Trade Show’s Size Means Success to Chamber Leader

John Walters, president of the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and general manger of the Doubletree Hotel, measures the success of the chamber’s quarterly trade shows by how much of his hotel’s ballroom is taken up by exhibitors.

“We used to use only two-thirds of the ballroom,” he said. “Now we use the entire ballroom and we’ve even had to expand out to the mezzanine.”

The mezzanine will be put to use again Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. during the chamber’s “Table-Top” trade show. About 70 local business owners are expected to set up displays in hopes of attracting potential customers. The trade shows alternate between the Harbortown Marina Resort, the Ventura Holiday Inn and the Doubletree.

“This trade show allows local businesses to showcase what they do and what their products are to other local business people,” Walters said. “I think it’s a much more targeted audience than they reach with other advertising. A lot of people who come through the trade show are the decision-makers. . . . Let’s face it, a lot of Ventura business is small business, so in many cases people will be meeting the owners and the operators of businesses directly.”

Walters said about 600 to 800 business people and members of the general public are expected to attend the show. Exhibitors each paid $100 for a tabletop space and related advertising.

Anngret Riley, manager of the Carlson Travel Network in Ventura, considers it a good marketing investment. The trade show, she said, is aimed as much at attracting the attention of other exhibitors as it is at the potential customers who drop in off the street.

“It’s a very good networking opportunity,” said Riley, who will display pamphlets, a directory of services and vacation brochures, as well as show a video highlighting various travel destinations. “It is about answering questions and being visible, saying ‘Hey, guys, we’re here.’ ”

The chamber has about 1,200 members, predominantly Ventura businesses. Riley said the trade show provides her with the opportunity to support local business.

“I like to take my business to chamber members. If I need something like blinds for the office or new chairs, rather than go to L.A. County, I look in Ventura first,” she said. “I think that’s the biggest benefit of the show, to let us know what other chamber members are doing and to keep our business in the community.”

Al Jannone, owner of Jano Graphics in Ventura, said he attends the expo not necessarily to drum up instant business, but to remind fellow business people that he exists.

“There’s never really a direct impact, but it keeps our name out there,” said Jannone, who will exhibit at the Doubletree show. “A business doesn’t grow with a short-term approach. It grows from keeping our name in the forefront and from showing other business owners we have an interest in what they have to sell, too. It’s a compassionate type of approach that generally feeds back to me in terms of business.”

For Ron Smith, owner of the Smith & Smith salsa and hot sauce shop in Ventura, the trade show will provide a launching pad for his latest product.

“We are going to do custom labeling of hot sauces. You can get your own hot sauce with your own label on it,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re going to be stressing, as a marketing tool for business people. They can send these bottles out to different clients.”

To attract attention to his exhibit, Smith will be serving food and salsa at the trade show, which is free to the public.