By Michelle Hannah, Public Relations
As a Public Relations Representative for DOCS Education, I often get to experience new and exciting opportunities in the world of dentistry. One was the 2011 Greater New York Dental Meeting—the largest dental congress and exposition in the U.S.—which I’m sure several of you attended. Although I went to the 2009 conference, 2011 was the first year I was able to spend most of my time walking the floor and spending time at a booth. Below are a few things I thought doctors might find interesting about an outsider’s view on this massive dental conference.
Selling as an exhibitor is not easy.
Before the conference, when I envisioned exhibitors selling to attendees, I pictured a constant stream of dentists and team members at each booth eager to snatch up all the great deals. I found that exhibitors really had to know their product or service inside and out in order to have the knowledge to answer the in-depth questions dentists have. Those that did were able to spend more time with each dentist who visited their booth and were often much more successful.
Yes, there truly are that many people.
For those of you that have never been to the GNYDM, let me assure you—it’s huge. This year there were over 53,000 attendees and thousands of exhibitors. Aside from the exhibit floor, there are a countless amount of meeting rooms throughout the 675,000 square feet of the Javits Convention Center. The biggest problem I ran into with being at one place with this many people? Getting a cab at the end of the day. Be prepared to wait a while.
In a sea of pens and floss, there are some exceptional giveaways.
By working closely with production specialists over the years, I know how important—and expensive—giveaways can be at a booth. Most booths have something to hand out to attendees or a contest they can enter. The booths of enormous companies often have entire packages of dental giveaways, often comprised of a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash and floss. (These come in extremely handy when traveling.) I was even given a teeth whitener and lip plumper in-one tool. Other booths have smaller, but creative, giveaways, such as a fold-up Frisbee and light-up yo-yos.
Some of the booths are a spectacular sight.
Again, the large companies have money to spend on extremely impressive booths. A couple reminded me of a set-up to a Disneyland ride line: Parts of the line to get into the actual booth were sectioned off the attendees were shown demonstrations waited. Bright lights, spinning structures hanging from ceilings and presenters with microphones kept me in awe. The exhibit floor will surely keep you entertained for a while.