Trade Show Tools

Green-industry pros who’ve attended a trade show know the days are hectic whirlwinds, and often it’s difficult to remember who you met and details of the products you saw. In this fast-paced environment, your goal is to make connections and track down the latest products relevant to your store and customer. How are you keeping track of leads, new contacts, the latest products and other pertinent data? Here are three apps that can help you better navigate trade shows and the information you find there, and keep you from drowning in business cards and loose paper in your luggage.

Douglas Guth, a Cleveland Heights-based freelance writer, contributed to this report.

CamCard

What is it? Any trade show veteran can attest to the stack of business cards they pick up over the course of an event. CamCard eliminates the necessity of those pesky paper rectangles by allowing users to take a picture of the card, with the app scanning and storing appropriate contact information. Card information can be synced across mobile devices and PC, and shared via email, QR code or social media.

CamCard keeps a photo of the card, a convenient touch in case a mistake is made when populating data fields. When a contact is promoted or joins a new company, the app sends an update to the user. Along with eliminating the need for a bulky business card reader, the app recognizes 16 different languages and has the ability to export leads onto any mobile-based Microsoft Office program. Each business card image is in color, and the app picks up info no matter the finish or thickness of the cardstock.

Where can I find it? CamCard is available on Android or iOS mobile devices through the Apple App Store and Google Play. A free version lets users scan up to 200 cards. More advanced versions cost $5 or $12 per month, depending on export and integration features.

Expensify

What is it? Restaurant and hotel receipts can get out of hand when you’re on the road, and it’s easy to forget to track your mileage. This app simplifies and organizes expense reporting. Expensify offers a personal and business option. If you choose Expensify for Business, SmartScan inputs the receipt information, then matches the receipt to the expense, eliminating any manual entry. The SmartCategorization function will auto-categorize expenses based on company accounting policies.

Where can I find it? Expensify is available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Expensify for Business offers three options: Team for $5 per month, Corporate for $9 per month and Enterprise, a custom option that varies in price. Personal Expensify is free. Look for it on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Notability

What is it? Trade shows are packed with new products and data an owner, buyer or manager may want to bring back. Enter Notability, a note-taking tool that makes it easy to write down your thoughts, record information, sketch a diagram or take a photograph. See a piece of equipment you need in your production? Simply position your finger to type the relevant text with different fonts or colors. A styling pane gives options for numbered lists and bulleted sections. Robust drawing tools allow for sketching and graph creation. Or, snap a photo and record your voice describing the item, the company and other essential information. You can use this tool to remember people, too.

Users can import images and PDFs for later editing through Notability’s handwriting and highlighting options. Recent versions have been optimized for Apple Pencil and iPad Pro, while cloud storage can save notes between iOS handhelds and Mac.

Where can I find it? It’s available on all iOS devices for 99 cents on the Apple App Store and $5.99 on the Mac App Store.