Last month, my company sent out its quarterly newsletter. Once in a while I get a moment to sit down and write a personal letter to our subscribers, clients and friends. Our spring newsletter is my favorite time to do this because I am in renewal mode. I hate winter — absolutely HATE winter. Once spring comes I am ready to dust off my winter grodiness and my energy is revitalized! Anyway, I am completely off topic now — my point is that my spring newsletter is my favorite because I try to have it mirror my energy — positive renewal — and set the stage for the months ahead. Here is a copy of this year’s spring newsletter letter — focused on the pluses of our big, huge, outrageous AV Geek show:

It’s almost unbelievable to think that 2013 will be RelampIt’s  7^th year exhibiting at InfoComm. Through the years we have seen significant increases in attendance and number of exhibitors.  Then last year news broke that a major exhibitor has decided to pull out of the show. For good? Maybe. At least for the foreseeable future. It made waves in the industry, to say the least.  Seems that every AV publication had to cover it, every AV blogger had an opinion, and every AV industry twitter and LinkedIn feed was ablaze before, during and after InfoComm 2012. To be quite honest, I was getting very tired of it. Kind of like that annoying song (with the equally ridiculous dance) that my son insisted on playing non-stop last year – come on Christopher, it’s in Korean, do you even understand what he is saying??  Maybe he’s singing about hot dogs or stinky feet?

However, now that the ripples have subsided, I have had time to sit back and reflect on my company’s InfoComm experiences for the last six shows. I am still confident we have made the right decision to exhibit in Orlando this year. Some reasons for our decision are likely mostly relevant to smaller businesses in the industry. The show is, without a doubt, the biggest marketing expense we have all year. Regardless, we will continue to be there; here is why:

Face time- seeing clients, prospects, friends and colleagues in person is invaluable.  Plus, if I had to pay to fly my sales staff all over the country (or world) to meet all the people we do in a week at InfoComm, the company couldn’t afford it. Whether in an informal setting after the show or a formal meeting during show hours, personal interaction is paramount to building our relationships and growing our business.

Stability- the ability for my small business to absorb the cost of a show like InfoComm every year is a reflection to the industry that the company is alive and well.  It also shows our dedication to being an active part of the industry.

Trends- part of my job is to keep a “finger on the pulse of AV.” Although somewhat cliché, the time spent at InfoComm allows us to keep abreast of developing technologies and competitors. InfoComm offers the ability to be completely focused on and enveloped by the audiovisual industry. No distractions.

I could continue because my head is full of the fun and fury that is the InfoComm show, but just my top three reasons for exhibiting gives me more than enough justification to send the check to InfoComm every year to reserve my booth space.  Please stop by our booth 2546 in Orlando to say hello. Let’s meet for a bit. Or do lunch. Dinner. Drinks. Parties.

To go a step further; confidently and without pause: RelampIt looks forward to seeing you in Las Vegas in 2014.

 

Kindly,

 

Gina Sansivero

 

Partner, Sales & Marketing