I asked people on Linkedin about their evaluation of Surtex, Here is a sampling of what they said about the exhibiting:- Overall, I did think traffic was down this year with regard to buyers and up with regard to visitors that were obviously NOT buyers. I was still pleased with my business, but I would like to see a more professional crowd going forward, and perhaps that means fewer artists/students/lookers.
- Tip: Make your banners BIG so someone can see them from a distance - you want to catch their attention
- My biggest negative was the massive amounts of visiting artists and industry guests. I felt very exposed as a marketing tool. There was zero benefit to me as a paid exhibitor, in fact distinctly the opposite.
- My experience from this show was that due to number of non exhibiting manufacturers trying to figure out how my product was made I will not ever show nothing new at this show again.
- I have been doing the Surtex show for at least 15 years, this show and the industry have been through many changes. Yes we do see many of the same manufactures year after year and to me that is GOOD news. I am grateful for steady, returning loyal manufactures. This is the way I earn my living. I have signed countless deals over the years and the ones that have bared the most fruits are the ones that are steady relationships that have been built over time.
-Manufacturer/buyer traffic seemed to be down a bit from last year.
But, I think that there were more "serious" buyers though. I have amount the same amount of good leads to follow up with as I did last year, and I do believe it's a decent amount, so I'm happy with that.
