Has anyone here been to the Las Vegas MA expo as a vendor or visitor? Need advice

[Nick Soapdish]

Greetings all,

I work with a small company that is thinking about getting a table at the martial arts expo in Las Vegas this summer. It's around 2000 dollars not including airfare and accommodations, so I'm hoping to get some feedback from people who go to the show about whether it's worth the investment to us.

We sell martial arts training tools that are a bit on the expensive side, and I was wondering if the Vegas show is the best place to try to showcase our stuff and get it into people's hands. What are the general attitudes of people there? It seems like either people who have A LOT of money go to those things because tickets are about 200 dollars each, or maybe people who go are broke because they just spent 200 dollars on a ticket.

Any feedback or other advice would be much appreciated. I'm keeping the post vague and our business name out of it to avoid the mods yelling at me. I hope this is the right place to put this questions, if not, I'm sure someone will point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jks9199]

Haven't been there. Have you done any other similar, if smaller events? If so -- how'd they work out?

Will you be able to bring enough product to catch impulse buyers? Can you craft some sort of promotion for the event? What are the shipping costs -- and don't omit the return costs of unsold merchandise. I'd rather plan on shipping most of it back and be pleasantly surprised if I don't have to.

 

[Nick Soapdish]

We should be able to get all of it in our checked bags as far as shipping goes, but we'll have to look into it. Getting all of our stuff down there is something we hadn't considered fully...

We haven't done any smaller events, but we've had a request to ship some stuff out to New York for a seminar and we got a lot of good exposure from that, no sales yet, but getting our stuff in people's hands is really important to us. I guess we can try some smaller venues in our area and see how things go. that's a good thought.

 

[jks9199]

The problem I see you having is that your product is pretty niche. And, as I recall, not inexpensive. You may find that local events won't bring you much business -- but probably will give you a shakedown at a lesser expense. You might also consider simply attending the Vegas event this year, and assess the potential market. Bring some fliers or t-shirts -- but don't make it a major marketing effort this time. Get a feel for it and figure out if it's a good market for you rather than invest several thousand and finding out it's just not worth it... I don't know about you, but I don't have thousands to gamble with that way!

 

[PhotonGuy]

I sometimes do go to Vegas but I've never been there for the expo. Perhaps I should go there when they run the expo and check it out. Its usually other reasons I go to Vegas but maybe I can combine it.

 

[Nick Soapdish]

Yeah, not super inexpensive. The 2000 dollars to get a table includes 4 tickets to the thing, while tickets are around 200 dollars each. We definitely don't have 2000 dollars laying around, but if we're going to take the time to go down there and get hotels, we're wondering if it's not worth it. I was hoping to get someone on here with first hand experience. Apparently, the venn diagram of expo attendees and martial art forum contributors doesn't overlap.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[Andrew Green]

Are you referring to the SuperShow at the Venetian put on by Century/MAIA? If so yes, I've been to the last 3 and have taken staff with me each time. It's a great event, and some of the top school owners in the world are there. The trade show floor is always packed, and there has been 2000+ attendees each time. I'm assuming this is swords related? If so Dana Abbott (Actionflex) is always there and conducts a workshop before the event and has a booth set up. His product isn't really competing with yours, but somewhat related.

As a general attitude people there are looking to improve their schools. Through products and services that benefit their students, improve marketing & sales, etc.

How well you'd do I don't know. It is geared towards school owners and staff more then anything, and most booths are aimed at schools. You know your customers pretty well I assume, so if that is them go for it.

And $200 is cheap for the show, well worth it. Personally I have tended to spend a fair bit of money at vendors while there, and everyone is in a bit of a "buying" mood. If you have any specific questions just ask.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

My advice with any expo like event is to look at it as a purely marketing expense. I would not be expecting to make great sales. I would expect to have people see the wares and hopefully make connections. The hope is that this will eventually lead to sales in the future. Look at it like a marketing expense and be prepared to do a marketing blitz right after the show to build momentum. Do not expect to do a lot of sales there but be pleasantly surprised if you do.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Andrew next time you are here look me up and I will buy you a drink. Nick that goes for you as well if you do come to the expo look me up!

 

[Andrew Green]

Andrew next time you are here look me up and I will buy you a drink. Nick that goes for you as well if you do come to the expo look me up!

I'll likely be back in July, do you attend the SuperShow?

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Hey Andrew, I rarely attend it but would love to meet up with you to talk. I am local to Las Vegas so hopefully when you come next I can buy you a drink or dinner. (I know the best places)

 

[Andrew Green]

My advice with any expo like event is to look at it as a purely marketing expense. I would not be expecting to make great sales. I would expect to have people see the wares and hopefully make connections. The hope is that this will eventually lead to sales in the future. Look at it like a marketing expense and be prepared to do a marketing blitz right after the show to build momentum. Do not expect to do a lot of sales there but be pleasantly surprised if you do.

Going off the amount I have spent at vendors at the event would lead me to believe otherwise... Most of them do some pretty steep discounts for the duration of the show and have a plan to keep you as a customer long term though. I suspect some there treat the event like Boxing Day or Black Friday, especially the subscription based services. But yes, its mostly a networking event and putting yourself infant of a bunch of school owners.

 

[Nick Soapdish]

Great information guys. We'll definitely be thinking about it. Exposure is our number one priority at this point, we're not sure if it's the right place, yet though.

if I do get down there, I'll definitely look you up, Brian. Thanks for the invite.

Andrew, thanks for mentioning actionflex to me. I'll check out his stuff.

Cheers, guys!