I am just returning from the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo in Louisville, the industry gathering that gets its name in part from this publication. The major marketplace for the liquid waste industry has gotten bigger every year I’ve attended and provided me with incredible learning opportunities.
But talk about a big hangover! No, I’m not referring to an alcohol-induced stupor. This is more of an information-overload hangover.
I’m returning home with a Grinch-sized sack of materials — business cards, product brochures, promotional giveaways and scribbled notes — that I have every good intention to read over. My digital camera’s memory card is stuffed with images to accompany stories.
It’s with great trepidation that I hauled that sack to the office, knowing full well the challenge of processing all the useful information at the same time I’m trying to catch up with work that piled up while I was away.
Having met so many enthusiastic pumpers in Louisville, I know many of you are dealing with the same trade show hangover. To wring out all the benefits of attending the Pumper & Cleaner Expo, we must force ourselves to dump that bag of materials on the conference table and see how we can best take advantage of what we learned. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Review Education Day notes
Education Day was chock full of excellent presentations on best practices, safety and emerging technologies. Review your notes on the seminars you attended. If you want to dig deeper than your notes, or if you missed a seminar that interested you, you can order tapes or CDs of the presentations at www.conventiontapes.com or by calling 800/747-6334.
Turn your notes into a team meeting or tailgate safety talk with your staff. Or simply provide key employees with the tapes or CDs to listen to at their convenience. While these small steps aren’t like taking staff along to the Expo, the effort will get valuable industry information in employees’ hands and help stress the importance of professionalism in the workplace.
Look for a good marketing idea
I’m sure you chatted with other industry professionals at the Expo, and from those discussions you can likely mine one idea to help your business attract more customers. Seasoned Expo attendees know the value of comparing notes with other contractors and come home with a boatload of good marketing ideas. Rather than try to implement a laundry list of new programs, choose one idea to focus your post-show efforts. Put all of the great ideas you heard in a file to use down the road as you have time.
Talk tech with workers
Shuffle through all the brochures and pull out the top 10 products you think could help you develop new niche service markets or run your business more efficiently. Gather the crew, pass around the brochures and find out if your workers on the front lines can see profit-building applications for the tools and equipment. You might be surprised to hear your drivers, for instance, come up with a great timesaving idea utilizing a new product you saw at the show.
Start planning for next year
If you attended the Expo this year, you’re probably already pumped to go to the 2009 show. Start thinking about which of your employees would benefit from attending with you next year. If you missed the Expo, consider marking your calendar to attend next year, Feb. 25-28. We’ll see you there.
