On Wednesday night, we attended a “Women in Food” event in Denver that brought together leading women working in CPG {consumer packaged goods, for those who may be less familiar}. The topic was essentially how to make the most of follow-ups from an epic trade show like Expo West. One common thread became apparent: we were all still pretty exhausted from the preparation, execution and re-entry back to work after the event.
If you are a brand or influencer who attended the event, keep in mind those you connected with may be feeling the exact same way! It’s best to give minimum 1 but at best 2 weeks breathing room before following up on your conversations, unless there was an urgent deliverable or deadline. This will make sure that your email gets noticed and the person on the receiving end is feeling refreshed enough to get excited about the possibilities again.
We also shared some of our key highlights from the event. A few brand/marketing people remembered specific influencers who stopped by their booth and seemed genuinely interested in their product. They are excited about the possibilities of working together after the show, but also expressed concern that they would only be handed a media kit without having the opportunity to continue to develop the relationship more organically. This is 100% why we are such advocates for sharing about brands you love well before there is a paid relationship in place. It’s more authentic to your community, and it’s more authentic to future partners. In fact, we are big fans of Seth Godin over here and today’s email just seemed so well-suited for this conversation.
“Some things, like your next job, might happen as the direct result of one meeting. Here I am, here’s my resume, okay, you’re hired.
But most of the time, that’s not the way it works.
You meet someone. You do a small project. You write an article. It leads to another meeting. You do a slightly bigger project for someone else. You make a short film. That leads to a speaking gig. Which leads to a consulting contract. And then you get the gig.
How many hops does the ball take before it lands where you’re hoping it will?
If you’re walking around with a quid pro quo mindset, giving only enough to get what you need right now, and walking away from anyone or anything that isn’t the destination—not only are you eliminating all the possible multi-hop options, you’re probably not having as much as fun or contributing as much as you could either.”
Pretty powerful stuff!
Would love to hear how you’re following up on the momentum from Expo West, as a brand or as an influencer. And if you couldn’t make it to the show, we rounded up some of our favorite event recaps so you can see some of the hot new products and trends for yourself.
- 6 Healthy Food and Drink Trends You’re About to See Everywhere / Well + Good
- 3 Emerging Trends from Expo West / Project NOSH
- Top Expo West Trends Beyond the Products / Daily Meal
- Natural Products Expo West Full of Great Ideas but Some Lack the No. 1 Thing They Need to Succeed / Forbes
- Raw Out, Keto In at Natural Products Expo West / Food Business News
- Expo West 2018 Recap: Coffee, Alt-Dairy, Kombucha and More / BevNet
- The 6 Best Products We Saw at Expo West / The Dieline
- Top 5 Food Trends at Expo West 2018 / Whitney E., RD
P.S. Don’t forget to check out our Instagram story highlights for our own Expo experience.
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