IMTS 2008 Exhibitor's Workshop

SEGMENT 1
Planning And Executing Your Way To Success

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: What’s In It For You?
8:15 am - 9:00 am
Presented by: Steve Miller - The Adventure
You asked for it, you got it. The 2008 IMTS Exhibitor Workshop is here to help you generate the highest ROI possible at this year's show. Steve will talk about an important new perspective on measuring success at IMTS 2008. He will reveal results from an in-depth industry wide survey of IMTS attendees done in 2007 and what it means for you.

Planning With Some IMTS Stars: Strategies for Small, Medium and Large Booths
9:00 am - 9:45 am
Panel Moderated by Sam Lippman - President and Founder of ism2
Panel Members:
  » Susan A. Bartholomew, Marketing Mgr, North America - ESAB Welding & Cutting Products
  » Chris K. Kaiser, President/COO - BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc.
  » John R. Memmelaar, Jr., Vice President - Royal Master Grinders, Inc.
Whether this is your first IMTS or you are a veteran, this panel discussion will expose the tricks of the trade show. This expert panel includes both large and small exhibitors who will share their approach to booth design, how to use the exhibitor kit to your greatest advantage, how to use IMTS to host a customer event, as well as give you some checklists and formulas.

New Approaches to IMTS Promotion
9:45 am - 10:15 am
Presenters:
  » Peter Eelman, Vice President-Exhibitions - AMT
  » Monica Haley, Exhibitions Marketing Administrator - AMT
  » Bonnie Gurney, IMTS Web Site Manager - AMT
It's a whole new era for IMTS promotion. It's the "e" era. From IMTS.com, which is the single most important source of information on the show to blogging, social networks, micro web sites and more, you will learn how we've re-invented IMTS promotion. You'll gain valuable insights on how you can benefit from and be part of "e-IMTS".

BREAK - 10:15 am - 10:30 am

SEGMENT 2
Visitor/Customer Relations

Getting in the Zone: Booth Behavior - The Yea's
10:30 am - 11:15 am
Presented by: Candace Adams, CTSM, CME, CMM, CMP - Trade Show Consulting
An upbeat look at the most effective booth behavior - getting comfortable with engaging strangers, how to break the ice with a prospect, and probing techniques. Learn how to choose the right people to staff your booth. Is casual or formal attire more effective at creating a comfort zone for booth visitors? Do we invite visitors into the booth or wait until they come to us? Should you shake hands?

The Nay's: What Not To Do on the Trade Show Floor
11:15 am - 12:00 pm
Panel Moderated by Sam Lippman - President and Founder of ism 2
Panel Members:
  » Martin Smith, President - Ethnometrics
  » Daniel Tu, Design Principal - TUDESIGN
  » Peter Eelman - Vice President-Exhibitions - AMT
At IMTS you will be making hundreds, maybe even thousands of first impressions. You only get one chance at a first impression. Maintaining top performance through the entire show is daunting, but critical. This panel discussion will focus on behaviors that send negative messages to your important prospects. You will learn how to keep your booth staff energized and selling, not sitting, talking with colleagues or worst of picking, scratching, and digging.

Lunch
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm
Enjoy lunch in our Vendor Café while you network with more than 30 vendors dedicated to making IMTS 2008 your most successful ever. Tours of the all new McCormick Place West Building will be available. You may request a tour of the North and South Buildings or Lakeside Center. Plus, you'll see what new services and food are available at McCormick Place.

Ask the Experts: REAL CUSTOMERS SPEAK
1:15 pm - 2:00 pm
Panel Moderated by Steve Miller, President - The Adventure
Panel Members:
  » Anton Hirsch, President - Cobra Metal Works
  » Bill Boyer, President - Boyer Machine & Tool
  » Fred Young, President - Forest City Gear
Back by popular demand! Learn why IMTS is important to your prospects and customers. Why do they attend? How do they plan their time during the show? Why do they choose to visit certain exhibitors and not others? Do pre-show promotions and advertising work? What are their biggest complaints and pet peeves about exhibitors? Get the facts straight from your customers' mouths so that you can make the most of IMTS 2008.

SEGMENT 3
The Sources

Welcome to Chicago
2:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Tim Roby, President - Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB)
Chicago's mission is to be the premier host, creating a great experience, for every person, every time. Time on the show floor is important, but some of your most essential business (and some well-needed rest!) happen after hours. Get insights on R&R in Chicago - how to choose the right hotel, great restaurants for entertaining and world class entertainment choices.

The Ins and Outs of IMTS Move-In and Move-Out
2:15 pm - 3:00 pm
Panel Moderated by Steve Miller - The Adventure
Panelists:
  » Peter Eelman, Vice President-Exhibitions - AMT
  » John Krisko, Director-Exhibitions - AMT
  » Bob Ryley, Senior Director, National Accounts - GES Exhibitions Services
  » Tom Gilmore, National Freight Operations, GES Exhibitions Services
Move-in and move-out can be overwhelming. With proper planning it' a breeze. Find out how to maximize the benefi ts of custom block pricing, as well as the most efficient ways to ship your equipment to the show and what to expect when you arrive. If you have equipment coming from outside the USA, this session will cover the requirements for packaging and explore your options for uncrating equipment prior to arrival at IMTS. We won't neglect the logistics of move-out. You'll walk away from this session ready for the packing tape and boxes.

Get Creative With IMTS 2008
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Presenters:
  » Peter Eelman, Vice President-Exhibitions - AMT
  » John Krisko, Director-Exhibitions - AMT
We've kicked the creativity for IMTS 2008 up a notch! A great color scheme, a meaningful logo, and a high impact ad campaign are all in place to make sure your prospects and customers know why IMTS is a can't miss event. You will find out how you can use these important tools to add high impact to your promotional efforts.

Break - 3:30 pm - 3:45 pm

SEGMENT 4
Measurement And Analysis

Managing Lead Gathering: New Tools You Can Use
3:45 pm - 4:30 pm
Panel Moderated by Sam Lippman, President and founder of ism2
Panelists:
  » Chris Barrett, Vice President, Exhibitor Sales – Experient
  » Rich Erschik, President – Leads to Sales
You've planned and executed your way to a great show. Now, what do you do with the leads? We've all heard the stories of the sales managers' bottom drawer. Learn about the new technology for lead gathering that Experient will debut at IMTS 2008. Hear from the experts on the importance of qualifying your IMTS leads so your sales force can promptly close sales. We'll highlight an exhibitor who "gets it" and has integrated lead management into the business process.

How Do You Know IMTS Worked For You?
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm
Presenters:
  » Mim Goldberg, President – Marketech Inc.
  » Marc Goldberg, CME, Partner and Founder - Marketech Inc.
By measuring performance today, you can improve results tomorrow. That is the mantra of Marketech, the renowned authority on how to measure trade show results. You will learn how to evaluate, analyze, and report your IMTS results to increase sales and improve your future decision making and planning.

Reception - 5:15 pm - 7:30 pm