Even More Expo Survival Tips
Thanks to everyone who responded, here is another batch of Tips to help you get the most out of your Macworld Expo trip!
From Frank over @ TUAW:
"Many booths have giveaway drawings, and you have to fill out a short form to enter -- usually with just your name, address and phone number. To save time, bring a sheet of labels with that info on it AS WELL AS your business cards. Some places will take business cards, some won't. Bringing a sheet of labels will save you having to experience lots of writer's cramp, and the people running the booth appreciate seeing something they can actually read. :)"
I will amend Frank's post by pointing out that a lot of booths' will ask for your actual Expo Badge and swipe - if you look on the back, that badge as the same kind of strip as your credit card and carries all your Expo registration info.
That having been said (and it's too late for most of you), keep in mind, many companies will capture that information and for months (or years!) after Expo, you will get "marketing materials" from those companies. Some companies may even sell your information to complete strangers and you may end up increasing the amount of spam you get.
Best idea is, if you can, use a "throwaway" email address when you register for *any* conference. That way, if the deluge of "marketing materials" becomes too much, you can simply ignore the email address.
From MacWeasel @ MacObserver:
First off, don't buy into the rumors. Every year people follow them and seem to forget that rumors are just that, rumors. Then when the rumored product isn't announced or doesn't include rumored features it's a big let down. I don't know why everyone does it time and time again.
Please, do not rush in the second the show opens, come to my booth and say "DO YOU GUYS SUPPORT THAT NEW PRODUCT APPLE JUST ANNOUNCED 5 MINUTES AGO?!" It happens every single year and every year the answer is the same. We just heard about it when you did (my boss will be in the front row at the Keynote so I guess he'll hear it a minute before we see the info posted online). Last year someone asked if we supported the iPhone, a product that wasn't even release til months later. "Well those guys over there support it." Yes and those guys are lying cause Apple doesn't even support it yet.
Don't try to out geek the geeks. Every year we have a number of people that come by and feel they need to prove they know more then the people at the stand. Every year they walk away with their heads hung in shame. They get a big head because they're smarter then some of the people hired just to run the booths and feel they need to increase their egos by going stand to stand doing the same thing.
There are a lot of great show only deals. Don't feel you have to buy everything the first day. Most stands cut the prices on the final day so they don't have to carry as much back with them. You may want to wait til then (unless they're running low on stock, etc).
More tips to come and if you have any questions, please pass them along and we'll all do our best to answer them!
From Frank over @ TUAW:
"Many booths have giveaway drawings, and you have to fill out a short form to enter -- usually with just your name, address and phone number. To save time, bring a sheet of labels with that info on it AS WELL AS your business cards. Some places will take business cards, some won't. Bringing a sheet of labels will save you having to experience lots of writer's cramp, and the people running the booth appreciate seeing something they can actually read. :)"
I will amend Frank's post by pointing out that a lot of booths' will ask for your actual Expo Badge and swipe - if you look on the back, that badge as the same kind of strip as your credit card and carries all your Expo registration info.
That having been said (and it's too late for most of you), keep in mind, many companies will capture that information and for months (or years!) after Expo, you will get "marketing materials" from those companies. Some companies may even sell your information to complete strangers and you may end up increasing the amount of spam you get.
Best idea is, if you can, use a "throwaway" email address when you register for *any* conference. That way, if the deluge of "marketing materials" becomes too much, you can simply ignore the email address.
From MacWeasel @ MacObserver:
First off, don't buy into the rumors. Every year people follow them and seem to forget that rumors are just that, rumors. Then when the rumored product isn't announced or doesn't include rumored features it's a big let down. I don't know why everyone does it time and time again.
Please, do not rush in the second the show opens, come to my booth and say "DO YOU GUYS SUPPORT THAT NEW PRODUCT APPLE JUST ANNOUNCED 5 MINUTES AGO?!" It happens every single year and every year the answer is the same. We just heard about it when you did (my boss will be in the front row at the Keynote so I guess he'll hear it a minute before we see the info posted online). Last year someone asked if we supported the iPhone, a product that wasn't even release til months later. "Well those guys over there support it." Yes and those guys are lying cause Apple doesn't even support it yet.
Don't try to out geek the geeks. Every year we have a number of people that come by and feel they need to prove they know more then the people at the stand. Every year they walk away with their heads hung in shame. They get a big head because they're smarter then some of the people hired just to run the booths and feel they need to increase their egos by going stand to stand doing the same thing.
There are a lot of great show only deals. Don't feel you have to buy everything the first day. Most stands cut the prices on the final day so they don't have to carry as much back with them. You may want to wait til then (unless they're running low on stock, etc).
More tips to come and if you have any questions, please pass them along and we'll all do our best to answer them!
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