After 12 years attending PPAI Expo I was pretty sure there wasn’t anything left for me to do inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and Casino that I hadn’t done at least once before. Granted, the place is massive and every time we return there’s a new restaurant or place to grab a cup of coffee (although the lines never seem to get any shorter) but after 12 trips to the desert, there isn’t a lot left to do in the actual venue itself that hasn’t already been done.
And then 2020 happened. I spent exactly ZERO minutes on the trade show floor this year and I can tell you with certainty that this was far and away the MOST productive Expo I have EVER attended. Like, not even close.
So, you ask, what EXACTLY was it I was up to and how could it possibly be more effective than that which we are all there to do, which is to walk the show floor for ideas for our clients and prospects, right? It was the culmination of a plan 4 months in the making.
Because our soGOOD Supply Co partners are a relatively narrow group of Suppliers, we didn’t feel an urgency to get in front of them in Vegas - many of those same partners were attending the TOM Shows (put on by a cohort of Great Lakes area trade associations) the week after Expo. Those smaller and more intimate shows closer to home better lent themselves to the more in-depth discussions we wanted to have in booth, so we felt some freedom to consider what else we might do to take advantage of our time together at Expo.
We took a risk and executed a plan to leverage the fact that EVERYONE is in Vegas for the show. We visualized an opportunity taking advantage of our shared presence there and worked to pull off a plan that would result in marketing content for Social Good Promotions for the entirety of calendar year 2020, provided we could get buy-in from those Suppliers we’d identified as being a key participant in this soGOOD Supply Co. project.
After a little explaining and some concerted attempts to have one on one clarification discussions, the project took off in the minds of our Supplier partners and it was GAME ON! The result is a video-based project to be released later this spring, where we’ll give the world a glimpse behind the scenes with Suppliers from our marketplace doing good.
I left Vegas exhilarated in a way I’ve never before experienced, and the work product we created together with those willing to participate will be a memory I won’t soon forget and potentially the most effective sales tool I’ve had at my disposal in almost a decade.
What happens from this point forward remains a mystery, but I’m proud of our decision to do something completely different in an attempt to show the world the true power behind our marketing medium and the ways what we do can truly make a difference in the world.
Don’t be afraid to consider things you’ve never done – the results might surprise you. From my most recent experience, the world has a way of rewarding those using their creativity as a driving force for good.
Roger has spent 20+ years making complex concepts more understandable for both buyers and sellers alike, and has devoted the majority of his recent career to injecting purpose via philanthropy to his sales and marketing efforts. He’s intent on making the world a better place and his nirvana exists at the intersection of Mission, Passion, Profession and Vocation. He loves the outdoors and seeks memorable experiences whenever possible. Contact Roger at roger@socialgoodpromotions.com or 810-986-5369.