Last week on November 5th, I had the opportunity to attend the Small Business Expo at the California Market Center. It was about fifteen minutes away from campus. This was a trade show that displayed a wide range of small businesses near the Los Angeles area. A majority of the companies that attended the events offered a service rather than a product. For example, there was a company that was offering digital marketing services, advertising through social media, and website management. There was also a company that was offering information technology consulting services. The various companies informed potential customers about their services and explained a little about their companies and what their main goals.
Moreover, I felt that some of the companies that I networked with were lacking understanding about the companies they were working for. A few of them were not able to answer certain questions and would have to direct my questions to another representative at the booth. From this, I learned that it is important to hire the correct candidates for your company. Workers need to have a good understanding of the company and what is it that the company does. Other than this, it was a good first experience for attending a trade show. Furthermore, I was also given the opportunity to met a self-stater and he shared his experience about how he created his company called CorporateFilming.net. It was great to hear the different challenges he faced and how he overcame them. He was able to succeed because he truly believed in his product and had a strong passion for filming.
Overall, this was great learning experience. If anyone is interested in going into a specific industry, I would recommend going to a trade association first because it gives you the opportunity to see different companies in the industry. You can learn from theses companies and see what new products or services being offered. This ultimately provides you with a better understanding of the industry and gives a clear view of the potential competitors.
I know that technology and gaming trade shows can be interesting too because that is will they introduce and display their new products. There are so many opportunities in Los Angeles we really should take advantage of them. We are exposed to so many businesses every day, big or small.
ReplyDeleteThats very interesting! ive been to a few in San Diego and Vegas before.
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