Sep 25, 2007
Some Thoughts on Graph Expo
I was taught by my parents not to brag. Bragging is an unattractive trait, they always said, and is usually designed to mask insecurities and feelings of inferiority. But they also taught me not to lie. Honesty is the best quality, they would say. The truth will out.
So I'm about to brag like I've never bragged before. Because the truth is, I had a great Graph Expo. My company, Megaspirea, had a great Graph Expo. The concept of Dynamic Envelope Creation™ had a great Graph Expo.
I've been to four of them, including Print 05 and this was the best one. Those of us in mail can be gratified that we hung in there after years of being poor cousins to the print vendors - and this was our show. Mail is back. Mail is relevant. Ignore mail as a communication channel at your peril because those who figure out how to innovate within the mail channel will make the big money, will be the winners.
How good was this Graph Expo?
You know how you sometimes get on a roll and no matter what you do it just seems to work? They call it the Zone, right? At Graph Expo we were in the Zone. A guy came to our booth and told me that he was writing about our booth layout for an architecture magazine because in all his years of going to trade shows he never saw a booth that was so architecturally interesting and geometrically integrated, or whatever he was talking about...He tried to show me how the contours of our double-decker conference room were perfectly complementing the rectangular prisms of our Mailliner 100 and that the roll of paper on the input was perfectly integrated with the cylinders of the vacuum system, and...
I didn't get it all. I'm not an architect. But I took it to be a great compliment to our very small marketing team and our exhibit design company. And it showed that all our hard work had paid off.
Another thing: our direct mail piece (which I wrote about in my last column and will continue to write about in this space next time) was a smash hit. People brought it to the show with them and wanted to know how it was made. It was referenced a number of times as the reason people were there. We had 18 VIP sessions scheduled, constant traffic, great buzz and from the time the show opened to when it closed and a highly motivated and interested group of attendees camped out in our booth.
We had people in our booth on their cell phones calling colleagues, saying "You have to come see this." We had people literally pulling other people into the booth by the arm so they could see the Mailliner in action.
Direct Mail works! Especially when you give it that special something like personalization in full living color on the outside of the envelope.
Another factor in our success metrics: we got "Must See" status. That little owl in front of our booth was a testament to how revolutionary Dynamic Envelope Creation is...and we were the only company in the Mail and Fulfillment pavilion to get a "Must See."
So I want to thank the show organizers for giving Megaspirea "Must See" status-- but first I want to congratulate the show organizers for giving Megaspirea "Must See" status. Because it shows that they are people of vision. It shows that they understand the value of Dynamic Envelope Creation. It shows that they are smart, forward-looking people.
Another forward-looking person that deserves some kudos is Noel Ward, Executive Editor of the On Demand Journal and Managing Editor of WhatTheyThink.com. Noel doesn't know me at all but I recognized him from his photograph and grabbed him as he walked by our booth. You can read all about it in his column, http://members.whattheythink.com/evt/07/ge07/ge07ward4.cfm
The envelopes that we make with the Mailliner were what impressed Noel Ward. And in the hour after his column was published we got 15 hits on our website, which is testament to the loyalty of his readership and the power of the press.
Another metric: I ran out of business cards. I brought about two hundred which should have been more than enough. I ran out on Monday afternoon and was lucky to find two more in my luggage for Tuesday.
Of course the main metric for trade show success is leads. We had over 200 after we weaned out other exhibitors. We were the center of attention from many of the print vendors, who stand to get an extra click on their printers with our system. We got a lot of attention from high speed inserter vendors. We were certainly a technology of interest to the envelope converters and manufacturers. Financing companies that specialize in heavy iron in the print industry paid us plenty of visits. And last but not least there were printers and print/mailers and in-plants and service bureaus in all industries and sizes. That is the metric that best tells us that Megaspirea was the hottest thing to hit Chicago since Mrs. O'Leary's cow.
Graph Expo was our American debut. We wanted to make a statement: that mail can be the best channel for businesses that need to communicate with consumers. That mail can continue to evolve with the right technology. That it's time for a mail revolution. And, finally, that Megaspirea is ready to lead the revolution. I think we made that statement.
Like Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't bragging if you can back it up."