An Expo for Small Businesses #MKTNY

Photo by Kerem Baran, Co-founder of Boomset

If you're in business, what you don't know about selling, marketing, advertising and social media could probably fill less than a 1/4 tsp. (See What I Learned At The Fair on this blog.)

Nonetheless, it never hurts to be reminded of the fundamentals of these skills. #MKTNY on May 29th at the Metropolitan Pavillion offered a slew of excellent reminders.

There were breakout sessions galore at Market Expo New York during the 10 to 5 time span. Especially fascinating and informative were the LNKD and G+ primers, which gave pointers even a seasoned user like myself needs. The Facebook sponsored Social Media Theater, where these short sessions took place, was a theater in name and seating arrangements only. It lacked a wall, or even a curtain to keep out the din of the exhibit floor. Sponsors and exhibitors were crammed into the inadequately small exhibit area, making circulation on the floor an intimate experience of bumping into fellow attendees.

Good luck to those attendees who arrived in time promptly at 10 in the hope of catching the 10:30 breakouts! The sign-in process, like the size of the Pavillion conference spaces, was inadequate, despite the best efforts of a friendly staff. Each ticket was scanned to create the nametag and the long line meant that even with extra hands manning Ipads and laptops to help move it along, very few of us were in the hall by 10:30.

Spoiled as many of us are by the expansive spaces of hotel conference set-ups or the Javits Center, #MKTNY proved disappointing. Not having enough room to fully circulate among the tables probably short-changed the exhibitors as well.

One last nit to pick-- the floor plan in the glossy program guide did not match the actual layout of the Metropolitan Pavillion. Nevermind, the hall was small enough so you didn't really need a map to find your way around.

On the plus side, there were plenty of experts to offer a hand to the resource-strapped small business owner.
SEO consultants, like #MaishaWalker, #JoeApfelbaum and #JenniferSchulman were there to share tips. Sales trainers, Time Warner for Business, SCORE, and even a photographer were also available.

Small space, small business, big schedule and an on-site registration fee of relatively small change at $50 meant that New York Market Expo was a good deal.

This was the first year for this event, and likely next time it will be better organized.