I learned about the Techpoint Startup Expo event from a colleague while he was combing the calendars for upcoming events and discovered it had clashed with the same date I had published to host an Atlassian Community Event.
I’ve attended a couple of Tech Expo before but this was unique considering the fact that is the first time I was attending one by Techpoint in person and also going along with my team as an Exhibitor and not a regular attendee. This also marked the 2nd biggest Techpoint Event I have participated in.
I was looking forward to meeting a lot of Startups and companies strutting their stuff, and catching up with people in the tech ecosystem, I was expecting to meet some familiar faces who are known and popular in the world of tech and of course, see what others are doing in the world of tech.
Considering the fact that this was the first event my Team would be going for in such a manner I thought of ways to make our presence felt and attract attendees to come and check us out at our exhibition stand. We put our heads together and agreed on certain things to be available in terms of swags. Personally, I tried doing a screen recording of our Plugins so it could be displayed in action, unfortunately, the files would not play after recording, I was unable to fix this but hopefully, I will sort this out for further opportunities.
On D-day going to the event was not a hassle at all as I moved from the lodge to the event venue alongside my teammates. The rains did threaten and actually fell but I was fairly comfortable in a private motor so it was pretty straight and seamless en route to the event venue.
Arriving at the venue, I was not disappointed, I expected good work to be done in terms of organization, and with my previous knowledge of Techpoint, I was not surprised by what I saw, the organization was good with our stand already set up without the need for us to follow up, where I can see an improvement is in the method used in accrediting attendees and exhibitors at the event, this can be improved upon to prevent people trying to queue up and receive their name tags.
Overall, it was a positive experience at the event, meeting other start-ups and fellow tech geeks, seeing a couple of people I have known online but never met in person, had the chance also to meet people whom I had not seen in years. I really did not have a chance to spend more than 5 minutes at the main bowl as I was busy at our stand and I moved to as many exhibitions stands as possible, hearing what startups were doing in terms of products offered and services rendered, at the same time I also used the opportunity to showcase Alluvium driving Atlassian Engineering Services to clients.
For sure I had sore feet because I walked a lot that day, I practically covered every line and of course, I was also drained from talking about Alluvium and explaining to people who were not so familiar with Atlassian products and telling how Atlassian tools can enhance their business and of course Alluviums there to support them all the way.
Reflecting on the event, it went well without a doubt I would say. I was also exposed to a lot of Startups building great products. One thing I could take away from it is that the Tech Eco System is indeed large and there is enough room for everyone to thrive. It also shows me that our services are needed across the board and no Startups really is an island or has it all to thrive, from engagement and involvement I also learned that the skill of affecting marketing or sales is underrated and everyone who identifies with a startup or product should be well vast in the idea or product and be willing and able to sell to investors, partners, customers because without patronage no start would survive.
Looking back I can say I am proud and happy with the efforts I put in during the event. I went to several stands but I couldn’t go to each exhibitor stand one by one, that is my goal at another opportunity, to practically visit each stand. Next time I will discuss with my Team to be more effective by designating certain areas to select people to cover to ensure that we practically cover all stands. I will also engage more with individuals and not just with the stands, I noticed that I failed to build individual connections because I was busy moving across the stands.
I am really thankful to the Management of Alluvium for sponsoring the trip and basically everything I needed regarding the event. I also appreciate the efforts of my Team members for the various roles everyone played, indeed we could not have done much if there was no cooperation and effort from all Team members. Kudos to all Alluvians.
Finally, Techpoint Startup Ekpo was indeed a success and a good opportunity to put Alluvium out there on the lips of people. Our service and product offerings might not be so popular here for now, but this gives us the perfect opportunity to sell, market and tell the world about Alluvium, growth indeed is in progress and if Alluvium does not blow her trumpet, no one else would do it for her.