Trade Shows and Your Laser Engraving Business

In This Episode we will cover Tradeshow's and why I think they are an important part of growing your laser engraving business! I'll share my thoughts on why you should be going to tradeshows to learn and grow, and what its like to attend the APA show each year in Las Vegas, don't forget to check my link for all the best upcoming shows this year! LINKS BELOW
✅Private 1 on 1 Consulting With Michael Laser Engraving 911
sonomalasereng...
🍩Get in touch with the Awards and Personalization Association (APA)
APA Show (personalizatio...)
APA Show Education (personalizatio...)
😎Upcoming Laser Engraving Tradeshows 2024
Next Level Laser Conference: / nextlevellaserconference
FABTECH 2024: www.fabtechexp...
My Favorite Co2 Lasers:
Epilog: www.epiloglase...
✅My Favorite Laser Engraving Blanks Suppliers
🚨🚨Johnson Plastics Plus: www.jpplus.com...
15% OFF Coupon Code: ID5-4NB
Other Suppliers:
JDS: browse.jdsindu...
Gemini: geminimade.com...
Makerflo Crafts: makerflocrafts...?sca_ref=3501624.VbgFv769fb
SFX Laser Engraving Machine Fiber and Co2: sfxlasertech.c...
Algo Laser Diode Laser: algolaser.com/...
Filtrabox Fume Extractors: filtrabox.com/...
Other Cool Folks To Follow:
✔Doug Green Channel/ Corel Tips and Tricks
/ @douggreenaustin
✔Sumita Patel (Home Bound Decor)
/ homeboundcustomdecor
✔Trevor Maker (MakerExperiment)
/ @makerexperiment
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:39 A Little History on the APA Show
1:19 Michael's Opinion on the Most Valuable Part of Trade Shows
2:02 Doug Green's Class at the APA
2:35 Manufacturers of Laser Engraving Blanks
4:20 Laser Engraving Equipment and Manufacturers
5:26 Other Types of Equipment Other than Laser Engraving
6:18 Social Media Panel (Featuring Michael!)
6:56 Final Thoughts and Outro

[@dian3145]

Thanks for the tour and the links! I like Trevor, his style is different, but his knowledge is excellent.

[@LaserEngraving911]

You bet!

[@marniharris3421]

Great to meet you Michael. I've been following you for awhile and appreciate the info you share and your expertise. I did order that air compressor you mentioned to me. It's been working great! Thanks again for all your knowledge and sharing.

[@LaserEngraving911]

Awesome, thank you! glad to hear that!!

[@namegoeshere6923]

Love this video

[@dishatechno7793]

Congrats sir nice

[@LaserEngraving911]

Thanks

[@jamesshelton1124]

I was out there to see two vendors this year. The amount of vendors was half of what there was before both the vendors that I talk to have been going there for many many years and they’re both saying that after this year, they may not return because they believe, the APA in Vegas is dying on top of that where they’re there for a solid week and the cheapest rooms they can get $180 a night because whoever scheduled it scheduled at the same time of the Super Bowl they just can’t afford those kind of prices for seven nights. As far as the education part goes, I agree 100% with you. It’s great stuff I’ve been going there for three years. I’ve learned several things every year, but even for me where abuse we had to have help navigating around I could navigate it myself this year without running into anybody. The reason I say navigate myself without running into anybody is visually impaired. Some of the vendors that I was looking for this year we’re not even there. Outside of the education, the rest of it really just didn’t live up to the hype of the program.

[@LaserEngraving911]

Thanks for sharing your take and experience.

[@norby12]

Trade shows are usually booked 5 years in advance. As for during the Super Bowl, this show was booked before the Super Bowl was even awarded to Las Vegas. I have been going to this show every year since 1995. Yes the show is getting smaller every year but the APA is working to adjust to be more relevant to the Personalization business market. Don’t give up on them yet

[@doughboylsog]

I have a question maybe you can answer it I make leather knife sheaths and holsters I would like to use my S1 to do so my issue is how do I turn my hand drawn sketches into a actual size vector

[@LaserEngraving911]

That’s a great question you could either use Lightburn with the curvature tool to trace over your drawings and make the lines smoother. I prefer to use Adobe illustrator when I do traces of sketches so I can get nice smooth even lines.

[@onjofilms]

Not only that, but when it's at Vegas, you can gamble and make LOTS of CASH, oh yeah.

[@LaserEngraving911]

🤣 shhhhhhhh

[@GeorgeGraves]

How long have you been doing this?

[@LaserEngraving911]

Laser Engraving? 10+ years, making videos on KZbin 3 years 🤣