First of all happy new year everybody, may 2011 be great for you and your loved ones.
So, I just finished scrubbing the registrations and updated the list on the site:
http://www.internext-expo.com/attending-brands.html
We are more than happy to see so many people coming to Vegas this year and showing the the changes we made had a more than positive effect! More than happy!
I am really proud so many people got excited of the new format, far more than we expected to be honest! Was the best Xmas present for me and what kept us working on it these days more and more to make it however we could a better experience for all of us.
I am sure not all the people that registered will appear, but also I know that most will, spoke to many of you the last weeks organising various dinners and activities and I am happy to see that many of the old dogs that have been away from the shows the last years are coming this time and also many from Europe will cross the sea to be in Vegas (like me hehe). I see many people registering even now, deciding last minute to come, even having to pay coz they see it will worth it.
We are so excited and so stressed just 2 days before all starts, tons of tasks to do till the last moment, has been the first time I am so involved in a show and never expected it to be so complicated lol.
We tried to answer all the emails, satisfy all the needs and wishes of the people that contacted us, really sorry if I /we missed anyone, I swear I didnt do it on purpose.
Honestly speaking, there are targets and ideas we failed to bring to life this time, but we will do our best to improve and make the show even better next year.
When we started preparing the show, I posted on this board 3 reasons that we thought was the main ones for the decline of the shows the last years:
1.Cost to attend
2.Lack of fresh people
3.Less and less networking activities
I think we managed to do a lot on the above:
1.Registration was free for a long time and still its pretty affordable. Rooms on the venecian were in ok price for such hotel. Stupid of us we didnt get a bigger room block, didnt expected so many people!
2.We worked a lot on reaching small and big adult companies and webmasters that dont go usually to the shows and we contacted many mainstream ones.
3. There wil be more parties and dinners than last years and several activities, especially the extended Meet Market and the Speed networking sessions, to bring people together and make it easier to meet and do business.(I will start another thread on this today to give more specific info).
But as I wrote back then though, it always takes 2 to tango...
You spend your time in Vegas gambling, the show will be bad for you and for for all of us.....
You sleep till midday coz you parties so hard. You loose many contacts and business and oters will loose your business too...
You stay in a corner, feeling you dont know anyone around. You will never meet them....
Bring your business cards, wear a branded tshirt, dont be shy even if you dont know anyone around. We all go to a show for the exact same reason. To meet new people and do business. Fun is in the game of course, but I know well that most of you will have to write a report after the show, justify the expences etc.
Dont hesitate, focus on getting the maximum out of the event.
Go and present your service/product to everyone you can. Everyone! Luck helps the brave ones!
We will do our best to force you to network, but if you need help or info, feel more than welcome to come and talk to me and the rest of the avn crew. We are there to help and make the best out of it for you. Ask for Panos,Theo, Janet, Shelly,Timothy, Sara, we dont bite lol.
Want to wish safe travels to all and looking more than forward to meeting as many of you I can in person in Vegas and having a show we will not forget!