How to Make the Most of NAB Show Express (clue: it’s all in the metadata)

If you were planning to exhibit at NAB and have been scratching your head over how to connect with new prospects for your business, this article encapsulates how to make the most of the new virtual event, NAB Show Express, which takes place online, on 13 and 14th of May 2020.

NAB Show Express has been put together in just over two months, following the cancellation of NAB Show in Las Vegas, in March.

Although specifics have come out rather late, it looks like NAB has pulled off a robust platform that both attendees and exhibitors should put to work for them immediately.

Until last week, the NAB Show Express website offered a mere outline of what was to take place during the event itself. The first content came online last week, and the first webinar for exhibitors was held as well. Just under 20% of exhibitors took part. This is the link to watch it. It’s only 30 minutes long, but if you don´t have the bandwidth read on for the essentials of what exhibitors need to do right now.

NAB Show Express – Search and Be Found

In a nutshell, it boils down to a metadata game - with exhibitors having to add in their products and company details with keywords and categories, that make sense in the context of the search and recommendation features of the new platform. In a way this is no surprise, but given the industry’s notorious disregard for metadata, I urge you to give some thought to the keywords and categories you´ll use to be found!

What’s interesting about the NAB Show Express Solutions Marketplace, which was created in partnership with the event and conference management software provider, Map Your Show, is the built-in search and recommendation feature. When registered attendees “favorite” a company to their profile, similar companies are recommended.

Company information, announcements and demos are bound together in the search, recommendation and discovery platform. In order to make the most of it, you should fill in your exhibitor profile now if you have not already done so. There are also additional features to enhance your presence at no additional cost.

The idea behind the Solutions Marketplace is to help exhibitors market their products to the broadcast industry and connect directly with potential buyers. The information that was held in an exhibitor’s previous company profile for the 2020 NAB Show will be transferred automatically. But many profiles have still not been updated with language such as “stop by our booth” and “come join us for a beer”.

Our top tips for making the most of the new NAB Show Express Solutions Marketplace are:

1)    Register, Login, and Explore. For exhibitors and attendees, register at NAB Show Express and log in (when re-visiting the page, a “login” button is not evident, so just click “register” again to access the login page.

2)    Attendees should complete their profile and explore all the ways they can connect with exhibitors. Attendees can browse to add their favorite exhibitors to their profile, and directly contact them. Besides accessing content offered by NAB, they can save information that has been provided by exhibitors to their profiles – that is – if the exhibitor has provided it! They will also be offered recommendations, based on similarities to companies they previously selected.

3)    Exhibitors should make full use of the new features. The idea is that attendees will be able to find you - but that will obviously be limited if you have very little info in there. They should complete their profile and give some thought to the most appropriate categories and keywords that apply to their business.

Every exhibitor gets a complimentary basic listing which gives them access to several new virtual features. The free listing option includes one of each of the following: new product listing, virtual business cards, Express specials (promotions, discounts or giveaways), virtual exhibitor events, plus 10 uploads your sales collateral (such as press releases brochures, white papers, videos and more). Obviously, there are higher tiers of paid options. The one that seems most interesting is the ability to send 500 “invitations” which you can select by accessing the attendees list. The other interesting option is full sponsorship of a “category” or “keyword” - it’s feeling very Google-like inside NAB Show Express!

4)    Promote your Virtual Events

Obviously many companies have already shifted to offering virtual events as a way to mitigate the loss of our physical ones. It’s important to publicize them well to reach the greatest audience possible. It’s one thing to post them on LinkedIn, but how big is your network? Not everybody sees everything you post. If you’re using ads, how are you targeting your prospects (again, down to metadata). If you are not using ads, how can you be sure that the prospects you are trying to reach are going to see the content you’re posting?

Besides making full use of the features provided by NAB Show Express, Broadcast Projects has two options that you can also consider.

First is the free TV Industry Webinar Hub where we are aggregating all the TV industry webinars in a single location. Help us to help you and add your event now. As well you can browse all the webinars .

5)    Market Outreach Support

Second is to consider some additional support. Broadcast Projects offers a range of standard and bespoke options for small to mid-sized TV technology companies who do not have the luxury of big PR budgets or large teams. This is especially relevant to those companies who were guest exhibitors on the big stands (like AWS, IABM, etc). Unfortunately, NAB Solutions Marketplace offers no way to be listed as a sub-exhibitor – which is a real shame and we hope they will work towards finding a way to support these companies in future iterations  of the platform. Broadcast Projects can help you get connected though market outreach services and our digital media partnerships with both NAB and IBC. Don’t hesitate to set up a date for a no-obligation chat right here.

What about the rest of NAB Show Express?

NAB Show Express offers three educational channels, on-demand content and the Solutions Marketplace. The online event will offer 24-hour access to three channels of premium content curated and customizable for the global media and entertainment community.

This content will also be available on-demand, in addition to all the other video content that can be connected to an exhibitor’s profile, plus all the separate on-demand content options being made available through the platform.

You can expect most of the interaction to take place on the actual show dates. Yet all this content, and the platform itself, will remain online indefinitely. There are certainly enough features built in to keep you busy for many months to come. Indeed, NAB itself may be transitioning even further as the world gets to grips with the new normal.

Chris Brown, EVP Conventions & Business Operations, NAB, told us last week, “We are focusing on developing our digital capabilities and platforms to better engage with our show community year-round. We see live and digital as great complements to one another and envision a combination of live, virtual and hybrid that will improve our ability to serve the full gamut of the media and entertainment sector. That said, there is no substitute for the in-person experience that live trade shows offer, and our main focus remains producing state-of-the-art conventions that provide the ultimate value proposition for our attendees and exhibitors. NAB Show is perpetually evolving as the industry evolves, and we are committed to serving our community through this crisis and beyond.”

See you online and stay tuned!