First Year In Fasteners: Fastener Fair USA Recap

Not only was Fastener Fair USA the inaugural fastener fair in America, but it was my inaugural trade show and it definitely exceeded expectations.

 

I manage Earnest’s social media channels, so I had been in contact with many businesses and individuals prior to Fastener Fair. Because I had made that initial contact, I had a great ice breaker when I walked the show and introduced myself to others. My advice to other companies: let your newer people take over your social media, if possible, before a trade show. It’s great to be able have that conversation starter rather than walking into a show cold. 

 

Being on the marketing team at Earnest, I was also part of setting up our booth, which again gave me A) a chance to meet people before the show and B) see what goes into a trade show first-hand. Earnest was a sponsor of Fastener Fair so we set up the Innovation Theater as well as our 20x20 booth. 

 

I attended as many of the presentations as possible. The Young Fastener Professionals had a great one on guiding millennials (like myself) through leadership. WIFI sponsored an excellent presentation on Stress in the Workplace (my key takeaway is blueberries and pistachios are great foods for stress – and happened to be my favorite snacks anyway!) And I learned a lot at the Future of the Fastener Industry panel, which opened the show. Our CEO, Kirk Zehnder, made great points on how to attract fresh talent to the Fastener Industry, which I think I’ll discuss more in a future blog post. 

 

The first day ended with a reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which was fun because even being a Cleveland native and former radio DJ/current audiophile, I had never been there! It was a great way to shift conversations from business to more personal and a chance to engage with fastener peers on another level. 

 

Fastener Fair and Mack Brooks made an inviting, open space for everyone to connect. I met great people (and if we’d virtually met I could put a face to the name and/or twitter handle). I got to work even more closely with my colleagues at Earnest and did join WIFI. And I finally saw Michael Jackson’s glove at the Rock Hall. It was a great event and we’re looking forward to next year’s Fastener Fair USA in Detroit!