Today I’m at the 2011 AWS Fabtech show. It has been a great show with a 25% increase in exhibitors and record attendance. Nearly every person I have been in contact with has said that their business is either good or great! I have made contact with several of our welding filler metal consumable customers and have met a few who we haven’t done business with in the past. I also spent some time this morning in the metalworking exhibition hall. While not as applicable for EWI Lab Services, there are lots of good contacts there as well.
But I had a problem. I went to Chicago’s Navy Pier last night and bought shirts, hats and sweaters as souvenirs for my kids, only to leave them at the restaurant last night! While I certainly felt dumb about forgetting the stuff, I felt even worse that I didn’t have something to bring home for my kids. That’s when the light bulb came on – trade show booth giveaways! I never really had much use for the flashlights, tape measures, foam footballs, water bottles, pens and pads of paper that are freely given away at many of the booths, but I made out like a bandit – and made some good contacts.
A good show and happy kids, what else could you ask for? I suppose the $100 I spent for the stuff I left in the restaurant…
Contact Andy Joseph, Director of EWI Lab Services- 614-688-5196, [email protected], www.ewi.org/labservices.
- Andy Joseph at Fabtech 2011