"As

an exhibitor, the

main benefi t

to signing up at the show is booth placement. It's having a choice to reserve a spot before everybody else does. So, for us, that was the main draw of doing our re-sign onsite.

Sarah Beene, Marketing Communications Mgr.

Did Interop pitch you to sign up early for next year?

Selberg: They came around on that last day. We didn't feel we had enough traffi c to get enough quality leads to make a decision at that point. Because of the lower numbers, we decided we needed to come back and work these leads to see if we get the return necessary to warrant a return trip. I think that if we had had steady streams of traffi c, great conversations, and a really good feeling walking away from it, we might have been more inclined to, but we really need to evaluate everything. With the economy the way it is, all our budgets are extremely tight right now and everything has to produce a return. Johnson: ...I don't handle that, but I know they did pitch it. We verbally said we were looking at it. Beene: They didn't really at all. As an exhibitor, the

main benefi t

to signing up at the show is booth placement. It's having a choice to reserve a spot before everybody else does. So, for us, that was the main draw of doing our re-sign onsite.

Network Hardware Resale 22 PowerSourceOnline.com | June 2008

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Regarding cost vs. return on investment, do you feel Interop was worth the expense this year?

Selberg: That's another thing - not just on INTEROP's side, but on our own side. You set up a booth and you have a budget in place, but costs creep up as you're looking at creativity and development. Come show time, did we factor in the shipping costs back and forth, the assembly costs, and all of the little things that creep up at the show? The guy who comes out to tape down your electrical cord, your Internet connection, things like that tend to add up. You don't necessarily factor them in. It's $200 here, $300 there, and by the time it's all said and done, you've spent three grand on those costs, in addition to the booth. The way that costs tend to creep [up] on something like this, my gut is that it's going to be a couple years before we see a return. I think that, in a year's time, we probably won't have a positive return. Johnson: I think it goes from year to year. Some years it does pay itself off, and other years, you question whether it does or not. I wouldn't say that every single year we feel we've gotten everything out of it, but when you're Network Hardware Resale's exhibit space advertising, sometimes it's hard to tell. It's a promotion, and sometimes you're not sure where the leads come from on a day-to-day basis. You're hoping that the show does provide that kind of support. Beene: Certainly Interop is a premier event from a cost standpoint. I feel that, from a return on investment standpoint, we do get the benefi t of doing that event. It's been a strong event for us for a number of years.

Will you exhibit next year?

Selberg: Right now, I kind of doubt it. That may change if we look at our leads and see that we should go again. Johnson: We are still evaluating that decision. We haven't committed one way or the other. Beene: Yes.

Do you feel that the types of people and businesses in attendance were what Interop advertised?

Selberg: In talking to people at the booths across from us - people who have been at every Interop show, both Vegas and New York - and some of our partner/competitors who were in other

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