Last week we were at an trade show for automotive test market. Sounds like a scary place to be in 2009. Or more likely, a scary place to be spending your marketing money. The show floor was probably 20-25% smaller, and our booth became the last booth in the far corner. And who wants to be in the far corner of the show?

And nothing can be as scary for a marketing manager as pulling into an show site and NOT having to wait to park.

But it was a great event to be at. I told several people that if this was my first time at the show, despite the very weak automotive industry, I would re-sign for 2010 in a heart-beat.

Here are some random observations:

• I brought out our box of Bic pens for give-aways. And my guess was right … on an off year, even those would be popular for visitors to grab. We were cleaned out by 2pm the second day. (And for you nay-sayers, it also encouraged them to stop and talk … awesome results for 58 cents.)
• Certain automotive companies were at the event in force. These are companies I’d bet are going to recover from the recession stronger. And we need to be prepared to market to them.
• A lot of attendees were asking about solutions for testing the up-and-coming technologies. Now I have a better gauge of how strong certain needs are.

But mostly, the human element was the most powerful at the event. Customers dropped by the booth. Salespeople were actively engaged. Relationships between ‘players’ in our industry were strengthened. Sure there were slow points, but it never felt ‘dead’. Some would say we had too many people at the show, but it only added to the value of the event, and the buzz for our company.

Most important, we were acting as a market leader and being treated as such. That’s a vibe you can’t get on a Google search results, or even in a normal sales situation. The right show is truly a marketplace!