SurvTech recently exhibited and attended the SAME Small Business Conference in Nashville. This was the first time we did a joint booth with other companies. The joint booth was with many different firms that are members of the Tampa Bay SAME post. The idea for the Tampa Bay post joint booth was pitched by a Tampa Bay SAME member who had participated in a joint booth at another post in the past, and he enjoyed the experience. So, he contacted the Tampa Bay post leaders and wanted to know if other companies would be interested in joining this effort.
The good news was that member had a wealth of knowledge and experience with doing a joint booth two previous times, and there were other members of that post that advised us on what worked and what didn't, so we had a little bit of a head start on starting from scratch.
When the eight firms (Mule Engineering, Florida Surety Bond, CES, NovelE Solutions, American Infrastructure Development, INC., Environmental Assessments & Consulting, and SurvTech Solutions) decided to move forward, we started having weekly meetings to plan for the joint booth. A lot of work went into pulling off a joint booth at an event in a city hundreds of miles from Tampa.
We decided to go with our booth's "Florida Man" theme and make a green screen the central item for our booth. One of the companies participating volunteered to haul a trailer with all the makings of the booth, including signage, TV, tables, flags, and miscellaneous decorations. SurvTech Solutions participated by creating a 3D rendering of the booth, designing graphics, flag designing, and social media postings! Employees of each company arrived early and participated in setting up the booth. Each company received a small cocktail table and a 13-foot flag for its name and logo. So, the SAME Tampa Bay booth could be seen from almost anywhere in the exhibit hall.
The SAME conference was a huge success, with over 4,600 registrants, and the city of Nashville was fantastic. The green screen was a huge success, drawing hundreds of people to our booth to take pictures with numerous backdrops, including sports icons, military bases, Key West, and, yes, "Florida Man" situations. Numerous registrants mentioned how innovative our green screen idea was and how much they loved the joint booth. With the joint booth, every business involved generated way more traffic than they would have with a small 10x10 booth in a side aisle. Everyone participating enjoyed the booth, including the sponsoring companies and registrants who showed up to take pictures with a themed backdrop. It was an incredible experience and one that SurvTech will participate in again.
Everything about the SAME Small Business Conference in 2022 was great, including the conference center, hotel accommodations, the turnout, and the Nashville nightlife! Here's to next year's conference in San Antonio, where hopefully, the SAME Tampa Bay's joint booth is much larger than this year's booth!