10 Tips to Successfully Tackle Trade Shows

Industry events like Vision Expo East represent great training grounds for optometric and optical staff. There’s continuing education galore, show floor events, social gatherings, and, of course, visits with vendors. Perhaps the best education of all is simply walking the show floor, one section at a time.

How do you plan a path? Everyone has their own approach to covering an industry event, so we asked folks from different sides of the industry to share their tips on getting the most out of a trade show. They are:

→ Tom Bowen, founder and CEO of Thrive Practice and Life Development in Roca, NE

→ Amy Endo, ABOM, NCLE-AC, CPOT, master optician and practice administrator at Edwin Y. Endo OD & Associates in Honolulu, HI

→ Valerie Manso, ABOC, FNAO, ALB, ACB, president of Manso Management Services and director of staff education at PECAA

Here, these eyecare pros divulge key advice for helping your team tackle the trade show experience.

1. Plan way, way ahead. “Always create well in advance a list of the primary focus of each trade show your practice plans to attend,” stresses Bowen.

2. “Start each day with a group breakfast,” says Manso. “Discuss the day’s priorities as well as the key accomplishments from the prior day.”

3. Be specific. Provide team members with a list of vendors and, most important, “objectives for each vendor visit,” adds Manso.

4. When it comes to creating and sharing those objectives, Bowen stresses the importance of including everyone…optometrists and staff members. Why? “Because people support what they help create.”

5. As for education, select the specific courses for them to attend, says Manso. Also explain they need to take notes and share the information back at the office following the trade show.

6. Make that formal, adds Bowen. “Request that all attendees of any trade show share a ‘Take-Home Synopsis’ of what was learned with the entire staff at a full-team gathering within a week of returning.”

7. Then invite suggestions from the whole team, adds Bowen. That can be live, as time allows, “and supplemented by team input memos on actions to take to improve the practice. Why? You’ll be amazed how much more people pay attention and document important things learned when they know they’re going to give a report.” 

8. Do your homework for what’s on trend, stresses Endo, and answer these questions before you go: “Are you buying in bulk? What do you really need right now? What are the buy-ins and show specials? What’s the practice’s buying budget?”

9. Be specific about the team’s spending parameters, too. “Is there a per diem? Be clear about how much they can spend,” advises Endo.

10. Don’t wait until “showtime” to create and share a budget. Plan way ahead, says Bowen. “Establish a budget by Dec. 10 of each year that includes CEs and all other expenses for attending trade shows and other educational events in the coming year. And most important, stick to that budget.”

Whatever their role, always make clear what’s expected from staff members who attend a trade show. Put it in writing and then review with your team before they head to that next industry event.