Field Notes

The business gets done after the floor closes.

Data-backed notes on the part of the trade-fair year nobody budgets for and everybody remembers — take rate, B2B conversion, the real cost of exhibiting, and what your buyers actually tell you once they're off the stand. Sourced, cited, and meant to be quoted.

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The thesis

The deal closes after the fair, not on the stand

33% of new business comes from trade shows — but 94% of teams admit they fail to convert the leads. Here's where the money actually changes hands.

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The money

Trade-show math: the after-event is the cheapest lead you'll buy

You spent $15k–$250k on the booth. The evening that closes it runs a fraction of that. The full cost breakdown.

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The information gap

What people tell you on the stand vs. what they tell you at dinner

A benchmark of information depth: spec sheets on the floor, roadmaps and budgets over the second glass of wine.

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Take rate

What an evening with your buyers does to conversion — across 6 industries

Automotive, machinery, medtech, tech, food, finance: where relationship events move the number most.

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Buying power

81% of the room can sign the check. So why do you leave with a spreadsheet?

Buying authority is in the room. The follow-up gap is why it walks out unclosed.

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Incentives

Incentive trips aren't a perk. They're a 112% ROI machine.

The receipts on incentive travel, dealer trips and why non-cash rewards outperform cash.

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Event types

Congress vs. conference vs. trade fair: which one moves your pipeline?

What each format is actually good for — and what to run alongside it.

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The film

The 24-hour rule: why the aftermovie is a sales asset, not a souvenir

Short video closes faster. The evening, filmed, becomes next year's invitation.

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Language

The unglamorous reason your foreign buyers ghost you

Hosting a delegation in its own language is a conversion tactic, not a courtesy.

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Operations

One partner, one invoice: the turnkey playbook for the exhibition season

Flights, hotels, transfers, hostesses and the evening — how to run it all on one contract.

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