It’s true. The number of times where I piled the last-minute equipment in my car to drive it to NAB is, well, more than I have fingers. So yes, a ton of times that we do that. And so you’re right, a half a day feels, “Ah, no big deal.” And on the other hand, I’d be timing my drive to Vegas. You know?
Thomas Tang:
Right, exactly. Especially because that half a day also, by moving in half a day later, it delays your construction for half a day. That’s a big deal too. Right?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
So, I think I’m super glad you mentioned that. I can say that in the past, I had a move-in date where I was working that didn’t work for us. We needed a little bit more time, and what I did was contact my exhibitor advisory committee member and said, “Who can I talk to?” And that person on the exhibitor advisory committee helped me figure out who to talk to at Freeman, or it was GES at the time, but at Freeman, I think, to get that date moved. And they did move it after we made the request. So we were able to get some help with that. Does everybody know their exhibitor advisory committee person? And maybe just know that NAB Show has an exhibitor advisory committee made up of exhibitors, like Thomas. I was on it for two rounds as well, which is great. And so each member on there is assigned a group of people, a group of exhibitors at the show. So every single one of you has your own exhibitor advisory committee member that you can reach out to and talk with.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
And I think everyone should have received an email from them in the past week regarding the internet. If you don’t know who your member is, I’m going to get with Maddy right after this, and we’ll get the link to that list and put it on the resources page that you can see in the chat here. It’s the best thing if you know who that person is. When you get stuck or wished something was different, you can reach out and contact them, like you were saying, Thomas. Yeah.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. Like everybody, started our first NAB meeting in November, right? Yeah.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Totally.
Thomas Tang:
Basically, just to lay things out, even if nothing’s really ready.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
You kick it off in November.
Thomas Tang:
That’s one of the things that we … Yeah. Well, at least we have our first gathering. I think it’s very helpful. Now even hotels open for booking in
November, I think.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Super early. All right, so dates and-
Thomas Tang:
Super early now.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yeah. We hit the dates and schedules, so I want to go onto some on-site logistics and we’ve talked about some of these things already a little bit, but power, union labor and having a concierge are all topics that are high on my list in terms of the on-site logistics. Thomas, can you touch on those a little bit?
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. Well, the first thing we do, of course, is to … Yeah, there’s some … Over the years, the first thing we do is we always send at least one person to arrive early enough to check the electrical drop. If you have a booth that’s 20 by 20 or bigger, it’ll be electrical drops. So you need to check your electrical drop. That’s very important because electrical drives goes in and the carpet goes in. Once that goes in, it’s a point of no return almost. So, it’s to check your electrical drop, but you also have to arrive early enough to check your electrical drop because they go to home at five. Any questions you ask after 5:00, it’s overtime. So that’s the first thing we always do. We always have at least one person to go check the electrical drop.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
I like that. We would do that as well when I was working at a company that exhibited; be sure somebody gets there super early. I can tell a brief story of getting to the show one time and realizing that the power is completely in a place where we thought we were going to be able to use the floor for something else and having to get that moved and stuff. And one other time I showed up at the show and there was a pole in the booth I didn’t know about. Now, it was on the map. It was on me, but I didn’t understand the map well enough to know that that symbol meant there was a pole in the booth. Right? And so getting someone there early enough to deal with unexpected things, you don’t know what you don’t know, is huge because we all have such a massive investment in this exhibition that sending someone in a day or two early is a small price increase in your overall costs, but it will save you in the long run. So getting that person there early to check where’s the electrical drop? Is there anything I don’t know about that’s a surprise here? Can I get things moved? Can I get my cables under the carpet? Because as you mentioned, Thomas, once the carpet’s down, you’re somewhat locked in.
Thomas Tang:
Right, yeah. You’re taping cords on top of the carpet, right?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Oh, I’ve so been there with a hanger, and you’re trying to fish stuff under.
Thomas Tang:
Oh, yeah. And one thing, Cindy, you pointed out was it was interesting, and a very good thing that you talk about the pole and reading the map. Ceiling height could be a problem too. So there are different parts of the hall that have ceiling height, especially in North Hall, right? Not so much in the South, but in the North Hall, there are ceiling height issues. So you need to kind of … If you’re going to hang a sign, you need to know if it’s going to hang or not. You know?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Well said. Well said. Yes.
Thomas Tang:
And one of the things that we always … We wanted to control lighting in our booth. So within the logistics in your electrical, there is also a separate form to get the lights turned off right above you.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s so true. Guys, have any of you had to deal with that before where you want a light out, and you need to fill out this form and make a request to get that light out? But if your neighbor wants the light on and it’s in between, there’s some negotiation. So at that point, I want to say again, know who your an exhibitor advisory committee member is and be able to text them, hit them up at the show, and get help. The other person who can help you at the show, Thomas, I think you said they’re called a concierge. It used to be a floor manager. There’s somebody from Freeman who takes care of your section of the exhibit hall and make friends with them when you get there. Find that person. Hey-
Thomas Tang:
They will come over. They’re pretty good about it, and Freeman really wants a good rapport, so there’s always a survey at the end. Make sure you make them happy, so they’ll remember. I think your stars show up just like Uber does, right?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Net promoter score, right? NPS, the net promoter score-
Thomas Tang:
That’s right.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
… is what they’re all about.
Thomas Tang:
Right.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yeah. So big tip there, find out who your concierge is from Freeman. Meet them before you have an issue at the show. Because during the show, if you need to find them, you’ll know what they look like. They’re going to be in a little cart cruising around with the Freeman sign, usually. Not always, but that’s how you can get a hold of them and stuff. A couple of questions have come up in the chat. One’s about union labor and bypassing union labor. So, we have a link here in the chat with a resources page that will take you to the union labor page. My suggestion is to just read that. I know it seems long and difficult, but I would totally read through every single thing because it will save you later. So read those union rules, read any of the manuals. There’s a link to the manual there as well because just sitting down and spending a few hours reading through that will save you, and you’ll see which union rules you need to look out for and which maybe don’t apply to you. Thomas, you made a brilliant statement about if nothing else, you need to hire at least one union person when you have a small booth. Tell me more about that.
Thomas Tang:
Well, we really have no control who they send you, right? So if you hire a person, everybody could wipe down the booth. So, at least hire one person, then at least you get somebody who can hold a Windex bottle and a rag. It depends. When you hire help, you … It’s unpredictable at times, but just keep that in mind and make sure everybody in your booth works for the company.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yes.
Thomas Tang:
Doing setup contract laborers, it’s a big issue. Outside contract laborers, it’s a big issue. We’ve never been asked to prove if people work for us, but I used to work with a huge corporation that they would contract their labor abroad and bring it here, and that got their electrical shut down.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
It’s ture.
Thomas Tang:
Make sure you could prove that everybody works for your company.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
if you could have a payroll list, that’s one thing that we had done in the past. We did have to show, people working in the booth were employees of the company we were at a couple of times. And so they would come over, and we’d designate a person on the booth, even when there were just two or three of us working on the booth, we had one person in charge of talking with the union. And just that way it’s one person, and there’s not confusion about who to talk to about which things. Have one person be your point of contact for all things you need in Freeman, if you can. Just a thought. And as you get bigger, it even more important. And when they come by to ask, “Is everyone in your booth and employee?” If you have that roster, you can feel relaxed and just show it. So if you’re wanting to not hire as much union labor, a thought is, bring an extra person or two from the office who are on that employee roster, who want to help us set up. And that’s a good way to approach it, so you could consider that. I hope that’s helpful. Another question-
Thomas Tang:
Instead of having a full list, we just make sure everyone brought their business cards.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Okay, good.
Thomas Tang:
If you can show a business card, they’re not coming after you and saying, “Okay, let’s see the payroll list.”
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Okay. Okay. That’s a good approach too, so yay. A lot of different ways to look at that one and to deal with it. Okay. And we’ve got some questions about the internet and so Maddy, if you’re here, I’m going to hope you can chime in a little bit with us. A couple people are saying, “Hey, the internet prices are really high. We can’t afford it. What’s happened with that?” I also talked with someone on the exhibitor advisory committee before this call specifically about the internet, and she had said it’s actually less and that the NAB has been negotiating with the provider, and they were able to get it down less than other shows. So, there’s a lot of different feelings and points of view on the internet there. One question here I’ll answer, and then Maddy, I’m going to throw to you if you have anything to add to that-
Madeline Sanders:
Sounds good.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Madeline Sanders:
The LBCC does offer internet like you were saying, but it is just not strong enough for very basic things. So we do encourage that you purchase the internet through our exclusive vendor Cox, and we have, you’re right, been negotiating, and we have saved a lot of money for our exhibitors, for the internet.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
I know that there are people who feel like it’s super expensive, and it feels it’s an increase or just too much. I don’t know. I’m not trying to put you on the spot all. Just wondering if we have any approach for those folks at all or if we have to go, “Yeah, this is the cost of doing business,” or I don’t know. Any thoughts?
Madeline Sanders:
As of right now, it’s just the cost of business, but I can inquire with some of my coworkers to just see if they have any tips or anything like that. Because as of right now, I do not have anything.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Okay. Okay. So mostly we can say I feel your pain on the prices, especially for the smaller exhibitors who are feeling like it’s quite a lot. NAB Show has been negotiating. Again, I talked to some of the exhibitor advisory committee people on this topic before the call, knowing that it’s a hot button for people. Think about if you can do your demos without the internet and have a backup plan if at all possible. Depending on your product, that’s a yes. And for some products, you just have to have the internet. So, those are thoughts.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Hey, and since we are talking about on-site logistics, I’m going to just go ahead and jump to this question here in the chat about finding out how much power comes with your booth. You had said in the questions, I thought I read it has one outlet, but maybe I’m wrong that it’s all a la carte. And so as I understand it, some of the smaller booths, you might be able to buy a sort of kit or one set. And Maddy, I’m going to jump to you on this if we can. And you do buy a kind of a set package, and I do believe there’s some power with that. We can come back to you to be sure. For bigger booths, you are ordering power and would need to do that to get the amount of how that you need. There’s a power calculation worksheet on the Freeman area. And again, we have links for that on the resources page. We’ll just put that in the chat here for you. Maddy, can I ask you about that?
Madeline Sanders:
Yes. You are correct; in our Freeman products and services for bigger booths, you will have to purchase electrical, including labor. But if you are having a smaller booth and you’re purchasing a turnkey, that does come altogether and I believe it’s … I would have to check but it’s one or two outlets that you are provided with.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
I’m sure you can find out what the turnkey specifications.
Madeline Sanders:
Yes.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
I’m speaking to the person who put the question in the chat. Should tell you exactly how much power comes in that outlet, because certainly an outlet in and of itself could be whatever. You want to know exactly what that is and stuff. So, I’m sure those specs are there. If you have questions about that specifically, you have your salesperson at NAB that helped you purchase your booth and you’ve got that person. And then Maddy right here is super awesome and totally available to circle back with you on anything. So, do take her contact info out of the chat as well.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
On-site logistics. Another thing to just note is about water. One thing that’s good to note is the rules don’t really allow you to go out, say, and buy water at Costco and bring it to the booth and serve it to people coming into the booth. It needs to be purchased through the LBCC catering services, and NAB Show has done its best to make that more palatable for you in that the prices during setup, during build-up are a lot less. The case per price is quite reduced. I think it’s somewhere around $25 a case. I’m not totally sure on that number. You buy it through the restaurant during build-up, during setup, and then buy ahead. Get extra for the show so that you’ve got cases to use during the show. Thomas, any … You don’t have to comment on water, but I know we talked about it.
Thomas Tang:
Well, I don’t want to get myself in trouble here. You can carry whatever you can in your backpack.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yes, that is true.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. We’ve been stopped at the … Actually right before or during the show, we got stopped because we weren’t going in. And the security was very nice and says, “Well, if you could put that in your backpack, then that’s okay.” You just can’t carry a pallet of water in there, since it’s for our booth staff own consumption of water. Everybody gets two bottles of water, put it in their backpack. That’s perfectly legitimate.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That really is. You can bring water in for your staff. So, make that work for you. As a smaller exhibitor, I go back to read those rules and regulations because you’ll see clearly on there. Oh, if I can carry it in, for example. So then you know how to use the rules to your advantage and make it a good show. Exactly so. All right, I’m just looking at .. Ooh, Thomas, we had one other thing we talked about, about on-site logistics. Some of you guys are still probably deciding how your booth is going to be and the booth layout. You and I, Thomas, talked about making sure the traffic flow works for you. Remember when we chatted about that?
Thomas Tang:
That’s right. That’s right. If you have an island booth, you really need to think about how you situate your booth and where your main attraction is going to be. Right? Another thing that Apantac started out as a pretty small company, so of course we can’t send 20 people there to attend to everybody. So, the way we have always designed our booth was to make sure that when customers come in, and somebody could see them. Architecturally, sometimes it’s better to cut the booth in several sections, demo on this wall, and demo on that wall on the opposite side. But if you’re only bringing five people, you’re going to have to make sure somebody stands on one side, and somebody stands on the other side. So the way we’ve always done it is demo is always on the same side. So, that makes it a lot easier for your staff to get to your customer, and so your customer doesn’t come over and don’t see anybody and walk away.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s so right on. We definitely had a booth one year where we thought we’d have these cool pods on different parts of the booth, and we realized halfway into the first day, “Hey, we can’t see if anybody’s over there.” And so we ended up assigning a person like, “Okay, your job is to look for this one-third of the booth, no matter what. Just that’s what you’re doing.” And we had to rejigger how we are staffing things. Because what you were saying, we had an inadvertent no man’s land we’d find just random people sitting and eating lunch there and stuff like that. And so we had to change up how we were doing-
Thomas Tang:
Oh, you’ll get that anyway. If you have a couch, you’ll find somebody eating lunch there. So …
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yes, yes. Yes. All right, so we’re coming to the bottom of the hour, so we’ll just hit a few more topics, be sure we hit your Q and A. One of the things we want to talk about is being sure your team knows everything. Again, read the manual, read the union rules. I know it’s long, but just do it. There are links in the chat here on how to find that. And if you know that, then you’ll be able to tell your coworkers, even if you have one other coworker, you can at least explain to them what the important things are. You might print it out and bring it with key parts and have a binder. Just if you have it, it’s so much better or at least put the PDF of the important bits on your laptop so you have that.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
And can I suggest you make a memo to the team with all the pertinent info? Even if there’s two of you, three of you. It’s good to know; where’s the hotel? What time does the show start? On which day? How can I get in? Where’s my badge? And so we would make a memo, put all those things and a badge in an envelope for each person, even if it’s two people, so everybody’s got the info and then everything’s right there. And so, once you make that memo the first year, then you can repeat it from year to year. Kim Hogeveen from Ross Video gave us a list like that last year that’s her checklist, and I think it included the memo and that was super nice of her. It’s generic, so you can just use it and it’s on our resources page too. You can download it and use that for yourself if you want to. How do you guys keep everybody informed, Thomas? Do you have a meeting? Do you do a memo? What’s trick?
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, we have continuous meetings, right? We have a sales meeting prior to the show that also warms everybody up at the end of our sales meeting because everybody’s there from the technical staff to … We have a dealer training meeting prior to the show. So we use that opportunity to do a dry run of the show and then recap before the day. Usually, it’s the day before the show, everybody started coming in. So that’s how we do it. One thing is every year rule changes a little bit on who could pick up the badge. We used to get badges sent to us for free. I believe now we’d have to go pick it up. One year that you cannot up somebody else’s badge; you can only pick up your own badge. Sometimes you could send somebody over there. As I explained, I don’t see how the president of Sony is going to go pick up his own badge. Somehow, you’re going to have to let me pick up somebody’s badge, right?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s true.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. I just don’t see the president of a major corporation getting in line to get his badge. So, there are some rules relaxed around it. Maybe that’s not something I just share, but they’re relaxed around the pickup.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s true.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah. Because the first day a brand new crew comes in there, they follow a set of rules, and somehow they go, “Wait, this rule doesn’t work. We’re going to get … How many people that’s coming to the show with staff, they’re going to have to come in, and all get in line and get their own badge? It’s not going to happen.”
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That is true. And I don’t know the rules this year with Experient. I definitely have lived that as well where I could go pick up everyone’s badges for everybody who worked on-site, and then other years where we could only pick up a handful, and we’d have to send people back and forth there as well. Maddy, I might ask you to jump on with this question. How do you add another employee to your booth if plans change? I can say in the past, I used to log in and just type their name in and do that. Just wondering, Maddy, if Experient still lets you do that or what’s the best way if you happen to know.
Madeline Sanders:
Yes, you can still do this. You do it all in your exhibitor dashboard and there’s a tile that you’ll have to click on that allows you to get to your account information. You can just add a new member to your party there.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Last year, we had to add someone. I was working with one of the companies that I work with and I logged into their portal while I was standing in front of the Experient booth, added the person, and then it happened on the spot. So I can say that I did that last year with one of the companies that we work with and it worked great.
Madeline Sanders:
I’m not sure how quick it is this year, but I’m sure it’s still up to the standard.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Hey, here’s a little fun fact for everybody. When I was at one of the first trade shows I worked at, we all thought we’d get matching shirts. Who has done that where you’re like, “Ooh, I’m all going to wear this great color with my company logo.”
Madeline Sanders:
I wore my company shirt today.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s an awesome shirt. So what I learned at the show is when everybody on the booth, even if there’s just three of us, four of us wearing the same shirt and there are now four people on the booth, and we all have the same shirt color. It’s very easy to see there are no customers in the booth. And so we started to change it up and go, okay, it’s fine to have some different colors of shirts, and we’ll just all put the logo on it. I just wanted to throw that out there. As a first time exhibitor, that’s something I wish I would have known.
Thomas Tang:
Or wear a suit. No customer wears suits.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Totally. Yeah. Very funny. Okay. We’ve got bonus items for you and links to all the things we’ve been talking about on the resources page. Thomas, for some of our folks on the call-
Thomas Tang:
Yes.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
… it is their first or second NAB show, and they are wondering like, “Oh my gosh, that’s a lot of stuff.” if you were going to suggest just one or two things, one or two places to start, what might you say, “Start here”?
Thomas Tang:
Well, what always catches us off guard in the early days were tools. Always make sure you bring some tools.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s so true.
Thomas Tang:
At least one of each screwdriver. That’s the one thing that always as a new exhibitor, I think things would happen would be tools, cables.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Cables.
Thomas Tang:
Right. So do a good cable count on what you need and tools. Even though Fry’s is in Vegas, but it’s not that close.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Plus driving there. I was looking around my desk. I have a little multi-tool here that … I’m a huge multi-tool fan, and so going to Vegas, I’m throwing my Gerber tools and all that stuff in my suitcase because I’m like, “At least I got to get the crate open. The Makita’s in the crate.”
Thomas Tang:
That’s right, that’s right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Tools, and make sure you check them because they can’t take them on the plane. Cables over a certain distance, length, and they won’t let you carry it on the plane.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That is true. I’ve sadly given up two multi-tools at airports, but only two, and one was in Vegas while I was leaving, and I threw it in my bag.
Thomas Tang:
I’ve given up an ethernet cable because security decided it was just a little long.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s wonderful. All right, we are going to go to Q and A, and then after that we will wrap up. So, let’s look through the chat and see what other questions we have. Also, Maddy, do you have anything? I know we were talking about a lot of things there, but I want to be sure we didn’t miss anything. And Maddy, if you have something that you want to interject, I would be grateful.
Madeline Sanders:
We do have an update that our booth review forums that are due tomorrow, the deadline is tomorrow and they aren’t necessary for booths that are a thousand square feet or more. We have extended the deadline due to unforeseen circumstances to March 6.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Okay. Does everybody know where to find that? Maddy, that’s for booths over 10 by 10. So 10 by 20 and up? Is that right?
Thomas Tang:
No.
Madeline Sanders:
It’s for a thousand square feet or more.
Thomas Tang:
A thousand.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Thousand, okay.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, it’s more like-
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Those are the required booths.
Madeline Sanders:
Okay.
Thomas Tang:
30 by 40.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Got it, so bigger.
Madeline Sanders:
Yes. In order for you to submit the booth review form, can be found in your exhibitor dashboard.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
And we’ve got a link for you to that dashboard here.
Thomas Tang:
I’m sorry, that dropped out a little bit. It’s for what?
Madeline Sanders:
You can find the booth review form in your exhibitor dashboard.
Thomas Tang:
Okay.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
If I understand it right, everybody with a thousand square foot booth or more needs to fill out that form-
Madeline Sanders:
Yes.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
… which can be found on the exhibitor dashboard, which we have a link for you right here for and you can get that form. I saw that yesterday when I was looking through everything as well.
Thomas Tang:
I have to take a note.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Take a note, man. Go to the resources page from the website and click on the link. I can send it to you.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, I have to.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
We’ll send it to you after.
Thomas Tang:
Okay.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
That’s funny. Oh, wonderful. Okay. I’m looking through the Q and A. Oh, hey. So somebody … John, thank you. John says, “Check if the Fry’s in Las Vegas still has stock. Some of the other Fry’s around in Dallas, and other places seem to be a bit sparse.” Good point. Yeah. Back to bring your own cables and stuff like that. Make friends with your neighbors. Oh my gosh. Make friends with the neighbors on either side of you and across the aisle from you because you can help each other with tools and stuff, but make friends before you need something. It’s so much easier. Okay. Any tips for creating a great experience for our potential clients in a small 10 by 10 booth, and what is the most effective takeaway material? Oh, awesome. I’ve got thoughts, but I’m going to go to you first, Thomas, if you want to address that.
Thomas Tang:
Well, interesting USB is always good. Over the years, what we’ve, done everybody’s getting away from printed material, right? But we still do, because getting a USB doesn’t really give justice on how many products you have. So we do a book actually, but not … We don’t print a thousand of these books. We do a small quantity so people can review what you have in your booth, and sometimes people in NAB will take it because it’s a long enough show to actually read it that night. But I think the USB is becoming now the takeaway of choice.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Okay. Thoughts that I have, we want to give something super useful in exchange for their info. So, whatever we can give them that helps them, that we’re of service, that we’re benefiting them. So if they’re coming in the booth and you’ve got a product that solves a problem, tell them, “Hey, I’m going to send you a PDF guide that lists out the top five things you can avoid in this industry.” Or whatever. So say the person’s moving to IP or the person’s doing some audio processing or E to O or whatever the thing is. So you’d say, “Here’s five things to know about when you’re moving to a new fiber facility,” or something like that, and then get their info. So you want to get their info either using the lead retrieval system and I see we have a question about that, so we will talk about it. So you can purchase the lead retrieval.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
If you feel like, “Ooh, the lead retrieval is a little bit expensive,” you can do old school and have them analog on paper. I have a business card that was a QR code on it. And if someone hits that QR code, it sends me a text that says, “Hey, I want to get that PDF that you just talked about.” And so, give them something super useful that will help them. Other things we’ve had luck with, water and Chapstick because we’re in Vegas, right? So those are really useful right there.
Thomas Tang:
Well, this year is the hand sanitizer.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Hand sanitizer.
Thomas Tang:
That’s right. Maybe masks. No, I’m just kidding.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
It’s really scary.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
You guys did see that Mobile World Congress was canceled, right? Because of everything going on. So I don’t know. I had someone yesterday asked me if NAB Show is still going forward as planned, and I said, as far as I know, NAB Show’s made a statement. And Maddy, you could say something about this saying everything’s on schedule and watching the situation. I think that’s the stance right now.
Madeline Sanders:
Exactly. We are going as planned for it, and we’re going to take extra efforts to just keep everyone safe, and we’re going to … keeping up with the CDC and any announcements they make, but the NAB Show going forward.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yeah. Yeah.
Thomas Tang:
I just got back from IRC, and a couple of large vendors did pull out. Well, the bright side of that is they allowed food trucks to come in so the food got better. But yeah, Samsung partially pulled down and LG pulled out. So yeah.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Regarding the most effective takeaway material, I want to be sure we answered that clearly. If you want to hit me up separately, I will help you. We have a couple of people asking about the best takeaway material. I’d be glad to give an answer that’s specific to your company. If you like to do that, I’m glad to just jump on a call with you for 10 minutes to do that. Super easy to do, but something beneficial or something useful is the two things that I suggest to do that. Start a conversation with them. If you do it by text message, as I mentioned with this QR code, that way you can hit them up two days later or by email with an automated message. So, you’re going to do something to keep giving them the benefit and keep that conversation going so you get the mind share and stuff like that. What else? What other questions do we have? Did we hit the lead retrieval well enough or do you want to talk about that?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
We have a question here. Lead retrieval do’s and don’ts. What’s worthwhile? I will say about lead retrieval, one thing if you do use the lead retrieval from experience, you get a lot of data about the person, so it gets into their title, their budget and all that kind of stuff. So you do get a ton of data, and you can get it daily, which is quite nice. That said, some of the companies we work with here at Kokoro Marketing use that lead retrieval, and they’re sending out emails literally every day of the show. Hey, thanks for visiting us on Sunday. Hey, thanks for visiting us on Monday. They’ll use that. And so in that case, you’ve got to have that easy access to that data if you’re going to do that super responsive.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Couple companies we work with have a … One of them, I love it. They have a three-ring binder, and they staple the person’s card to it and take notes about the demo. And then, during slow times of the show, they take their phone and use the card reader on it and snap a picture of the card, and it sucks the data into their database, their marketing automation, and then send an email out that way. That’s a less expensive way to do it, and they’re still doing proper lead retrieval. As long as you’re taking notes on what that person needs, do they have budget, do they have a project? What do they need? So you can segment and call them later. No matter where that’s happening, I think you’re good to go. Other questions?
Thomas Tang:
I’m taking notes, sorry.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Taking notes. We can talk later. It’s our first time to Vegas. What should we wear? How do people dress? What do you think, Thomas?
Thomas Tang:
Well, during the show, actually it’s kind of chilly. During setup was pretty warm. So you have to … Once all the equipment comes in, as far as the show is concerned, I think April tends to be kind of … It can be windy at night. You want to have a jacket, but during the day we’re all on the show floor. It doesn’t hurt to bring a light sweater or a jacket because it does get chilly in the hall. After you shut the door, get the air conditioning on, it’s very very different temperature than when you were setting up, so don’t catch a cold.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Totally. Now, some people will dress down in the last day of the show. I have to say, I’m not a fan. I’m like, if I’m exhibiting, I want to look good and professional the whole time during the show. Now, everybody’s idea of what good and professional is can change and just check with your coworkers what you guys decide you want to do. Are you going to wear a polo shirt? Are you going to have a jacket? You should have a name tag on your right side so when you shake hands, it’s on your right side showing your name that way. So make sure what you’re wearing can have a name tag while you’re in the booth and stuff like that. So those are important. I always bring an extra layer like you were talking about, Thomas, and I will often bring a scarf because one time I had a demo station with a cooling vent above my head, and I thought I would die. I was freezing the whole week.
Thomas Tang:
Oh, yeah. Once the show starts, you’ll find your-
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Cold.
Thomas Tang:
… shoes have gotten bigger, and your clothes have gotten bigger because you’re so cold. You’re shrinking.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Wear shoes that are comfy. Wear shoes that are comfy. Wear shoes that are comfy. That’s my … Don’t go crazy and wear something, “These look awesome,” and you’re dying after the first hour. Just wear something that you can deal with. And if you can, if you want to, if you’re working on a booth, feel free to bring an extra pair of shoes and stash them, and switch if you’re worried about it. I have a pair of shoes that I wear, Danskos, that I’ll just wear for a week straight and I’m good. But if you are at all worried about it, bring an extra pair. People wear tennis shoes during the show because they feel they can. I’ve seen a ton of guys wearing a suit and tennis shoes, right? You’ve probably seen that, Thomas.
Thomas Tang:
Oh, yeah. Done it myself on the last day.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Exactly.
Thomas Tang:
You know, when you have meetings, make sure you schedule them. Keep that distance in mind. From the back of the South Hall to the North Hall is half a mile. So, yeah, plan your time. Shoes are very important when you have to run that half a mile, and you got 10 minutes, right?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
So true. I love this question that just got posted. If it’s just you at the booth and you just need to grab some food or use the restroom, what do you do, and do you have issues with people stealing stuff? Great question. I have been that person so I can totally speak to that. I know Thomas, you probably have been too, where you’re the only person. So, a couple things. Back to make friends with your neighbors. I met so many of my friends who I still know now, to where you’re like, “Hey, I’m going to go grab some food. Can I get you something, and would you mind just keeping an eye on my stuff here in the booth?” is a lifesaver. Please do that. That works really … Most people want to help each other so do that.
Thomas Tang:
Isn’t that how we met?
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Probably. How did we? Is that … Yeah, probably yes.
Thomas Tang:
Something similar to that, I’m sure, yeah.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yes, exactly so. Have I had issues with people stealing things? Unfortunately, yes. I have seen people steal things. So, if you have a computer, you might want to put a cable lock on it. Get a lock on your case in your booth and put your stuff in there and lock it. Sadly, we need to pay attention to that stuff. Yes. Any thoughts on that one, Thomas? What do you do when you’re solo on the booth?
Thomas Tang:
Exactly what you said. Make sure you do have … If you’re the only one in the booth, you usually … If you have drapes, make sure all your valuables under the drape on the skirt of your table. Don’t leave anything out that somebody would want to take. Usually, it happens. It does happen. We had a colleague one time, I actually wasn’t the only … I wasn’t the only guy there. I say, “Hey, keep an eye on your laptop. Somebody might take that.” He comes back and goes, “Come on, give me my laptop back.” I said, “No, I didn’t take your laptop.” He goes, “Oh.” Somebody did take his laptop. So …
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Oh, that’s a sad.
Thomas Tang:
Yeah, be careful.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yeah. So, just keep an eye on it. Get a locking case. That’s your best bet. It doesn’t need to be a super heavy duty lock, but just get something where you can have a little key and put your stuff in it.
Thomas Tang:
Nobody’s going to spend five minutes in your booth picking the lock, so everybody will know. So as long as you deter them a little bit, it’s not going to happen.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
Yeah. Yeah. It is a good thing to watch for. Gosh. I want to end that on an up note, and so I would say, make friends with the people you meet. On this call, you can reach out to me, you can reach out to Thomas, you can reach out to Maddy. All of our contact info is on the resources page. Make friends with your neighbors at the booth and help each other out, and you’ll have a great show. We are going to sign off because we went long today. Thank you for all the awesome questions. I think we got to almost everybody’s questions, but if we didn’t, hit me up and we will take care of you. So, thank you, and thank you to Thomas. I appreciate you. Thank you so much for sharing and being with us today.
Thomas Tang:
You’re welcome. Thank you.
Cindy Zuelsdorf:
All right. Bye, everybody.
Thomas Tang:
Bye.
