China property expos - Separating the wheat from the chaff

I recently made a post about how a so-called "Property exhibition" in Shenzhen turned out to be anything but.  Having been to hundreds of property and investment shows across Asia, I've seen lifestyle products being displayed which should appeal to the same target audience, for example, Private Jets, Helicopters, Supercars , Yachts, Limited edition jewelry, Fine wines, etc.  So consider my dismay when I discovered that the show consisted of around 70% of UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicle) or more commonly known as drones.  Instead of an Embraer or Bentley, I was looking at something less exciting and certainly less expensive.

I subsequently got a lot of feedback from potential exhibitors asking how to make sure they didn't end up wasting money and time.  Since all the websites and marketing collateral look similar, it is quite a hard task.  However, I have five basic questions/tips you can ask organizers that, although not definitive by any means, should put you on the right track:

1. How many shows have you done

2. How many years have you been doing events

3. Provide examples of the marketing that you have placed or ask for a copy of their marketing campaign

4. Ask for pics from previous show (be careful, many pics have been taken from other events) or ask for previous exhibitor lists

5. Get testimonials, then call them!  No one will put up a bad testimonial

If in doubt, you can always just ask me!