I got invited to present my startup, Marrily, at TechCocktail Austin (<a href="http://techcocktailaustin2010.eventbrite.com/" rel="nofollow">http://techcocktailaustin2010.eventbrite.com/</a>) this coming Thursday. Marrily is an online wedding planning service that I've been bootstrapped in the past 6 months. TechCocktail Austin is the first major event that I have the opportunity to demo/pitch to spread the words out.<p>I'm a single founder so I've been pretty much staying on the technical side. But I'd appreciate any tips or recommendations on how to grab people's attention and to spread the words out. The event is an expo-style, which I will have a table to setup whatever I want. My plan is to set up a couple laptops (3 at the moment, 2 Macbooks and a Dell laptop) and a 24" monitor. Then I'll just answer people's questions as they come visit my table.<p>I don't have any budget for other promotions besides handling out business cards. Any tips on how to grab attentions for free at a crowded tech event will greatly be appreciated.<p>I also setup a new facebook fanpage here: <a href="http://facebook.com/marrilyhappily/" rel="nofollow">http://facebook.com/marrilyhappily/</a> so feel free to "like" it.<p>Also, during sign up, please use the coupon code "tca2010" (valid till 11/01), which will upgrade the subscription to the Free plan permanently. Just a way for me to say thank you :)<p>Thanks!
I've presented at TechCocktail before. It's a great experience. Here are a few tips:<p>1) It's in a bar environment, so you have to stand out. I had a big retractable banner (8 ft high) which stood out, so when you walked into the room people saw it
2) 20" monitor hooked up to a computer playing a slideshow is also great
3) They have to walk away with something. Stickers? Something fun?
4) Talk to anyone and everyone who walks up, regardless of their background + interest. It may not be for them, but they may know someone who is.
Will the tech expo have a defined floorplan? If they do and you can get it in advance and they are not printing their own maps, consider printing a map of the venue in the style of / like a wedding seating chart (with your logo somewhere near the legend).