OAAA/Geopath – Booth or No Booth?
by Casey Binkley, CEO at Movia Media
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Nashville for the Out of Home Advertising Association/Geopath OOH Media Conference at the end of March. It’s going to be a terrific time! Last year was our first time breaking onto the scene, and we wanted to do it with a bang. We’re grateful for all those who came by and shared that bang with us – we’re excited to see you all again. Which leads to the biggest question we’ve been mulling over this year- to have a booth again or not.
There are a few reasons we’ve been hesitating. We’re a growing team and have to pick and choose where our resources go. To begin with, attending the conference is no small line item by the time you buy tickets for the team, flights, accommodation, meals, and entertainment (don’t get me started). Having a presence there ramps those expenses up. Last year’s budget had to account for floor space and outfitting a cool booth, not to mention the truck wrap self promo we threw in to show off what we do . The cherry on top was having hot dog trucks at the Movia pool party!
We went all out because, although we knew that real relationship building doesn’t necessarily happen on the trade show floor, a lot of the time, it can start there. And yes, we did meet a few people in this manner, but overall, the traffic in this area of the conference was quiet. It seemed like a lot of people grabbed their attendance badges, went to the speaking sessions, and hit the beach! Hard not to when the Camel Cabana was set up!
So when thinking about what to do this year, our teams were understandably on the fence about going in for floor space again this year. We weighed the pros and cons and decided that, even though booth traffic wasn’t as busy as we would have liked, the overall experience was awesome…and yes, worth it. So we’re happy to announce…we’re doing it again! Here is our list of pros that helped tip our decision in favor of a booth:
- It’s an awesome event.
- It’s a good way to stand out.
- It’s important to support the industry.
- We think the venue looks more promising for foot traffic.
So please come say hi at booth 504. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone and meeting those that we haven’t yet! And please let us know what you think of our booth and the conference. We’ll most certainly be going through the same decision again next year!
