E-commerce Expo 2009?

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  • #11
    I went here last year and to be honest it was aimed at higher level businesses. In all honestly I was pretty appalled by the way some of the people on the stands dealt with us when they found out we were a new business!

    The Google seminars we're a complete waste of time. Unless you are completely useless and have never used Google Adwords/Analytics then don't bother going to them because it's embarrassingly bad. Lots of people we're chatting amongst themselves and looking around in shock at how dreadful it was.

    I met 2 useful contacts there and that was it. One I engaged but will be revoking their contract once it runs out in November so not an ongoing relationship.

    I think you can get a better results from sitting online researching companies rather than waste a whole day (or more) mooching around very polished stands listening to sales pitches all day by their better looking members of staff.

    I don't really think its a good use of time for a smaller business IMO.
     
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  • #13
    You're welcome! I was frustrated with my experience there. It's a slick looking show with lots of great looking marketing bumpf but the show itself is tiny and the seminars are just sales pitches by companies and not of any real use.
     
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    M

    Mister B

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    Aug 31, 2007
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  • #14
    That is quite an interesting POV. As I'm passing through the area on the day, I'll still stick my head through the door and let you know if anything's changed:)

    Out of curioisity, why are you revoking the contract? Did they not meet expectations?

    Mister B
     
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  • #16
    Mister B said:
    That is quite an interesting POV. As I'm passing through the area on the day, I'll still stick my head through the door and let you know if anything's changed:)

    Out of curioisity, why are you revoking the contract? Did they not meet expectations?

    Mister B
    Click to expand...

    We just want to trade for a while without the additional cost until next year. Then we will re-evaluate our position. It's been a tough year and hopefully our Q4 will rectify our slow summer.
     
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    C

    Chunkford

  • #19
    LOL, thanks for the offer, but the BIC's are too upper class. I need the ones that reflect the company i got them from and see which ones don't write anything or breaks as soon as you start writing with them. You can then see whos a cheap skate and whos not ;)
     
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  • #21
    I've been to the Earls Court one and the Manchester one, wasn't impressed by either quite honestly and I wouldn't particularly go out of my way to go again.

    The quality of the stall holders is not great, there are significantly more stalls aimed at extremely large, big bank balance companies, and would predominantly suit those large companies that have massive warehouses and need logistics/ecommerce type software.

    I personally feel its a show that is entirely missold, it is not aimed at the small or new business customers - and they seem to make the mistake of sticking techies on the stands who like the sound of their own voice but who are not capable of explaining their product in a way that any normal person can understand! We had fairly sound technical backgrounds and even we wondered what the hell some of them were talking about.

    I did not attend any of the seminars so cannot speak for the quality of those, but feedback from others has often been that they tend to be a company sales pitch rather than a learning experience per se - but if you're an entire newbie then its possible they could be of benefit...maybe..

    I would closely examine the exhibitor list, take a look at their websites and see what they do and if there is anything to be gained from travelling down and meeting any of them before spending good money to do it. Its a busy show and chances are those few people you might be interested in speaking to you wont get quality a time with and would be better off meeting them on an individual basis instead.

    I hope to be proven wrong, its a good venue and is a show that should be of great potential, but unfortunately its costly to exhibit at which means most providers who target smaller, new businesses often cannot afford to attend and the big players simply aren't relevant. The Manchester show had a couple of what looked to be posible interesting avenues for my business on the viral marketing and customer tracking software side, but even the basic entry level costs were well above the affordability threshold of my 5 year old business.
     
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  • #24
    beat me to it, I was going to post the same link, and as I suggested before, most of those will only really suit larger organisations, entry level costs will be more than a small company will want to absorb just to see if it works.

    I seriously advise people look at the exhibitor list and the seminar list http://www.ecommerceexpo.co.uk/page.cfm/Action=Seminars/t=m and make sure some of it is relevant to your business before travelling and incurring any significant costs. 150 exhibitors is not a lot - particularly if none are relevant.
     
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    T

    ttmw

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    Feb 22, 2008
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  • #25
    Think i'll give it a miss then, its such a long way to go just to learn nothing and waste a day of valuable improvements time :)

    I lost a couple of days due to a white wine spillage on my mac :eek:, everything ok now though :)

    Thanks for everyone's feedback, and hopefully some of you that are going will come back and let us know what it was like?
     
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    C

    Chunkford

  • #30
    LightingGiants said:
    sir clunk thanks for directing me here

    What is this manchester expo all about who is it aimed at and when does it happen.
    Click to expand...

    No problem :D

    Manchester expo is the same, but up north in May.
    Apparently it's not as good as the London one. I think it's smaller and less people (but i can't say that for sure as i have never been), but i'm sure it still does the job.
     
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    Mister B

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    Aug 31, 2007
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  • #33
    sir.chunk said:
    I went today, and how many pens did i get! LOL
    But anyhow, what i wanted to say is that the seminars are being shown here in due course.

    http://www.seminarstreams.com/

    So if anyone miss any or they wanted to go but couldn't go then all is not lost. (apart from seeing and talking to all the exhibitors)

    Enjoy :)
    Click to expand...

    But the question is, "Was it worth it?"

    Let us know as I need to know whether to save my precious time or not.

    TIA

    Mister B
     
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    C

    Chunkford

  • #34
    ummmm, well...... the only reason I went was because there was a particular company I wanted to meet and to see their product first hand, so in that sense yea.
    But, i would say if you are in 'the know', then not really. I walkout of a seminar as they were banging on about stuff i already knew (plus i knew i could watch them online in the comfort of my own home). Plus all the information you can get is on their websites. I can't really see any point to be there apart from to get to know the companies personally, and if you are a newbie then it's a great source of face to face information and networking.
    My suggestion is to go through the list of exbithors and if you see something you like, go on their website, read up, and if you want to go further them yea... go down.

    What would be good, and something i would expect from shows is special deals/offers!
    i.e. Sign up today and get a special ecommerce expo offer! now that would make it worth the travel if you are interested in a particular thing.
     
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    C

    Chunkford

  • #35
    I hope that wasn't too harsh for the people who organised it.

    And also i might add, i went as a developer that creates and manages client websites not as a business owner (if that makes sense), and as there was some things i could use through my channels, it was more geared towards people who run their own businesses.
     
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