Expo, Expo, Read All About It
What to pack, what I saw, and midweek reads
Hi friends,
I’m writing from my flight home to New York with a recap of my first Expo, which I was fortunate enough to attend with my team at Isetta (we had a bunch of clients there and seeing them shine and spending time together was a huge highlight). Expo West is the superbowl Eras Tour of CPG trade shows and it brings together everyone from celebrities to founders to supply chain specialists to influencers to publicists (hi!) and more. Delaney even made Expo West friendship bracelets (mine said spicy) which cemented the Eras tour vibe. At least two Expo West attendees were there less than a week after the Oscars (Simu Liu and Vanessa Hudgens). It’s wild. I spent a lot of time preparing for Expo and packed fairly well, though it was hard to close my suitcase on the way home. I wanted to share my tips and tricks and a few trends/themes I noticed. If you found this post valuable, please share it with a food obsessed friend :)
Research, research, research
The Expo West website has a huge list of the brands that will be there. It’s in alphabetical order and takes a lot of time to scroll through (the search function isn’t great). I scrolled through all the brands attending two or three times and noted ones I wanted to visit along with their visit in a note (the notes app is the best app). Service can be a little spotty in a huge crowd so having notes on your phone is a helpful safeguard. Make sure you note the booth numbers as well as those will let you know what hall the booth is in (there are many halls and walking between them takes time).
I really didn’t grasp how crowded Expo West would be, especially on Wednesday when only one hall was open (I heard between 60,000 and 80,000 people were there). I pictured bopping from one booth to another to visit all of the spots on my list. That’s not really possible in the more crowded areas—you have to walk through each row and follow the flow of traffic. In a lot of ways, that’s a good thing as you get to discover brands that weren’t on your radar, but it does add extra time. Surrender to the flow and look around. To stay in touch while at Expo, set up group texts with coworkers, clients, and friends. It’s direct and easy.
Three random tips
If you find a bathroom, use it! They’re at the edges of the halls and you might as well. If you don’t need to, take it as a sign to drink more water (which can be hard to find).
The booths from the bigger companies in Hall A really invest in their floors, which are very supportive after a long day on your feet. If you need a little break, take a lap there or look for a booth with chairs for a quick reset. You can also exit the center and sit on a bench outside in the sun (lots of brands have food trucks outside so it still is very much part of the Expo). Breaks are important!
Legs. Up. The. Wall. is a lifesaver after a long day. Do it, do it, do it.
Find your people
Some people at Expo are there to exhibit of course and will spend most of their time at a booth, which has its advantages (everyone comes to you). Others are there primarily to take meetings or make content (I saw lots of tiny mics and Expo West hauls on my FYP) and many go to walk the floor and meet other people who are equally CPG obsessed. I thought because of the size that meeting up with people would be hard but wound up running into people throughout the week, including on our flight to LA (hi, Nate! Check out his newsletter). Angela and I practiced the buddy system, which was really efficient (and fun)—we both had notes of booths to visit and were committed to being thorough and seeing as much as we could at our first Expo. In Pre-Expo coverage, I noticed lots of people saying “If you see me, please say hi” (I probably said this) and it’s true, you really should. Thanks to the badges people wear, everyone has their name and role visible and it’s totally kosher to admit you know who someone is and quickly introduce yourself. It was really cool to meet people IRL that I’ve known online for a long time. Putting faces to names is priceless and I truly love meeting people, it was the highlight of the whole experience.
Look for events
There are so many events around Expo from panels to happy hours to parties. A lot of the happy hours are at booths and I saw a bunch of them on LinkedIn and Instagram in the weeks before Expo (add them to your notes app). They’re a way for brands to team up with complementary brands and founders (and often include brands that are not at Expo) to sample and meet people. Some are NA, like Ghia’s (client) with Graza, Aura Bora, and Fishwife, and some are boozy. They can be crowded but they’re a great opportunity to run into people and have more in depth conversations. Also if you’re going off campus for a happy hour or event, have a meeting place outside of the convention center and call an Uber from there—a hotel lobby works.
Pack your bags & prep
This is obviously a personal choice but I think a pre-Expo manicure is a must. You’ll be taking lots of food pictures and a manicure makes me feel a little more put together, even in a windowless convention center.
In terms of outfits, pants and a short sleeve shirt of some kind is the move with sneakers (really comfy ones). The convention center can get pretty warm with all the people and I brought a jacket one day since it was windier. I carried a tote bag from Abbode that Oset got me (customized with This Needs Hot Sauce) for all my samples and put my trusty Uniqlo bag with all the essentials inside the tote for organization. The tote got heavy as I collected samples, but overall I was happy with this system.
What’s in my bag:
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