Thoughts on NAHC’s Leadership Summit – From Exhibitor’s POV

As you know, PRN Funding was invited to be a first-time exhibitor at the Private Duty Home Care Leadership Summit & Exposition in Las Vegas last week. We were grateful to have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with private duty home care agency owners about the benefits of home healthcare factoring, however, from the exhibitor’s perspective, the show was not a good one.

To start, there were a lot of last minute changes to the schedule. Hours changed, which made it difficult for exhibitors to set up their booths on time and/or catch flights on the last day. Luckily, PRN Funding didn’t have any issues with flights, so we were unaffected by the schedule changes.

In addition to the hour changes, exhibitors noticed that it was difficult for attendees to visit the exhibit hall. The show managers arranged to have a few 15-minute breaks in-between sessions, however, it seemed that most attendees used that time to go to the bathroom, run to their rooms quickly, return phone calls and emails and/or grab a quick cup of coffee before it was time for their next session. (Rightfully so–That’s how any professional attending a conference would use a 15-minute break.)

I’m sure it was frustrating for attendees who wanted to visit specific exhibitors but didn’t have the time to do so, or they had to choose between attending an educational session or skipping it to visit the exhibit hall. Rest assured that it was equally frustrating for exhibitors who stayed in the exhibit hall for long hours without the ability to conduct business.

The last big hiccup at NAHC’s Leadership Summit was that the entrance into the exhibit hall was in a different location than what was printed in the trade show materials. In essence, the exhibit hall was flipped. For all the exhibitors who strategically placed their booths in premium locations in the front of the exhibit hall ended up  being in the back.

On the plus side, John S. of Senior Home Care won the $100 Amazon gift card giveaway! Congratulations!