Wikitravel Press Blog

With only one Buchmesse under my belt, I’m not sure I’m entirely qualified to dispense advice… but here are 10 things I wish I had known or I’m very glad I did for the Fair.

1. Buddy up. Stands start from 1000 euros (2×2m), and you’ll want to have 3 people a day on site so you can comfortably man it and scout around at the same time. Both are much easier to deal with when you can share with another company, and an official co-exhibitor listing (incl. catalog entries) is “only” 250 euros extra.

2. Sign up early. If you’re not registered by July, a good 4 months before the Fair, you won’t be listed in any of the printed catalogs, making it that much harder for people to find you.

3. Start networking before the Fair. The main value of the online catalog is not the list of companies, but its lists of contacts at those companies. Figure out the companies you want to target and the people at them who will be attending, then fire off emails to arrange appointments. Trying to find anybody while the Fair is already in progress can be tough.

4. Study the event calendar in advance, and plan accordingly. There are hundreds of events, and almost all of them will be irrelevant, but those few that aren’t can be invaluable.

5. Bring A4 handouts that explain what you’re all about, written so that your grandmother can understand it.  When decorating, beware that posters taped to the wall look cheap, and logos silkscreened onto fabric are tough to set up so they look nice. Logos silkscreened onto particleboard sized to fit, on the other hand, are easy to set up and look great — just bring solid hooks to keep them up.

6. Bring a vast stack of business cards, and leave an extra stack at the stand when you’re not there yourself, so people can get in touch with you later.

7. Bring water and snacks. Once on site, a cup of hot water with a teabag from food service monopolist Accente costs 2.50 euros, and you’ll probably have to queue for 15 minutes.

8. Bring a mobile data card (UMTS) for your laptop, preferably with an unlimited or at least very, very cheap quota. Otherwise you’ll have to pay 50 euros a day for wifi!

9. Learn the shortcuts.  Exhibitors have access to special entry gates, which can shortcut the often very long entry queues, esp. on the weekend.  And instead of relying on the perpetually jammed Via Mobile and its slow escalators, it can be much faster to use the stairs or nip between buildings by going outside.

10. Dress up. Slogan T-shirts and black turtlenecks may be hip at Web/new media conferences, but at Frankfurt, dark suits and sober ties are still the order of the day. You don’t need to go whole hog, but at a minimum, a collared shirt, a jacket and presentable (but comfortable!) shoes are needed if you want to get respect, stand out from the tourists, and sneak into that medical journal publisher’s cocktail party.