I have to admit, I love events and conferences.  Crazy, I know, but there is always so much energy when smart people getting together, and let's not forget the expo!  Early in my career I was a corporate event planner and learned the importance of making a statement at the event.  Yours is the booth you want people to remember, so what are you going to do to make sure that happens?

• Know your target: What are the multiple audiences at the show/event? Which are you most concerned about?  What are they interested in hearing about?  What are their pain points and how can you solve them?
• Messaging: Whether it is your channel messaging, product messaging, or messaging specific to the event, make sure it carries through every piece of signage, collateral, and gimmicks.  Also make sure everyone going to the event knows what that is.
• Partnering: With so many booths at an expo it's hard to stand out.  Partnering with non-competitive companies for a large give-away or something that will entice people to go to both of your booths and learn about your products/services will help to drive traffic.  Your customers now learn about them and vice versa.
• Your People: Bring your most energetic folks to work the booth.  If Bob knows everything about your product but he would rather sit in the corner and not talk to anyone, he's not helping your cause.  I, for one, am not a fan of the scantily-clad booth babes who don't even know the name of the company throwing the event BUT someone in-between to get traffic to your booth and get your overarching message out there is clutch!
• Take away: Literally, what are you giving people to take away to remember you and your booth?  They've now seen and talked to hundreds, if not thousands of people.  How are you going to stand out?  It's always a good idea to give people something they will want to do once they are home such as enter a contest on your website, download an eBook, or use an augmented reality card.

Most importantly when deciding whether or not to go to the events, ask around.  Post questions on LinkedIn and Twitter, find out where your prospects are and what they are spending their time and money attending.

At the end of the day, have fun!  If you're a fun company to work with (and have a kick ass product/service) people will spread the word.