5 Ways to Standout at a Startup Event

Ensure your booth becomes the life of the party and attracts more visitors than anyone else!

So you registered, paid the presentation fee, printed hundreds of marketing brochures, re-designed your business cards, ordered a company roll-up and have a demo ready for the exhibition booth. Now what? How do you get potential clients, investors, media members and exhibition-goers interested enough to come over, check it out and have a conversation? Whether the conference is big (DLD Tel Aviv), huge (TechCrunch Disrupt SF) or small (a meet-up on Rothschild Blvd) there are a couple of key steps that you can take.

1. Develop a good relationship with the conference organizers. Conference organizers are under considerable stress and need to make sure everything runs smoothly. While everyone requests the best location make sure you secure that spot by registering, completing all the forms, and paying on time. Write a nice email, saying you are looking forward to participating and ask how you can help promote the conference on social media. Then drop a friendly email, asking if they need anything else and if you can secure an ideal location. (Corner booths, spots across coffee stations and entrances have the most foot traffic)
2. Invest in differentiators and a great display. Set aside some additional money in the event marketing budget and buy a company tablecloth. Your logo will help you stand out from the standard set-up. Also, forgo those common brochures that will surely be tossed in the trash after 5 seconds and spring for interesting designs. Check out some HERE.
3. Freebies. At this point freebies are expected, but try to avoid the usual and unspectacular mugs and pens for something unique. A quirky, rare item with your company’s logo will go a long way in attracting people to your booth. Attendees talk about the best give-away more than the famous keynote speaker who paid a high-price for that Platinum Sponsorship. (I recommend cool phone cases or accessories for maximum visibility)
4. Create some BUZZ. If no budgetary constraints exist, then give away some high quality T-shirts. They will help your company spread beyond the stationary booth and to the entire conference. Encourage visitors to wear them immediately, uploaded pictures of themselves to social media for a chance to win something special at your booth raffle.
5. Reach out in advance. Make sure you email key speakers and conference attendees ahead of time. Invite them to visit your booth at specific down-times (before or after breaks are best) to talk about X, Y or Z and to pick up their free promotional item. This will help you meet key people without wasting valuable networking time walking around and looking for them. Your competitors will be shocked by how many people keep arriving.

Some More Ideas:

• Stand out from the competition by using an interesting design background and wear colorful company shirts to draw attention.
• Create a competition with another startup booth that you are friendly with. Whoever gets the most business cards each hour gets a point! The loser buys post-conference beers for the other team. Keep track with a white board and on your social media! It will help drive visitors to both of your booths and be a great conference conversation piece.
• Attendees love coffee, snacks and alcohol. See if it’s possible to bring an espresso machine, candy or beer keg to attract visitors. (As with everything else, make sure you get business cards in exchange)
• Screens, screens and more screens. People are attracted to interesting visuals — be sure to give the people what they want.
• Forget about a booth model, dress a puppy or kitten in a company shirt — everyone loves puppies and kittens!
• Be sure to keep everything you do within reason and according to the conference rules — nothing is worse than getting kicked out of the exhibition or not being invited back next year.