CES Day Three

My assessment of trade shows invariably follows the same path. On set-up day I say “this is going to be great.” On day one I say “isn’t this great.” On day two, I say “wasn’t yesterday great.” On day three I say “trade shows are hard.”

Your days start early and then, when all is said and done and the last person has left your booth, you get to go eat. Because many trade shows are in Vegas, you have to spend a little time paying your respects to the gambling gods. If you’re lucky, you get to your room with more than a ChapStick in your pocket. This year we are in “Eureka Park” which is part of my friend, CEA CEO Gary Shapiro’s, push to nurture innovation in America. It is all startups, most you’ve never heard of and likely never will. Still, the CEA’s focus on innovation is a good thing.

I am today, as most days, in the booth by 7AM. Other than the occasional security guard walking by, it is eerily quiet. I like that. It gives me time to think. I also tend to walk around and look for booth ideas. There are very few good booths, especially with smaller companies. I notice a lot of them don’t spend enough time thinking about messaging because I have no idea what they do. I have one simple rule of thumb. Virtually every person at a trade show will ask you the same question, “What do you do?” So, to really nail it at a trade show you need to cheat. Answer that question before they ask it. No matter how small or large your booth, make damn certain the messaging answers that question before it is asked. That way your conversations get off to a fast start.

Yesterday we had visits from a lot of potential strategic partners, which, along with generating press coverage, is why we are here. Interestingly, we had visitors from both CableLabs and Comcast so our messaging must be spot on. We are an Internet Television Company.