Welcome to the latest SHOT Show Insider, written by the SHOT Show team at NSSF and our show partners to keep you informed on all things SHOT Show. Let us know what topics you’d like to see addressed here in upcoming issues by emailing us at shotshowinsider@nssf.org.
Pedestrian Bridge to Caesars Forum Completed
With the SHOT Show’s expansion to the new Caesars Forum, this will be our largest floorplan in show history. To make navigating between The Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum as seamless as can be, a bridge was recently constructed connecting the two convention centers—with attendees making the walk between buildings in less than one minute. The bridge was used for the first time two weeks ago, during the recent HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, with great success. — Jeff Pressman, ConvExx
Las Vegas Update: Healthcare, Fashion Industries Hold Successful In-Person Shows in August
Reading the news lately, the headlines have painted a discouraging picture of the current state of the pandemic. However, Las Vegas has learned a lot over the past several months about holding live events safely and successfully. Two industries—healthcare and fashion—returned to in-person trade shows this month in the city, and the results exceeded expectations. Two weeks ago, the healthcare industry came together for the 2021 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, held (like the SHOT Show) at both The Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum. Also this month, the fashion industry’s MAGIC, PROJECT, and SOURCING at MAGIC trade shows returned to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Kelly Helfman, commercial president for Informa Markets Fashion, told the Review-Journal, “Fashion is so tactile, these buyers want to touch and feel the product that they’re buying for their stores. So it’s really important that we’re here, in person, doing business.” A similar statement can be made of our industry, and what we’re learning from our trade show industry peers and partners is greatly helping us in preparing for our return to Las Vegas in January. — Chris Dolnack, NSSF
New Product Center Will Be Bigger Than Ever at Caesars Forum
With the show’s expansion to Caesars Forum, the additional space will provide exhibitors with more opportunities than ever before. One of these will be a greatly expanded New Product Center, now located in a prime location at Caesars Forum. As we’ve seen in our surveys of both buyers and media, the New Product Center is one of the most heavily visited areas of the show each year, with both audiences in search of what’s new at the show. Entries in the New Product Center can be reserved through your Exhibitor Dashboard or by contacting exhibitorhelp@convexx.com for assistance. — Chris Tatulli, NSSF
SHOT Show eXtra: A New Opportunity for New Exhibitors
With interest very high in exhibiting at the 2022 SHOT Show, we’ll be adding a new area to the show at Caesars Forum called “SHOT Show eXtra” for companies that have either been on the SHOT Show waitlist or who are trying to find a way to exhibit at the show. SHOT Show eXtra will run the same days and hours as the SHOT Show and will be located adjacent to the New Product Center. Learn more and apply for space here. — Chris Tatulli, NSSF
Sept. 8 Webinar: How to Achieve Your SHOT Show ‘Awareness’ Goal
If a company exhibits at the 2022 SHOT Show and no one notices were their dollars well spent? In most cases, the answer is an easy no, and that’s precisely why you shouldn’t miss this Q&A session on September 8 at 2 p.m. EDT. Trade show trainer Robyn Davis will help you dig deeper into the strategies required to create “awareness” for your business by exhibiting at the show. You’ll learn what you need to do in order to get more of the right attention from more of the right professionals. Plus, you’ll learn how to calculate the value of awareness (with processes that can be applied to other traditionally “fuzzier” goals, too), so that you can justify your efforts to your key stakeholders and track your results more effectively moving forward. Register here. — Erik Scarpati, NSSF
