Show Directories are a Post-Event Resource

Yesterday, I found several companies I want to work with that provide unique services listed in a place that many marketers take for granted: an official show directory.

This makes me wonder — what do you do with show directories when the event is over? Do you:

Leave it in the hotel room as trash

Crumple it in your luggage and don’t unearth it until the next trip

Toss it in an office pile

Organize it on a shelf with other show directories

I once saw no value in these thick manuals, but now I appreciate the time and energy producers take to compile these valuable resources.

A long-time trade show speaker once told me that she keeps her show directories in order on one shelf in her office, discarding the old one after attending a newer show. Since then I’ve done the same.

I find many times that it’s much easier to review a past show’s roster than to search online for what I consider to be a needle in a haystack. Do you, as a solo marketer, have such time on your hands, or is treating show directories like treasured resources, a better option?

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