TSEA’s Face-to-Face connections event creates business

The Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA)’s Face-to-Face Connections, its strategic sourcing event for the exhibit and event industry, completed its fourth successful program. The event, held April 20-22, 2011 in Chicago, Ill., at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, was specifically designed to bring exhibitors and suppliers together to determine potential for a business match.

“We had the guests divided into two categories: hosts and guests,” said Kate Calille, marketing and event planning coordinator, TSEA. “There were probably about 50 people involved and about 14 host companies and 12 guests.”

All participants benefited from their pre-planned, 30-minute sessions that were private, focused and results-oriented. Spanning only two days, Face-to-Face Connections is an efficient and cost-effective approach to a sales meeting.

All guests attended 10–12 meetings with sellers who matched up with their current needs.

“The event is pretty open to the tradeshow industry,” said Calille. “We have all kinds of different guests, from suppliers to contractors. It’s quite a wide range of companies.”

Suppliers were equally complimentary about the event. Each supplier scheduled 7–10 meetings with buyers who were prescreened, qualified, decision makers with a budget to purchase in 2011. They were provided a private space with no distractions for their discussions.

Both guests and sellers agreed they would generate, at minimum, several new business relationships and many innovative marketing ideas to take their business to the next level of performance as a result of the event

“Face-to-Face started in January 2010 and we’ve been trying a few new things with each event,” said Calille. “We really hope to grow in the future.”