Trade shows: work the list, not the booth
Most companies spend the trade show budget on the booth and none of it on the list. Then they stand there for three days hoping the right people walk by. The show is not the booth. The show is the two weeks before, when you book the meetings, and the two weeks after, when you follow up while people still remember.
Six weeks out: build the list
Every show publishes exhibitors. Most publish speakers and sponsors. Many share attendee lists with exhibitors or sell them. Between those and the public social chatter about who is going, you can name the fifty to a hundred people at the show who could actually buy, partner, invest or write about you. That list is worth more than the booth.
Three weeks out: book the meetings
Reach every name on the list with a specific ask: fifteen minutes at the booth, or coffee off the floor, with a reason that fits them. Follow up by a person. Aim for fifteen to twenty confirmed meetings. That fills the calendar before the doors open, and a full calendar is what makes a show pay.
At the show: work the calendar, not the aisle
Run the meetings. Capture notes the same hour. Have the founder available for the press and the podcasters who are recording on the floor. If someone worth meeting is at the show and not on the calendar, the desk reaches them that day, not next week.
48 hours after: the follow-up
This is where most companies lose the show. Every meeting gets a personal follow-up within two days: what you discussed, what you promised, the next step. Every non-meeting on the list gets a "sorry we missed you at the show" with something useful. Two weeks later, a second touch. The show becomes a pipeline, not a memory.
Press and content around the show
Trade press covers the shows in their industry. A product announcement timed to the show, a founder interview on the floor, a panel slot, a short video from the booth. All of it makes the name familiar to the people you are booking meetings with.
- Six weeks out: exhibitor, speaker, sponsor and attendee lists built, fifty priority names
- Three weeks out: outreach for meetings, fifteen to twenty confirmed
- At the show: calendar worked, notes captured same hour, founder available for press
- 48 hours after: personal follow-up on every meeting
- Two weeks after: second touch on the whole list
- Report: meetings booked, held, next steps, pipeline created
Where Optuny fits
We run the show as a campaign: the list, the pre-show meeting booking, the on-floor support, the follow-up and the report. It is an Opportunity Sprint timed to the show date. Pick your card and see the play.
We build the list. We do the outreach. You take the meetings. Any industry.
See the play for your company