Lessons We Learned at the World Ag Expo

With more than 100,000 attendees annually, the World Ag Expo is the world’s largest agriculture exposition. This year Farm to Shelf spent the week networking and meeting with ag professionals from around the world — and we found no shortage of things to do. The expo featured everything from seminars and tours to demonstrations and new products. If you’re considering attending or exhibiting at the World Ag Expo next year, here’s what you need to know.

1. Brand yourself accordingly.
When you’re walking around the expo, you’re going to see a lot of faces. Smile! You might strike a conversation and open the door to an opportunity. Pro tip: if you’re going to attend, be sure to bring some business cards or stickers to hand out. Our team wore branded t-shirts with our logo and Instagram handle to promote our brand to the crowd.

2. Network!
The expo presents a wealth of opportunities to promote business and your brand. Whether it’s interacting with current relationships or engaging with new connections, networking is essential. We even ran into a few of our clients, PAGO, and FieldIn!

3. Get Inspired.
With over 2,000 exhibitors, the expo exposes the strategies and best offerings in the industry. Take a walk around the show and see what other companies are doing to attract customers. Take note of what poorly performing booths are doing. Understanding this can help you avoid the same mistakes for your brand.

4. Swag. Free swag.
Whether you call them promotional items, tchotchkes, or novelties, they’re one of the greatest perks of attending. Exhibitors hand out swag to attract attendees to their booth. And it’s a great way to tie that message back to your company long after that show has ended. Trust us — our team went home with pens, notebooks, bags, bottles and you could say we were enticed.

5. Wear good walking shoes.
We walked a combined total of 25 miles so wear your best tennis shoes!

6. People flock toward business card bowls.
You know, those fishbowls where people drop their business cards in to win a free prize. A contest or a prize drawing is a great way to attract people to your booth and grow connections.

Now that you’ve learned our trade show tips and tricks, all that is left is to go! Whether you’re attending or exhibiting it’s a fun process — providing new business, increasing brand awareness, presenting networking opportunities, and giving the chance to learn more about the industry you’re in.