Subscriber Discussion

Any Integrators Exhibit At Local Trade Shows?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 13, 2017

We will be attending a local trade show at the end of April and am looking to see what others have done. This show is for a specific industry that we do a lot of work in. I also am considering a trade show in May for a new vertical we do not have any experience in but should slide in.

We plan on having a TV running a video showing some surveillance footage (we have permission for) with different levels of quality to show before/after, as well as some screen shots of the different VMS we use. We also plan on putting this video onto USB drives that we give away.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

Any other suggestions?

MM
Michael Miller
Mar 13, 2017

My advice is less is more.  Don't try to show every product you have to offer as you will quickly see you don't have time to show everything to everyone that walks by.  Mount your monitors as high as you can so when people are standing in front of your both the people that are walking by can still see the screens.   Work on your 10 sec pitch. 

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Avatar
Brian Karas
Mar 13, 2017
IPVM

A few comments:

First, have you contacted your top manufacturers to see if they will help offset some of your costs, loan you additional demo equipment or provide co-branded collateral with your company name/info? No guarantees that they will support you, but you should ask.

Second, if this is an industry specific trade-show, try to craft your message and demos as much as you can to that specific vertical. People tend to have a hard time looking at an application demo from one vertical and mapping it to their own.

USB drives are nice, but make sure you get contact info from all attendees and followup, a large majority of the people will likely forget about the USB drive after the show.

If the VMS you are demoing is easy to use, have a station setup where people can mouse around and try it out. Tends to stick with them more if they test things first-hand in my experience. 

For new verticals, listen and learn the lingo of the vertical (every vertical seems to have some unique terms), this way when you are talking to people they will feel more like you really understand their needs and special circumstances (even if they are mostly the same needs and circumstances as other jobs you have done).

 

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 13, 2017

We primarily work with Dahua and recently have partnered with Door King and Milestone.

I asked a few distributors and Milestone for assistance and my emails went unanswered. Dahua however sent paperwork over and is going to lend us a PTZ.

 

The plan is 2 TV's, one in each corner about 7 feet off the floor on stands. One TV will have the PTZ on tour. This TV will also be connected to the laptop with Milestone and Smart PSS for demo purposes. I think the big attraction for this crowd will be the license plates. This crowd will not be looking for high end analytics, nor will they pay.

 

The 2nd TV will run our marketing video on a loop. Views of license plates from a standard camera, and a LPR camera, close ups of the tags, maybe screen shots of Smart PSS and Milestone. Maybe 60 seconds max on the video.

 

We will be scanning badges, and USB drives will only go to qualified prospects. The crowd will consist of staff from all levels of the organization. The USB drives will be in our pockets and handed out to decision makers/C -Level staff.

Thanks

U
Undisclosed #2
Mar 14, 2017

First of all, I commend your information-seeking nature... and both Mike and Brian have some great points.

But...

Can I ask why you are showing a PTZ tour on one half of your display?

imo, unmanned PTZ tours are Fred Flintstone technology.  It has weaknesses that are overcome by newer technology.

The reason for unmanned PTZ tours was clear back in the analog, limited resolution days...

But with the resolutions we have currently, isn't a fixed 4K (for example) a better solution for covering large areas?

We've all seen the movies where the bad guys see the camera moving and wait until it's pointing in another direction to do their nefarious deeds.  The unmanned PTZ tour only sees and records where it is currently pointing (or zoomed).

With high resolution cameras, and the ability to cover large areas all at the same time (unlike unmanned PTZ tours) - I don't understand why integrators/customers still rely on this out-dated functionality.

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JH
John Honovich
Mar 14, 2017
IPVM

To #2's point, I would think people that are moderately familiar with video surveillance would be more impressed with a high resolution fisheye or a multi-imager. The rationale would be is that these people, even if they only infrequently use or buy video surveillance have seen PTZs in the past but that they are much less likely to come across fisheye or multi-imagers since those are newer.

Agree/disagree? Curious to hear.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 14, 2017

With our audience we do a lot of outdoor coverage, so I think something that can read a coke can across the show floor will be neat, plus the constant moving of the camera.

 

I doubt we would ever use a fisheye for this market

MM
Michael Miller
Mar 14, 2017

What market is this for?

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 14, 2017

apartment communities/multi-family

MM
Michael Miller
Mar 14, 2017

Then I would show multi-head, fisheye, 4k and LPR.  You're looking to get people's attention so they come to the booth and talk to you.  If they just look at your both, nod, and keep walking your not doing it right. 

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 14, 2017

For the LPR we are going to have video in the marketing video showing 2 cameras at night side by side, one LPR, one not LPR. I do not think the true benefits of LPR can be shown at a trade show booth in the day, unless we hide it under the table... hmmm

Avatar
Brian Karas
Mar 14, 2017
IPVM

FWIW, I've known other integrators that have done a lot of work in that segment.  The multi-imager panoramics have been popular. You avoid the "Fort Knox" look of camera everywhere, but still get good coverage without missing things the way you do with a roving PTZ.

Unless they have live operators for the PTZs, the Coke can demo might not be ideal.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 14, 2017

I missed this post somehow.

For the record we do not install PTZ in unmanned  situations for all the reasons stated above and in the below post.

 

The whole thought process of the PTZ at the show was the wow factor, for attendees to walk by and see the TV with the camera moving, panning across the show floor, etc

 

I was going to buy 40" 1080P Tv's and use these stands. But I just looked and saw 4K TV's are only a little more in that size. So we could do 4K cameras, just not sure if people are really going to see the wow factor in it.

 

 

U
Undisclosed #2
Mar 14, 2017

If you were to show a parking lot view with a 4K camera in a quad view - with each pane showing a different digitally-zoomed portion of that parking lot - it appears to be 4 separate cameras - each covering a different area within that parking lot.

You can then show that back in the day all we could do to cover similar large areas like parking lots was to set up an unmanned PTZ pattern to cover the entire area (as any number of fixed cameras would have to be used to cover the entire field of view of the whole area covered in the unmanned pattern).

This showcases the benefits of the 4K solution that you sell.  Record the entire FoV, and have PTZ-like capabilities in playback (with enough resolution) to resolve license plates from vehicles deep into the covered area.

It's not as visual, granted, but there is your wow factor, imo.

Avatar
Brian Karas
Mar 13, 2017
IPVM

The 2nd TV will run our marketing video on a loop.

Pay particular attention to fonts, and timing of titles/captions on the demo video. You won't be able to hear the audio over all the other noise, so the text is going to be a big part of what really conveys the message to the audience.  Make the text transitions too slow and people won't stand around to watch it.  Make them too fast, and you'll lose people. Additionally, the amount of other activity in the scene can distract people.

I like to make titles/descriptions large at transitions and then have them in the lower part of the video as a caption so that people can watch the scene, and refer to the caption text for additional queues about what they are seeing.

After you have edited your video, stand back and watch it yourself. Read the text, make sure you can read it all (and you have to stop and really read it, because you already know what it says, avoid the tendency to skim it) before it transitions.

 

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MM
Michael Miller
Mar 13, 2017

Yea that is a good point.  The last couple of shows I had some signs made up that say "Access Control" "LPR Cameras" "Intercom Systems"...   We then mount them above and below are monitors so when people walk by they can read what we have to offer. we have about 10 different signs which we can switch out depending on who is at the show and what we are displaying. 

 

I would also recommend you do a little research about the other vendors at the show beforehand. If you find out there are 5 other security companies and they are all Milestone/Dahua dealers I would showcase another product so you can stand out from the other booths. 

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Mar 13, 2017

I didn't plan on audio due to crowd noise.

 

But if I plan on putting it on a USB I probably should have somebody do a voice over...

UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Mar 14, 2017

Show analytics not a ptz tour. Have your tv connected to a camera showing the people in their walking path. People tend to be more interested in themselves than a marketing video and I have found that to be the best way to pull in traffic. Hook up a 4K bullet or something on a 4K monitor and it will speak for itself.

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U
Undisclosed #2
Mar 14, 2017

I think this is a really good point - if analytics is within your potential customers budget.

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Avatar
Carter Maslan
Mar 20, 2017
Camio

Undisclosed Integrator #1 - Camio will sponsor you if a) smart search and alerts are part of your demos (FD I'm CEO of Camio), and b) you'll help us build a library of re-usable, real-world demos. Please contact me.

LL
Levi Liner
Mar 20, 2017

I have gotten distributors to donate prizes. I Usually give one or two as a door prize to whoever is running the show, and keep one prize local to the booth, drop card in box to win some type of prize, etc. Something related to what you are showing. (Camera?) Keep it simple, but a big screen and camera tracking, counting, etc all seem to get people to stop a second and look. We put a pole light together with WiFi, solar, and camera and put it across from our booth one year. Something as stupid as thermal camera on a screen would get people to stop as well and play. Many visitors we have gotten were on break, and had limited time. So something to pull in, get a card, see if they are a lead, and pass info for later contact. Usb sticks with info are good. Bowls of candy. Ultimately though the time and money spent ended up not worth it for the very little traffic at the show we were going too. Track your costs, visitors, and real leads, to make sure it makes sense to continue going to these.

U
Undisclosed #4
May 02, 2017

Have a screen automatically pop up bogus driver license numbers when people walk by. I am sure they will stop and ask or look around at the person next to them.

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