NY EXPO 2012 Review

Posted By Brie Austin In Category: Business , Events , Reviews

The New York Xpo for Business opened today at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The exhibit booths offered a wide range of products and services, while in the seminar rooms were potent sessions with lots of good take-away knowledge. The XPO this year was extended for a second day, so you can still attend on Thursday May 3rd from 9am to 5pm. A networking after-party occurs at 6pm.

This year seemed to be a smaller-than expected crowd; the $25 entry fee seemed to dissuade many of the casual browsers that packed the hall last year. And though some of the exhibitors were less than enthused, it turned out to be a value-add for attendees that did show up: there was room to move about without feeling cramped, and easy face-time with exhibitors — to not only learn about available products and services, but also to get information relating directly to an attendees specific needs.

There were more exhibitors than I can list in this article, so below I will list some of them — and the services they provide – (see bottom of article; some outside events beginning tomorrow), and will post other articles during the next week … including one about the coolest new product launch of the show! Do you have an iPad?  Well, check my next article because you won’t want to miss this!

In the seminar rooms, there were thirty-three  topics presented; in the areas of advertising, sales, marketing, business

Pay Anywhere Booth

ownership, business development,  and best practices. “The Power of Social Media: Best Practices to Drive Sales & Boost Lead Generation” featured three panelists: Ric Dragon (president of DragonSearch), Basil C. Puglisi, MBA (Executive Director of Digital Brand Marketing Education & Interactives (dbmei.org), and Mardy Sitzer (President of Bumblebee Design & Marketing LLC), with author/columnist/commentator Ellis Henican serving as moderator.  It was an interactive session centered on the use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogs, and the different uses and tools available for each, with a robust Q & A.  The moderator did a terrific job at extracting the questions most attendees were pondering, and corralling the panelists to provide short and concise answers with value.

In another room was “The 30-Minute Marketing Plan — How To Market Your Company in the New Economy,”  presented with excellence by Eric Keiles, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Square 2, and author of the book “Reality Marketing Revolution.” He provided an easy-to-understand strategy to develop and outline your goals — and methods to achieve them –, with practical examples through case studies.

The quality of these and other seminars were stellar and useful.

The Applegate Group organized the 24-hour Small Biz Makeover Contest worth $20,000. Allie Sports Bar won, and Christine Procaro explained that Allie would receive services from fourteen experts in their respective fields — i’d say Allie’s pretty happy that she spent the $25 entry fee!

Check upcoming articles to watch the makeover documented on video.

If you’re thinking of starting a business, or growing an existing one, the seminars alone are worth the XPO price of entry ($25.00),and I highly recommend that you attend the last day, May 3rd.

As I noted above, during the next week I will be providing a list of products and services that were represented at the XPO, including girl-power groups, telecommunications, insurance, turn-key IT solutions, Cloud services, and more. But to get you started, find below some of the government services and nonprofit organizations.

If you have questions. comments or suggestions, please post them below, or Facebook, Google + , Twitter or my NY Start Up Business column at Examiner.

AT THE SHOW 

Renaissance Economic Development Corporation (212-964-6022) offers FREE professional one-on-one accounting, legal and insurance counseling for small businesses, as well business loads up to $100,000.

Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (www.umez.org) created BRISC (Business Resource & Investment Service Center) to offer low-interest startup and/or expansion loans from $50,000 – $100,000 to entrepreneurs in upper manhattan.

SCORE (www.newyorkcity.score.org), sponsored by the Small Business Association, offers FREE advice and counseling by volunteer professionals — in person, or through a new initiative with SIBL (Science, Industry and Business Library) via Skype, and also hosts a series of  workshops (for a fee).

Empire State Development offers the Small Business Resource Center, which has downloadable Start-up resources at nyfirst.ny.gov, and a host of workshops,  the first of which begin in Long Island May 3rd, and other NY boroughs from July – August (see list and contacts at the bottom of this article.

WIBO (Workshop in Business Opportunities www.wibo.org) offers a 16-week workshop [in nine sites in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Harlem, Yonkers and Manhattan] that takes you through the full cycle of how to build and grow a profitable business.

Lawline (www.lawline.com/boxseries) offers single courses ($19) to a multiple packaged series ($49) dealing with all legal aspects of settingup, running and selling of a business.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Small Busienss Outreach Inititive (RSVP Required)

May 3rd (8:30 am) Western Suffolk BOCES Conference Center Wheatley Hts, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-Suffolk@exec.ny.gov

May 3rd (6:00 pm) Hofstra University. 1000 Fulton Ave, Hempstead, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-Nassau@exec.ny.gov

July 11 (8:30 am) Pace University Schimmel Center for Arts/ Multi-purpose Room 3 Spruce St.
smallbusinessRSVP-Manhattan@exec.ny.gov

July 11 (6:30 pm) Hutch Metro Center 1200 Waters Place Bronx, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-Brooklyn@exec.ny.gov

August 7 (8:30 am) Brooklyn College 2900 BEdford Ave, Brooklyn, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-Brooklyn@exec.ny.gov

August 7 (6:30 pm) City College of NY 160 Convent Ave, New Yok, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-Manhattan@exec.ny.gov

August 8 (6:30 pm) JCC of Staten Island, 1466 Manor Rd. Staten Island, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-StatenIsland@exec.ny.gov

August 22 (8:30 am) Flushing YMCA 138-46 Northern Blvd. Flushing, NY
smallbusinessRSVP-Queens@exec.ny.gov

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About Brie Austin

Co-author of I'd Do It Again, he is a columnist/reporter for a variety of magazines in the areas of music, lifestyle, nightlife, travel and business. He also writes business documents and creates copy for websites.

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