Love them or hate them, restaurant trade shows are a way of doing business. We have many events coming up this year, and we would love to see you (check out our list of events here).

But what’s the best way to tackle the behemoth that is a tradeshow? Use these quick tips to be a tradeshow Rockstar:

• Make a plan: Failing to plan is planning to fail. Figure out what vendors will be there, what the speaker lineup looks like, and plan to meet with the people you need to meet with.
• Get the lay of the land: Take a lap, figure out where vendors are, don’t get sucked into time-sucking conversations on that first lap.
• Be mindful of your time: set a gameplan, make sure to limit your conversations to a 15 or 20 minute time window and excuse yourself to remain on schedule.
• Take notes: It’s easy to get confused when you have 10 different conversations an hour. Many tools are available, from Evernote to the trusty pen and paper.
• Get involved: Tons of things are happening after the show hours are over. Ask the question, get the conversation going, and see if you can’t get yourself invited to all the happenings the evenings of the tradeshow.

What techniques do you use to tackle a tradeshow? We’d love to know!

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