We wanted to add a quick post with some thoughts about the recent DMA 2008 conference we just exhibited at in Las Vegas.
Exhibit Hall
There was a lot of pre-show discussion about the possible dismal attendance because of the economy…but the exhibit hall traffic was good and we ended up meeting 65 qualified prospects for our direct mail services, which is GREAT.
I’m not sure if other exhibitors would agree, and we tend to be more aggressive than most (not annoying though, I think)…but at the very least, the energy in the exhibit hall was definitely positive.
Learning Sessions
We didn’t get to attend any learning sessions, but I was told by many attendees that they were good…I only heard one negative comment and it was about one session in particular.
Exhibitors
As usual there was a ton of list and printing companies…yes, we fall into the printing category, but we’re not your usual printer. There was a healthy dosage of email marketing and promotional item companies…and we also noticed an increase in lead gen related companies.
Convention Center
The convention center was good in that it was pretty compact…to walk to the sessions, bathroom, food, etc. didn’t require a huge amount of effort. Thankfully, there was a Starbucks on the premise and I would say about 75% of attendees and exhibitors (including us) had cups in their hands in the morning.
The only negative thing about the location was, like Jacob Javits Center in NYC, to get to any decent restaurant for a lunch meeting required standing in a long line for a cab.
Conclusion
Overall, we give the DMA conference two thumbs up. Traffic was good…we met a lot of nice people…and it was in Las Vegas! Next year the conference is in San Diego, CA.
