My year starts off, like many Europeans who are serious about AV, with a trip to Amsterdam for ISE. I’ve been doing that for the past six years and for the past four also, I’ve been adding in a trip to Las Vegas specifically for DSE.
That usually means that by the end of the first quarter I have already spent a big proportion of my marketing budget.
NEC Showcase 2015 – interview with Tom Milner from NEC Solutions Showcase on Vimeo.
London Digital Signage Week and the NEC Showcase (which, for those of you with a long memory, will know has taken the place in the industry calendar where Screenmedia Expo used to be) are both on my doorstep so it is a natural that I should head down to London to attend all that is on offer there (I even got interviewed by a wannabee Jonathan Ross this time around – see above)
My business interests; Service and Support Ltd,DOGZDINNER Ltd
(a specialist AV distribution business), Pristine-Screen Ltd
(a specialist screen cleaning and preventative maintenance business) and Barrier Advertising Ltd (a specialist LED screen on crush barrier business) have quite a few customers and partners that are based in the US and so this year, mainly at the instigation of the DailyDOOH team, I figured it was about time I stretched my horizons a little further and took the plunge to take in a mid-year show – namely #InfoComm15.
So, what should I expect? A lot of industry colleagues tell me that it is just like ISE but to be honest, I’m hoping AND expecting bigger things!
For me personally, the main differentiator between European and US based shows is the ‘on floor sales teams’.
In Europe I find these (people) mostly difficult to engage with – they only seem interested in you if there is an instant ‘sales out’ opportunity for them. How they figure that out by attendees passing by their stands is beyond me and they must surely lose a lot of business by adopting this attitude.
However, my experience of US Sales Teams on show floors is the absolute polar opposite. I’ve always found them to thoroughly co-operative and interested in what I do, what my customers do and how they can help.
So, I know which I prefer but I’d still love to know how exhibitors REALLY work out their ROI on a show presence. Is it based on sales out in the following quarters or is it based on new customer opportunities or both?
Anyway, no matter, I’m looking forward to the new experience that is Orlando and that is #InfoComm15.
For me personally, it is hopefully the start of generating even more inter-continental partnerships and relationships and perhaps, if it is as good as some say, then it will help me re-evaluate what show/expos I attend next year!
Tom Milner is Managing Director at Service & Support Ltd, an experienced UK based Installation and Maintenance company that specialises in everything DOOH/IT/EPoS and is a guest of DailyDOOH at their team villa.
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