TRADE SHOW FAQ. Junior Achievement Company Program Annual Trade Show Saturday, February 6, :00 am - 9:00 pm CrossIron Mills

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1 TRADE SHOW FAQ 2016 Junior Achievement Company Program Annual Trade Show Saturday, February 6, :00 am - 9:00 pm CrossIron Mills It s important that all students attending the trade show read through all the information in this document. If you have any questions, please contact Hanna Watson, Manager, High School Events and Programs at hwatson@jasouthalberta.org or Inka Hart, Coordinator, High School Programs at ihart@jasouthalberta.org before February 6. Breaks - page 2 Candles - page 2 Check in - page 2 Computers - page 2 Display - page 2 Electricity - page 2 Employees - page 2 Evaluation - page 3 Filming - page 3 Food - page 3 Garbage - page 3 Goals - page 3 Hours - page 3 Internet - page 3 Invitations - page 4 Judges - page 4 Location - page 4 Map - page 4 Money - page 4 Music - page 4 Name Tags - page 4 Outfit - page 5 Personal Belongings - page 5 Product Sample - page 5 Receipts - page 5 Sales Techniques - page 5 Set up - page 5 Shuttle buses - page 6 Representing JA - page 6

2 Breaks You re encouraged to take a break when necessary so that you can sell your product as effectively as possible. If you do decide to take a short break, please go to the food court or anywhere else in the mall because sitting at your booth texting, talking to friends and possibly ignoring customers detracts from your team s presence at the event. There should be no food or drinks at your display. Remember, the booths must be manned by company members at all times, so make sure to take turns being at the booth. Create a rotating schedule to ensure that someone is always at the booth. Candles You are not allowed to have candles or open fire for safety reasons. Check-in Check in at the JA booth when you arrive, and check out when you leave. Both Hanna and Inka will be there to answer questions and help you during the day. Let us know if you will be late or if you are having problems getting to the mall. Your table must be manned by company members until 9:00pm, even if you are out of products, so make sure you have plenty with you! Computers You are welcome to bring laptops or ipads to your booth but no electricity will be provided. There will be public Wi-Fi available. Display Each team must construct a display that informs people about their company and product. The use of balloons is not allowed. What needs to be included in the display? Name of your company Names of Advisors and their companies Product and/or demonstration of service Highlights of sales and financial performance Electricity There will be no electricity provided. If you are bringing a laptop make sure the battery is fully charged. Employees Each company must have a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 5 company employees at its booth. The trade booths must be manned by company members at all times. If you are taking breaks, take turns. Make sure that your team has a plan for the day with a rotating schedule set for your employees.

3 Evaluation A short survey will be sent out after the trade show. It is very important that you answer these questions and give us feedback on what was good and what could be changed, so we can improve the event for next year. Filming We will be filming parts of the trade show and a photographer will be present to take pictures of you and your team. In the beginning of Company Program you signed a Media Consent Form allowing us to use pictures and video footage of you. If you checked No on that form and are planning to attend the trade show, please come up to the JA booth and let us know where your booth is, and we will make sure the photographer doesn t take any pictures of you. We cannot guarantee you will not be photographed during the trade show. If it s important to you that we don t take pictures of you, we ask you not to attend this event. Food Food will not be provided. You can buy food at the food court or bring your own packed lunch. Please be sure to not eat at your booth. There should be no personal food or drinks at your display at any time. Garbage Don t leave any garbage behind when leaving the event. We are all guests at CrossIron Mills and need to keep it clean. Please be sure to throw all your garbage out and put everything away after taking down your booth including folding the table clothes and tables. Goals Talk to your teams before the trade show and set up goals on how much product you want to sell or how much money you want to make. Make sure you have enough inventory with you. After the trade show, don t forget to talk about your goals did you reach them? If not why? Hours The event will take place at CrossIron Mills from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm. Set up will be from 8:30am -9:30am. Judging of the trade show booths will take place during the entire day. Because this is a very long day, we do not want the same students to stay the full day it is mandatory that you set up a rotating schedule to ensure that no one is at their booth longer than 5 hours. Internet There is Wi-Fi at the mall, but the connection is quite weak. If you are planning to show your website at your booth, you may want to prepare a PowerPoint presentation with each page of your website that you can display on an ipad or your laptop. You can also bring your own wireless internet connection.

4 Invitations On our Facebook page you can find a Facebook event for the trade show. Please invite friends and family to the event and spread the word. The more people who show up, the more people you will get to meet and pitch your product to! We can all contribute to the success of this event. Invite your parents, friends, teachers, neighbors and your family! Judges There will be 8 judges circulating between your booths. You might be able to guess who some of them are, but some might just watch you at your booth, so make sure you give all customers excellent service. What companies will be judged on: Visual display graphics, appeal, neatness, creativity Team spirit proper attire Sales techniques and product knowledge marketing, elevator pitch Unique features Location In previous years, the location of the annual trade show was SouthCenter Mall. This is the first year that the trade show will take place at CrossIron Mills. Teams will be set up between Forever 21 and La Senza. The easiest way to get there is to use the entrance by the movie theatre. Map A week before the trade show, JA will send out a location map of the area, which includes where your table will be. Table locations will be chosen at random. Teams are not allowed to move to a different table or switch spots with another team. If, for some reason, you have a problem with your spot, come to the JA booth and we will try to help you out! Money Make sure you are always keeping an eye on the money you are making during the day. Never leave it unattended. CrossIron Mills is a public place with a lot of traffic, so it s important that you are keeping your money safe. Please make sure to secure all other personal belongings, such as cell phones, wallets and other valuables. Remember to bring a float so that you have change for the first few customers. Music No music or sound effects of any kind are permitted. Name Tags We strongly encourage you to create your own name tag and that you are wearing it at all times.

5 Outfits Coordinate your outfits the judges love to see team spirit! For example you can all have black t-shirts and red pants. That way you will definitely look like a team and will draw attention to your booth. Personal Belongings Since its winter, you ll probably have a warm jacket with you. Try to put it somewhere it won t get in the way of your display, for example in a box/bin under your table. Remember to keep an eye on all your personal belongings since we are in a public place. JASA does not take any responsibility for lost or stolen items. Product Samples All teams need to hand in 2 product samples to JA at the trade show. Please give them to Inka Hart or Hanna Watson at the JA booth. Receipts Don t forget to bring paper, pens and your receipts book so you can issue your customers a receipt. Supplying plastic bags or a box for your product might help you sell your product too. Sales Techniques Make sure you talk about your sales techniques as a team before the trade show. The more prepared you are, the more products you will sell. Ask yourself why your product is interesting and think about who would want to buy it. Remember not to just tell people that they should buy it because it s awesome, but give them a good reason as to why they need it. If they don t need it maybe someone they know does and they can buy it as a gift. Know your product and your business well and think about what questions you might get from both customers and the judges. Our recommendation is to know your business plan, marketing strategy and your company financials. You should also be ready to explain Junior Achievement and Company Program. A good way to attract customers to your booth is to always look active, interested and engaging! Never sit down at your booth. With that said, don t solicit people outside the trade show area or within 10 feet of other stores and don t disrupt people from entering other stores in the mall. Please be sure to stay within the trade show area. Most importantly be friendly! Don t be afraid to talk to people but don t be pushy or aggressive if people don t want to hear your sales pitch. Set Up Each team s display must fit on a table 60 inches long and 30 inches wide. We recommend using the tables provided by JASA but feel free to build your own booth and assemble it on site. You will have 1 hour to set up your booth. At 9:30am all teams should be ready for the mall to open and for customers to arrive.

6 Shuttle buses All students attending the trade show will need to find their own transportation. However, we will be able to offer your tickets with the CrossIron Mall s employee shuttle bus at a small cost. The shuttle bus stops at a few different locations. We will send you more information about this in January. Representing JA Last but certainly not least, remember that we are guests at CrossIron Mills and we must respect the mall. Please ensure that all team members are representing their company and Junior Achievement in the best manner possible! Good luck everyone and make sure to have fun!