Wind Power Trade Show–A lesson for ED Pros, Part 1
While I was on my way to an appointment this morning, I was surprised when I noticed a booth for McCallum Sweeney Consulting. For those of you not in economic development, MSC is probably one of best site selection consultants in our industry. Businesses hire firms like MSC to help them make site selection decisions.
Like any industry, some are excellent and highly professional (like MSC), some are okay, and some are struggling to stay one step ahead of the authorities. As I have already mentioned, MSC is definitely one of the top half dozen or so site selection firms.
Not only did they have a booth, but Ed McCallum was staffing it. So I stopped to chat. I told Ed I was surprised to see them there. We talked about the growth they have seen in the wind industry and how they have helped to site three of the most recent major announcements.
Then he told me that this show had been a great success for them. He was sure that they were going to pick up several projects out of it, mostly international.
At this point, we had to cut short our conversation because a real client walked up. However, it caused me to begin to question my own thoughts on trade shows. Was this show itself different or was MSC working it in a unique way? Were there some take-aways for me and other like-minded ED Pros?
