Aisle Be Seeing You

June 6, 2005

   Industry events aren’t exactly at the top of the list of my favorite things. They do rank above trimming the grapefruit tree and changing the oil in a 1989 Volkswagen Fox that refuses to die. I’ll get back to you someday on whether an exhibit hall beats getting a haircut.
   Even with such a breathless buildup, however, I still say the same thing about stone-industry trade shows that I’ve been saying for years: Go to one.
   There are all sorts of reasons why you avoid them. (Yes, I’m talking to you.) Shows are too far away. The events are in expensive places. You don’t need anything right now. There isn’t enough time. You’re afraid to fly. It’s …
   … it’s basically all irrelevant. There are good reasons to go to shows, and none of them have anything to do with the amount of advertising that shows put into this magazine on a regular basis. (The other part of this disclaimer is that the revenue for us is nice, and don’t stop.)
   You’ve read – or glossed over, once you started to get the message – why you need to go to a trade show, and on a regular basis. A good sales pitch, though, shouldn’t be a lecture, so let’s turn the arguments around and look at why you’re not attending.
   • Shows are distant. That’s a fair gripe. The current lineup of shows include Florida, New York and Las Vegas; while all of the areas have a close population base, none of the destinations are anywhere near a decent drive from Detroit, Chicago, Houston, St. Louis or other major U.S. cities.
   So, you don’t go every year. Every two years isn’t an immense burden, however, since you can plan and budget without a lot of pain, and product lineups from exhibitors will be fresh. That doesn’t exempt you, though, from attending a local demo day or open house, which can be an interim refresher course.
   • It’s too expensive to go. The days of cheap travel, fueled by insane airline price wars and too many hotel rooms going empty, are coming to a close. And two places where you used to find great deals – Orlando and Las Vegas – now cash in as business people and tourists fuel an escalating price list for rooms and services. I’m starting to find more for my money in Manhattan.
   Trade shows can’t be an impulse trip for most of us. Some decent planning ahead, along with an hour or two surfing the Web, and travel costs can become manageable. If you can find good deals going to the Caribbean or Hawaii for a vacation; you can do it for a trade show.
   • I don’t need anything. Of course you don’t. At one point, you didn’t need a handheld router, or a belt-driven edger, or a CNC. Or a source for soapstone. Or all sorts of diamond tooling. Or some directions on how to better use all those tools.
   You don’t know if you need anything if you haven’t seen it, which is one of the biggest advantages of walking around a trade-show floor. And, it’s not one of those 60-minute dashes around the aisles to pick up some neat bags and a year’s supply of pens (although I’ll admit I have some swell pens here in the office). It’s taking a close look at machinery, watching the product demos and asking a lot of questions.
   The rush to beef up all the education in the past few years also gives you the chance for something we all need: to learn something new. Two good nuggets of information from classes – or from the person you started talking to after the session – could easily save you $50 a month each in cutting labor time or tool use. And, $1,200 easily pays for the trip and the show.
   • There isn’t enough time. I say this every day, whether I’m at a trade show, or at the office, or at my nightstand setting the alarm clock for the next morning. Everybody has a few items left on the to-do list when they stop for the day.
   Keeping up with what’s going on in the trade is part of your job. Trade shows concentrate all the products, trends and expertise into one place for a couple of days. When you think about the days and hours you’d spend throughout a year trying to get all the information you need, it’s easy to see how trade shows help you save time in the long run.
   • It’s a hassle to travel. Or, in travel shorthand, you’re uneasy about getting on an airliner. I can agree with that.
   I’ll confess something: Even with enough miles for free flights on four different airlines, I’m still afraid of flying. But, I still keep getting on planes to go to trade shows, because those events are still the best place to learn..
   Convincing yourself to go to a trade show isn’t a tough sell. Travel woes and sore feet are small inconveniences when you consider the long-term value. And, somewhere down the road this year in some convention hall, you can remind me of that.