With ITEXPO fast approaching (Jan. 28th in Miami Beach), here are some tips for a successful trade show.

Are you working a booth? If so, what's your goal? How will you attain it?

Don't talk to other booth members OR play with your gadgets. Play with the crowd, the attendees!

Have specific questions to clarify how your company can help an attendee. Try to make it something different than "What do you do, dude?"

Make a game of it. How many rejections can you get? How much swag can you get from other booths? How much swag can you trade? How many business cards can you collect? What is the best business card you see?

Booths with swag, babes and contests get more attention. If you don't have that, smiling faces work too!

Most important: Elevator Pitch! USP! Value Proposition! If you don't know yours, stay home.

What are you doing today to ensure that you have meetings in place at the show? Social media and your current network are great ways to let others know you will be there and have time to meet.

Not working a booth? That's okay. What are your goals? Rich Bader of Easystreet used to attend ISPCONs with a list of questions he wanted answers to. Where better than a show like ITEXPO to get answers to cloud, VoIP, MDM, BYOD, WebRTC and more. Get the most out of the show - don't just look for numbers, look for good connections and complimentary knowledge.

When networking remember....it's not about the food or the drinks. In fact, getting tipsy at a trade show can work against you. Eat something before you go so that you aren't focused on the food, but on the people.

It isn't about (just) YOU. How can you help others?

Conversation starters:

What did you see on the show floor that you found interesting? What did you think of Peter's sessions?

Don't forget to enter to win the free Jeep!

Are you attending ITEXPO? Let's meet up! I am moderating 3 sessions; hitting StartupCamp; at CVX; and will be in and out of the Press Room, but I would love to chat with you over coffee. Let me know.