Industry Association Events

[MrGolf]

Looking for some advice, success stories, horror stories or any other sort of insight from any of you fellow posters who have went to trade show events as a vendor. I've got some certain classes of business that I do pretty well on and wonder if attending their conventions might be a good idea to set up a booth and do some talking/networking.

I've been kicking around the idea of trying this but wanted to see if anyone had some experience or feedback on whether it was a good investment or a waste of time.

Would love to hear from those of you who have done this.

To clarify this I'm referring to commercial lines. Such classes I've considered would be: Petroleum Marketers, Restaurants, Wholesale Distributors

 

[nyc2phi]

Looking for some advice, success stories, horror stories or any other sort of insight from any of you fellow posters who have went to trade show events as a vendor. I've got some certain classes of business that I do pretty well on and wonder if attending their conventions might be a good idea to set up a booth and do some talking/networking. I've been kicking around the idea of trying this but wanted to see if anyone had some experience or feedback on whether it was a good investment or a waste of time. Would love to hear from those of you who have done this.

I did a home show one time as a personal lines agent. I didn't pick up and personal lines business from it but I did establish some relationships with other vendors there that brought some business. I probably wouldn't do it again but I guess everyone's opinion is different

 

[Arnage150]

I would suggest looking at the list of venders already signed up. More often then not the insurance brokers that have specialty programs for that industry display there. If you can beat those programs then go for it. If you are unsure/cannot access them it may be a waste of time. Often times if you have a solid regional company you may be able to beat the program.

 

[EugeneM]

I did a large campaign a few years ago for a vendor that attended conventions and trade shows. They did have a booth however what I might recommend is if you have an attendee list - call and set up appointments in between classes/seminars. Get cell phone numbers and meet up with them for drinks

You probably will get a much better response then having a booth + you dont have to buy a slot. IMO