IT360 Show April 30 - May 2, 2007

[John Van Ostrand]

On Mon, 2007-01-22 at 12:09 -0500, Colin McGregor wrote:
> I trust everyone here knows that the IT360 trade show
> is coming up April 30 - May 2, 2007. This show will
> include the old LinuxWorld Canada show. So, as with
> past LinuxWorld shows, GTALug is hoping to have a
> booth at the show (and yes I expect there will be
> discount deals on show passes for GTALug members,
> details to follow). Still, there are some questions to
> be resolved, like:

I asked the question of "what audience do you want to hit and with what
message" before and essentially got the answer of everything. To be
successful I think it needs to be more clear than that.

Based on your recent post has it narrowed down to a membership drive? If
that's true I think it is the right direction.

A single page handout makes perfect sense so does a bonus for membership
that is suitable for the amount of revenue. Aside from that it only
makes sense to give out stuff obtained for free. Contact Red Hat,
Novell, Ubuntu, Google, IBM, Lenovo, etc, for free stuff. I'm sure if
you give them enough time they'll come through for you. I'd be glad to
take on the Red Hat task for you.

Then I think you need to spend some time on the handout. The audience
you had said you wanted before was anyone including enthusiasts,
newbies, IT professionals, decision makers, network and storage people.
You may have to narrow this down a bit to fit on a one page handout.

Do we have an graphic artists on the list? An attractive handout would
make a difference.

It may be time to line up your most attractive presentations for the
months following the show and hope that they attract new members.

What about guerrilla advertising? Is there anything we could do on the
show floor that could draw attention? Maybe have staff wear scrolling
LED name badges that read "Join TLUG Today" (or something better) and
have them walk around the show floor. Wear them on a hat and it may be
better. Or some custom tee shirts with a suitable message.
 
Finally make sure the show staff all on the same page. We don't want
someone selling to hard or two softly and we want both the message and
the goal to be clear.


-- 
John Van Ostrand                       Net Direct Inc.
CTO, co-CEO                   564 Weber St. N. Unit 12
                                  Waterloo, ON N2L 5C6
john-Da48MpWaEp0CzWx7n4ubxQ at public.gmane.org                     ph: 518-883-1172 x5102
Linux Solutions / IBM Hardware        fx: 519-883-8533

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