Thank you for taking the time to join the SAGE exhibitor forum. And thank you to so many of you who have completed the exhibitor surveys, the support from our exhibitors has been phenomenal.

The objective for the forum is to create a platform where ideas can be bounced back and forth to help us engage with our target audiences and therefore deliver more for you next summer. Whether your expertise is in marketing, sales or other fields we want to hear from you. Perhaps you have have noticed a specific job role/sector who is less aware of SAGE or an industry body you believe we should be contacting. From the courses to site layout, to vloggers your experience within the industry can help us deliver a bigger and better show for 2023.

We are currently building our stock material for our exhibitors to use for marketing purposes at key points through the year, this will be live soon.

I forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions.

Many thanks,
Vicky

[chrisf]

1 idea?
At present your website is lacking relevant industry content. May I suggest you create a company page for each exhibitor (currently you just have logos with website links) to provide relevant news editorial regarding their products and the exhibition. This may contain links to specific pages on the exhibitors website. This can be updated during the year. Ideally this would be self service.
This would improve your rankings, provide a platform for visitors to plan their visit, they would spend longer on your website. You become more relevant.

Hey All, I personally think that the event has a huge potential and that together we can make it exactly that – huge.

I spoke to some dealers this week that suggested more diverse product ranges and also staging the show over a weekend to allow more to attend along with end users and families. They said the demonstrations were great and questioned why one would bother with Saltex if more attended this show.

I am not sure how many dealers (if any) exhibited. But local dealers with that local customer base being given preferential rates to come would help attract local end users and the local community. People attract people.

From our point of view the show is being marketed mainly to turf, we think the 2023 marketing should be targeting Green Space Maintenance as a whole, if this fits the direction the show wants to take.

Regarding PR – I would suggest talking to Holly and the amazing team at Honest Communications.

My thoughts for now 🙂 Already looking forward to 2023 and beyond

Cheers
Steve

Hi Chris, thank you. Yes think this is definitely something we could put into action, the website is under work at the moment with content being a main target. We have also been in discussions over producing a newsletter focusing on our exhibitors over the year, thoughts on this would be welcome.
Engagement throughout the year is at the top of our agenda.

Will look how we can work this best into our website, as well as collating content from you easily, will keep you updated.

Hi Steve, Thank you, always open to looking at and speaking with PR teams, will touch base. SAGE definitely needs to expand further into different sectors, and this has been a key theme within our visitor surveys. I am looking at how we can move into these sectors with the marketing team and also our press partners, without breaking the budget ;), keep pinging ideas on this across, all suggestions welcome.
As for local dealers, this is something we are working on and hope to build a much bigger following locally moving forwards.

Keep the ideas rolling, I will keep you updated on our progress.

[Caroline]

Hello, thanks for the invitation to the group. As with everyone else, I too see the potential for this show. Heck it could easily become the main industry event over time.

I have just got back from the TGA (Turf Growers Association) summer show and one of the things which went down well was the demonstrations. They had all the mowers lined up next to each other, each manufacturer had 5 mins to do a quick introduction, and then they were demonstrated. From a customers point of view it was really valuable as it allowed them to see all the machines running side by side to draw conclusions. If something like this was planned at SAGE, perhaps operators or greenkeepers would invite along the decision makers to help get deals over the line?

My other thought, perhaps only suitable while the show is young (?) was around the layout of the show. Have you considered having one big central demo area and then the stands positioned around the outside? This would provide a focus and schedule for the main event.

Thanks

Hi Caroline – think the demo suggestions are something we could easily put in place and as you say would have an impact. The central demo plot is something that quite a few exhibitors feel would benefit, and others are not keen. I was hoping to release the exhibitor pack this week to all exhibitors from 2022, however we are just looking at another potential re-shuffle of the site plan. This is something we could potentially release here for feedback but I am acutely aware we will not be able to please everyone, will keep you updated. Do keep the ideas coming – all welcome.

[Author]

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