What founders say
Whether the booth is worth it, what makes someone stop walking, and where the leads are really won — which is almost never at the show itself.
“I created the booth in my garage… I creatively built it in AI first… out of like eight hundred and fifty vendors we won the showstopper, the best booth award.”
He designed it in AI to see what he wanted, then spent a month and a half building it by hand. The cheapest booth in the hall beat every agency-built one around it.
“we closed so many accounts in those two days… probably eighty five stores… It's a buying show, that's what they're there, they're there to buy.”
Pick buying shows, not awareness shows. He assumed 85 was normal; the KeHE team told him it was not.
“I handed out shots to all the other vendors. I just walked around with a big bucket… Hey, start your day with this… Let me know who do you need me to send over to you.”
The other exhibitors are the most connected people in the room and everyone ignores them. He worked them before doors opened, both days.
“they have a program called the Golden Ticket where brands can apply to… get an award in innovation… It comes with opening DCs for free… but really just exposure to their network.”
Distributor innovation programmes are an application, not an introduction. Twenty to thirty-five winners a year, and it became their launch point into retail.
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