What's new at the IB Expo?

From the pages of In Business magazine.

The calendar has turned to October, and that means it is IB Expo time once again! Now in its fourth year, the In Business Expo & Conference (scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the Alliant Energy Center) is sure to be an even bigger and better event than ever before. Our goal each year is to figure out a way to top the great work we did the previous year and continue to build an exceptional all-day business event that has something (or, more likely, many things) that will appeal to the vast majority of business professionals in the region.

I encourage you to take a long look at the Expo Guide that’s included with this issue of In Business. The guide will give you much more detail on the entire day’s events. I especially want to call attention to a few new things you can do at at this year’s event:

1. Build your personal brand at the keynote presentation with marketing expert and StoryBranding author Jim Signorelli. According to Signorelli, “If you have a birth certificate, you are a brand.” This energetic keynote presentation will give you a firm understanding of how to create an authentic brand for yourself that isn’t just a typical “manufactured” elevator speech. Attending the keynote will also be a great way to kick off the expo, as you’ll immediately be able to put your personal brand into action as you meet new people throughout the day on the expo floor.  
2. Visit the new Corporate Gifts Pavilion on the expo floor. With the holiday season just around the corner, this special exhibitor zone will give you all kinds of new gift ideas for your employees or clients. You’ll also want to check out the Corporate Gifts flier inside the expo bag for a list of exclusive discounts available only to those who visit the expo.
3. Discover ways to connect with In Business and win valuable prizes while experiencing augmented reality (AR). AR is a new technology that is revolutionizing the marketing world. It allows you to scan static images with your smartphone and watch those images come to life with video features or animations. Walk the expo floor to find 10 cover images from past IB issues. Each scanned image will provide information on how to connect with IB and reveal an answer to a crossword puzzle in the expo program. If you find all 10 images and finish the puzzle, you can enter it into a prize drawing.

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These are just a few of the many reasons why you’ll want to be sure to block off the entire day of Wednesday, Oct. 22, and join us at our fourth annual In Business Expo & Conference. We are once again expecting more than 120 exhibitors and well over 1,300 attendees on the expo floor.  

In addition to exploring the Expo Guide poly-bagged with this issue, we strongly encourage you to preregister for the expo at MadisonBusinessExpo.com by Wednesday, Oct. 15. You’ll pay a nominal fee to attend the keynote breakfast and CFO Awards lunch (both include hot meals), but the rest of this mega-event is free to attend. I hope to see you all on Oct. 22!

Click here to sign up for the free IB ezine — your twice-weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices, and the names you need to know. If you are not already a subscriber to In Business magazine, be sure to sign up for our monthly print edition here.