Dx3 Canada: Pre-Show Prep
Asako is Soshal Group's communications coordinator. When she's not managing our communications initiatives, she spends her free time listening to new music, trying out new recipes, and mostly reading tech blogs. Careful chatting her up about new gadgets...she could talk for hours!
Finally! It's almost here. After weeks and even months of anticipation and planning, the Soshalites will be heading down to Toronto for Dx3 Canada. Are you attending? If you are, we've got some pre-show tips and recommendations for you get the most out of Dx3 for your brand’s needs.
Just in case you're not already acquainted with Dx3 and what it's all about, it's “the first Canadian trade show where business gets digital.” It's goal is to encourage and educate businesses about using digital advertising, marketing and retailing properly to attain their goals. As for the when and where, it runs from Wednesday, January 25th to the 26th and is being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
They'll have over thirty five sessions with speakers that are well-known in the digital industry packed into the two days. We'll speak more on the sessions and who's speaking later on. There'll also be over a hundred exhibitors on the trade show floor with a wide range of products and services such as creative design, consulting services, point of sale systems, mobile apps, and much more. Accessing the trade show floor and talking to reps from companies like Kijiji, WagJag, TrendHunter Magazine, and Sprouter to name a few, are completely free. All you have to do is register on the Dx3 Canada website! Oh, and of course we'll be there as well at booth #834. Just watch out for the penguins!
If you're going, we want you to get the most out of Dx3 Canada. With over a hundred exhibitors, and about seventy-two speakers all packed into two days, it can be confusing on the trade show floor and difficult to choose which speakers will be the best for you to see. So we've got some tips for you on how to prepare for Dx3 so you'll walk out of there not only feeling like an industry pro, but also with insight on the next step for your business.
The first action item is determining what your goal is. Why are you going at all? Are you going to learn? To educate? To buy? To sell? After you answer this question, make an effort to always keep it in the front of your mind while you're there. When you hear buzz about particular speakers or even when you're just walking around to check out exhibitors, it's incredibly easy to get distracted and get off track. By knowing what you want beforehand, it'll help to minimize these distractions.
Next you'll want to research who'll be attending and what programs are being offered. For the exhibitors, the Dx3 Canada site has an interactive list of companies that can be narrowed down by the type of service or product that they provide. Quickly see what each company has to offer by checking out their websites, make a list of companies you absolutely must visit and another list for exhibitors worth seeing if you have time. Cross them off the list as you make your way around. If you wanted to get deeper into the research many of the exhibitors may be offering special promotions like giveaways or demos, which you can find out about if you check out their websites, Twitter, or Facebook pages. For example, at the Soshal Group booth, we'll actually be offering free social brand assessments for the first 20 people that come and sign up with us.
As for the speakers, there are the 35+ Dx3 sessions which cost $239, and feature some very prominent individuals in the digital industry. Free seminars will also be offered at the Moneris Small Business Theatre and iab Canada Spotlight Theatre with speakers presenting for about half an hour each. These are great because they're short and concise, allowing you to have plenty of time to scour the exhibit floor, while getting a chance to hear lots of great information from industry thought-leaders. To decide which ones are the best for you, the website offers a list of presenters and the subjects they'll be speaking about. Be sure to schedule the most relevant and interesting ones in your calendar!
Here's a list of some seminars we're pretty excited to see:
Facebook U: How to Optimize the Facebook Platform
Darrell MacMullin, PayPal Canada: The Connected Consumer and the Future of Shopping
Radian 6: Tutorial - Social Media Monitoring and Engagement
Renee Racine-Kinnear, Indigo Books & Music: The Big 7: Optimizing the Online Shopper Experience
Derek Colfer, Visa: The Digital Wallet
Dave Fleet, Edelman: Getting the Insiders Onside. Communicating with Bloggers and Influencers
There are more we're hoping to see, but these are a few some of us are definitely going to.
The next step is to set objectives that are relevant to achieving your goal. For example, if your goal is to purchase a service your business is looking to outsource, set a specific objective such as speaking with a minimum of eight exhibitors that provide those services. So that means that over two days, you should be speaking with reps roughly every two hours. While you're speaking with them, taking as many notes as possible is always a good thing, but make an objective to write out at least five short points on what you like about their service. This will make your review later on much easier.
This last step we know sounds kind of cheesy, but we're true believers in it: Have some fun!! Dx3 Canada is a unique trade show and there'll be lots to see and experience, and plenty of information you won't want to miss out on. Just remember to keep your goals in mind and do some research beforehand to make the most out of those two short days.