Trade Show Success! It can be yours.

On Saturday I took a field trip to Meadville to visit Charlie and the gang at the Meadville Chamber's First Annual Trade Show and got far more than I bargained for. The show took place in the Meadville Downtown Mall, typically a rather quiet venue. It was anything but on Saturday. Despite a bit of anxiety over participation a few months ago, the show boasted participation of more than 85 businesses. As one vendor told me, had no one other than the exhibitors attended this show was a great success. Most businesses had at least 2 associates, which allowed for them to take shifts visiting the other booths. Often small businesses are too busy to get out and visit other businesses in the community.

Several Venango Chamber members participated in the Meadville Show. These very forward thinking businesses understand how important it is to get out and show thier services and visit thier customers.

The bonus for me was discovering that the mall had several stores that I didn't know about. On April 24th the Venango Works Trade Show will be held at Cranberry Mall. Why not join us as an exhibitor or a visitor to see what great things you can discover.

Trade Show Success

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with several of our board members at the Health, High Tech and Industry Trade Show. Patrick was there for Williams Insurance all weekend! While there were not many businesses set up nor thousands of visitors to the Show, it was an excellent opportunity to get face to face with many chamber and community members. This was also a great way to test the waters for what we'll be inviting member businesses to do in April when the Venango Works Trade show is held.

We (Patrick and I) learned first hand that if you are up on your feet and available, people will stop and find out what you're up to. A little conversation often lead to the chance to talk about our members and match customers to businesses that could take care of them. At one point we laughed at the number of visitors that had collected around our tables to visit. It looked like the start of a chamber mixer. So, at the end of the day my legs ached but there was great satisfaction in knowing business is alive and well in Venango County!