I fondly remember circa 2018 (when I first debuted the Know before you go episode) I was barely at Episode 112, and I interviewed Andy Klump for the first time in my hotel room at the Hilton Anaheim!  Here we are 4 yrs and >400 episodes later, and this Pre-conference episode feels as important as ever!

Each year, I try to curate the collective wisdom of 5 of my favorite industry thought-leaders (who somehow carve out time before the show to spend 10min with me) and deliver it to you as a sampling of the how/when/why/where and what to do leading up to, during and AFTER the show!

In today’s episode:

• Danielle Danko, Sr. Director of Marketing for RE+ speaks to the Rebrand (what, it’s not SPI??) and all the fun festivities they have in store for you (yes, they rented out the entire Angels stadium y’all!) 
• Tom Weirich, Head of Marketing for EDPR North America, shares his Top 10 tips for getting a positive ROI out of a tradeshow when you’re sending a team
• Michelle Davis & Sylvia Leyva-Martinez, of Wood Mackenzie’s N.America Solar Team, give an update on the recently released Solar Market Insights report, and how their analyst team is preparing for SPI (er, I meant RE+...)
• Kristan Kirsh, VP Global Marketing at Nextracker, shares her hard-won insights on how to maximize both the Exhibitor experience and the sales team results!
• And, lastly, I chime in with some tips from Drew Michener, a client who runs a SME in Utah taking much of his leadership team to the show this year - what’s his plan, and how will he optimize the effort?
• Oh, and I give a brief rundown of the fun after-hours activities I’ll be engaged in.

It’s an insight-packed hour that I hope you’ll queue up BEFORE you go to Anaheim (or at least, on your flight there.

Oh, and DON”T forget to order biz cards…even if you have to pay $30 to express ship them to the hotel like I have done every year - yes I keep forgetting till the very last minute!

How do YOU maximize your ROI for one of the largest solar tradeshows on the continent? What will Your strategy be this year?

And, perhaps more importantly, have you left time in your schedule for serendipity…like swinging by Booth 438 (the PowerUp Media Zone) to say Hello to ME in person!?  ;-)

See you in a week #SolarWarrior!

Check out OpenSolar OS 3.0 at: https://suncast.media/opensolar

If you want to connect with today's guest, you’ll find links to their contact info in the show notes on the blog at https://suncast.media/episodes/.

Our Platinum Presenting Sponsor for SunCast is CPS America!

You can learn more about all the sponsors who help make this show free for you at www.suncast.media/sponsors.

Remember, you can always find resources, learn more about today’s guest and explore recommendations, book links, and more than 850 other founder stories and startup advice at www.suncast.media.

Subscribe to Valence, our weekly LinkedIn Newsletter, and learn the elements of compelling storytelling: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/valence-content-that-connects-7145928995363049472/

You can connect with me, Nico Johnson, on:

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/nicomeo

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickalus