The ICG Floor

Where did the summer go?  Like it or not,  August is here and  that can mean only three things for the Green Industry: trade shows, trade shows and more trade shows. I can attest to this as I have barely been home from The PANTS Show in Philadelphia long enough to get unpacked and already I am preparing to head out to Chicago on Monday to exhibit with the new kid on the block, The IGC Show, which opens on Tuesday. Though only about five years old, The IGC has quickly earned quite a reputation as a must attend event. There will be oodles of seminars and plenty of new products, new ideas, and entertainment to lure the best garden centers in America to The Navy Pier in Chicago. A good indicator of the popularity of this show is the jam packed waiting list of exhibitors who are dying to get in.

I would also like to comment on the state of trade shows in general.  In case you haven't heard, attendance has been off at many shows the last year or so.  The PANTS Show where I exhibited last week was no exception. And this reality has brought on a bit of grumbling by some exhibitors who are less than thrilled with the situation. 

In defense of this show and any others that may be suffering in the wake of the current economic malaise, I must say that there are other ways to benefit from a show, outside of writing up a boatload of orders. As I have learned from experience, in any given situation, you take the cards you are dealt, and make the best of them. At the PANTS Show, I was not going to let a thinner crowd get in the way of finding other ways to make this event a good investment. So I used this opportunity to get out of my booth a bit more, see WHO else and WHAT else was there, and to spend more quality time with existing customers and new prospects both in my booth and after show hours.

In the process, I found a West Coast customer that I had just delivered to a few days earlier, who was there as an exhibitor for the first time. Through some ideas we exchanged in this face to face meeting, I am confident that the opportunity to expand our business with them was put on the fast track. I also needed to replace a misting controller for our propagation houses and since I was surrounded by every imaginable manufacturer and dealer on the floor of The PANTS Show, I simply went shopping. It was better than Google! In ten minutes, I saved over $1,000 from the figure that I was quoted back home. Even better, I did not have to wait seven to ten days and pay exorbitant shipping, because this dealer keeps them in stock, so I was actually able to take one home! And because the dealer was extremely knowledgeable and accommodating, I now have a new irrigation supplier.

There are other opportunities that I will not mention here because I don't  want to give away all my secrets. Rest assured, however, that when I go to exhibit at a trade show, there is a lot more on my list than just standing around my booth, hoping someone will stumble in. It's all a part of the value I find any time some of the leading companies in the industry are gathered under one roof. 

And last but not least, some things you find at a trade show are simply priceless. You haven't lived until you've seen Ed Kiley sing "Come A Little Bit Closer" on Karaoke night at the bar!