Greg Hartnett

Now at the midpoint of our conference schedule, I am sitting in the wifi lounge at the Hilton, between sessions. Seemed like a good time to reflect on the status thus far.

The NY Times Travel show at the Javits Center was fantastic. The attendance was phenomenal, and we were able to meet with more than a thousand people. As our first exhibit with the general public, we were able to learn a lot. Conferences aimed at the general public are much different than industry specific shows. A couple of the pearls I took away:

• Get your booth early - waiting can put you in a less than optimal location.
• Joe Public likes free shit. No other way to say it. If it’s free, they’ll take it.
• The herd mentality rules. When you have more than a a few people at your booth, everybody wants to be there. But few people want to approach you if they stand alone.
• Pushy doesn’t work. The guy in the booth across from us was obnoxious. While he was able to talk to a bunch of people, he gave off a really bad energy, and I would imagine that most people left with a bad taste in their mouth.

The SES show puts us in front of industry attendees, and the rules of engagement are different. Most people approaching the booth are more savvy, and need less hand holding (though you do a lot more hand shaking here). I made sure that each of us brought a camera, and I know that we’ll have a bunch of pics coming soon.

Tonight, we are going to a party hosted by Ask.com. Looks really cool, and I can’t wait to play some of the video games they’ll have. If you are going to be there, let’s wage some cyber-war