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Boost booth traffic with a secret weapon: coffee! Learn how a simple brew can transform your trade show experience. Dive in now. #TradeShowBoost #CoffeeMagic #EngageAndBrew

Boost booth traffic with a secret weapon: coffee! Learn how a simple brew can transform your trade show experience. Dive in now. #TradeShowBoost #CoffeeMagic #EngageAndBrew

Bartenders aren’t there to make you happy. 😮 They can, at best, support the conditions of your happiness. Provide a good environment, give good service, make a delicious drink. As bartenders, we do have certain tools in our toolkit. Alcohol is one of them. Alcohol makes us feel a certain way. It relaxes us initially, perhaps making us feel more sociable. There are other things that can do that, too. Caffeine, cannabis, certain herbs. Those are called functional ingredients and many have been used for thousands of years. They’ve become part of non-alcoholic beverages. Think of them as more tools. But get this: if the point is to feel good, then the only thing capable of doing that is you. Happiness is a long term commitment. It isn’t an ingredient or a drink. As Maria Bastasch said this morning when we were discussing, there are entire religions dedicated to happiness and they still don’t always get people there. The point is: bartenders can create the conditions of happiness and we should have more than one tool. But, ultimately, happiness is each person’s responsibility. Today I get to speak about this and more at the United States Bartenders' Guild Diamond Jubilee with two of my favorite people, Maria Bastasch and Lynnette Marrero. Sponsored by the yummy Aplós. If you’re in town, check it out. A Better Buzz: How to Make Great Non-alcoholic Cocktails with Functional Ingredients presented by Derek Brown, Maria Bastasch, and Lynnette Marrero (Sponsored by Aplos) https://lnkd.in/ge7ybTkb #mindfuldrinking #alcoholfree #nonalcoholic #boozefree #alcoholfreelife #mocktails #nonalcoholicdrink #noalcohol #zeroproof #mindfulness #wellness #functionalingredients #usbg

There’s event follow-up and then there’s *creative* event follow-up. This post (and my next two, as well!) will focus on event follow-up because it’s such an area of opportunity for anyone who plans events. A quick “thanks for coming, [FIRST.NAME]! Want to talk to sales?” email is just not the way people want to be treated anymore. So here’s a more creative way to follow up if you’ve got a little bit of budget: At the beginning of an event, have everyone introduce themself with an icebreaker question. In your follow-up, send them something related to what they mentioned. For example, if you’re hosting a wine tasting and ask everyone to share their name, company, and favorite type of wine, follow up by mailing prospects their favorite wine. It shows you a) listened, and b) care about them. Cheers to better follow-up! 🥂 #eventplanning #eventfollowup #fieldmarketing

Boost booth traffic with a secret weapon: coffee! Learn how a simple brew can transform your trade show experience. Dive in now. #TradeShowBoost #CoffeeMagic #EngageAndBrew

Some people say that fairs - especially wine fairs - are a concept of the past. I don´t think so: fairs will be necessary also in the future. First of all because they bring together a huge amount of wine producers from many countries and this has a value. The wine fair offers a platform where many traders, buyers, but also sommeliers, wine experts, restaurant owners, etc etc have the possibility to develop their knowledge, discover new wines and can meet the producers: there is no other place. And, if you are starting a wine business there is no better way to learn ore about wine than to visit a fair. #Prowein is the most important fair in Europe for this aspect. It is good to notice that Prowein is adapting the size and the concept of the fair to new developments. It had become too large. And let´s hope that the trains and transport companies will not strike again next year (like they did in March 2024!)! #fair #prowein #winefair #concept #paulbalke

Looking forward to seeing old friends and colleagues in #Atlanta for ICSC this week! In between your deal making there are going to be some great content sessions for participants to learn the latest as to who is growing, shrinking, changing and evolving… Retail is always on the move and it moves faster now than ever. So make the most of your ICSC experience; work your current pipelines with meetings and coveted evening socializing time, but don’t forget to check out a few sessions to start thinking about tomorrow’s pipeline. On Tuesday I am proud to emcee the State of the States session between 2 PM and 5 PM at the Show Floor Theater, where experts from every state in the Southeast will share the latest and greatest—attend and learn of the brands that may need space in your locality soon. And for those of you looking bigger term, please join me Wednesday morning at 11:10 for me sharing my comprehensive studies of what to expect from #genz; what the data suggests about the brands and concepts that will thrive as they edge out millennials into the prime consumer years ahead. But there are dozens of other fantastic topics to explore; don’t overlook the Research Lightning Wednesday morning (or their data integration session on Tuesday), the Hybridization of Lifestyles and Real Estate Sectors and Beyond Demographics sessions Tuesday are also going to be chock full of critical information for professionals to understand what is coming down the retail escalator. If you have some downtime between meetings, don’t forget these valuable sessions. They could provide you with the light bulb moments that might mean the difference between being ahead or behind of the curve in the coming years. See y’all in Atlanta!

Day 15/30 of my series of retail, social media, business and much more! I think REFY is one of the coolest brands right now. Started when founder, Jess Hunt, had a famous five step eyebrow routine to get her signature fluffy brows (a huge trend), and her friend & makeup artist (Jenna Meek) noticed a product development opportunity for a functional product, they have since killed it with incredible social media campaigns and content, amazing activations (like the one below) and I believe they have disrupted the beauty market in a very impressive way. From my consumer/follower perspective, Jess owned the fluffy brow trend and I saw it as part of her personal brand even as the trend died down and so when I saw her launch their famous brow sculpt, it made so much sense. It’s one of my absolute favourite things to see in business when someone’s authenticity and unique personal brand allows them to create an opportunity and have it go beyond them - as REFY has done with its worldwide success. I think the brand really understands social media as they are consistently bringing out exciting campaigns, pop ups, and unique activations, which is important in the beauty industry where hype phases can die out quickly. And of course after the huge success of what I think is their hero product (the brow sculpt), they are expanding into other beauty product categories like lips and face, which is in line with their focus on functional, natural and clean makeup. If you haven’t already heard of them, they’re one to watch for sure. (Also last point because I could talk all day and I’m actually studying them for some coursework right now, but their retail partnerships are very interesting as 3 weeks into launching Sephora picked them up so they’ve been stocked in the US and UK since very early on. Very impressive and from my retail knowledge, a great move to bring that brand awareness and cement their presence as a great brand in the beauty space) Thanks for sharing Charlotte Geoghegan! #refybeauty #refy #socialmedia #brandexperience

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Do you have a favorite festival or event food? What is a unique regional eat at your local state fair or agricultural event? I'm a foodie in general, but there is something special about the strange concoctions that people create for their regional festivals and events. One of my favorite things is the New Foods announcement for the State Fair of Texas. The Dim Sum burritos and Burnt Ends Pizza are certainly on my list this year. The best part about these intriguing eats is the buzz it generates. There is always a ton of media attention from the initial announcement and even more social chatter from people as they eat. (Tons of UGC!) Events can maximize the value by encouraging UGC creation by adding hashtags and social handles to signage, especially near new and popular food vendors. Capture and use that content on event channels to drive attendee traffic to more remote parts of the event. #texas #texasevents #statefair #festivals #tfea