In this extract from her book, Executive Assistant Mastery, Maria Fuller shares step 25, “Trade Shows”
Whatever industry you’re working in – banking, finance, technology, medical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, telecoms, or e-commerce – there’ll be a prominent trade show or exhibition targeted to your company. Maybe it’s of interest to your employer as an exhibitor, or maybe multiple executives plan to attend as delegates. Perhaps your executive will be approached to be a keynote speaker!
Companies invest an enormous amount of time and money participating in trade shows to showcase their latest technology and services. It takes months of planning by the marketing and events teams to work with a designer, the head of business development, and the head of commercial, to produce a stand that’s going to launch the latest innovation, and to create a buzz in the marketplace.
Trade shows in your sector must be on your radar; you need to be proactive and locate them because no one is going to email you an annual list of shows that need to be in your executive’s calendar. I know, because I learnt this the hard way.
International Trade Shows
The largest international trade shows are:
- Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. This top international trade show covers robotics, telecommunications, and technology. Approx. 100,000 attendees.
- MEDICA in Dusseldorf, Germany. One of the largest trade shows in Europe with 120,000 visitors. Featuring pharmaceuticals, medical technology, and hospital equipment.
- Ambiente in Frankfurt, Germany. Dedicated to consumer goods and retail. 100,000 attendees.
- Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. A tech conference and trade show, previously held in Dublin. 70,000 attendees.
- Hannover Messe in Hannover, Germany. 215,000 attendees coming together for manufacturing, engineering, robotics, and tech.
- CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. Features manufacturers, developers, technology, and new products with 150,000 attendees.
Treat trade shows as part of the rhythm of business. If you are an Executive Assistant master, have all the dates locked down in your executive’s calendar months in advance.
If you flag the dates well in advance, your executive will know where the trade shows land, and in which country, and will be able to plan their attendance ahead of time. That means you can book flights and hotel accommodation several weeks in advance, at a much better price.
Large international trade shows always push up prices of travel and accommodation significantly, so getting ahead in this respect will save your company a small fortune, and you’ll get a wider range of hotel options to choose from.
The quickest route to locating the trade shows your company already participates in is to ask your Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) or your Head of Events for the data. They’ll know which trade shows your company exhibits at, the ones they don’t, and the ones that could be of interest to your executive.
A calendar of trade shows and industry events may exist on your company intranet, SharePoint, or Google Drive. Ask a marketing and events colleague to send you a link.
If you don’t have a marketing and events team and need to research industry trade shows and events yourself, use the helpful websites below:
Even if the executive you support doesn’t attend these events in person, you can guarantee that key people in your organisation will, along with a percentage of your existing clients. For that reason, continue to flag the trade show dates in the calendar, and you’ll avoid scheduling any important internal or external events on those dates.
