If you have questions about any of these changes contact John Rozum at jrozum@wdexpo.com or Maria McGinnis at mmcginnis@wdexpo.com.

Free Ice Cream!!!

GEA WestfaliaSurge is excited once again to offer the free ice cream promotion. Ice Cream coupons may be purchased by any and all exhibitors at this year’s WDE. The coupons are not customized for each company; however, there is space on the reverse side of the coupons for your company to stamp or sticker your company name and/or logo. Tickets may be purchased in advance for $1.50 each. In addition, GEA WestfaliaSurge offers a 5% quantity discount for all orders of 200 coupons or more. MasterCard or Visa is accepted for pre-orders. Please place your order on or before September 16th by contacting Linda MacKenzie at either 630.548.8265 or linda.mackenzie@geagroup.com.

Scam Warning

Every year, Expo exhibitors report being contacted by suspicious companies who claim to be “official vendors” or otherwise using the Expo name to try to get you to buy their products or services. Expo does carefully select vendors to provide services at the show and those companies are listed in the Official Manual. If they aren’t listed, you might want to be a little suspicious.

For example, last year a freight company contacted several exhibitors to let them know that the shipping address for advance freight was changed. Their materials made it appear that they were an official contractor who was hired by the show to handle incoming freight. All you had to do was fill out their forms (complete with credit card information) and they would ensure that your freight arrived. Fortunately, we were contacted early by an exhibitor and were able to put a stop to the solicitation.

Perhaps the best known example of trade show scammers is Construct Data and their “Fair Guide.” This Austrian company has been sending out solicitations including the Expo name and logo for several years. The pitch seems as though they are only looking for your approval to receive a free listing in their book. The fine print reveals a three-year commitment at $1531 per year. This one is so well known that many governments have gotten involved to try to stop them. Unfortunately, recent legal action in Europe has pushed them to focus almost exclusively on US companies as targets.

Remember, we do distribute your address to our Preferred Vendors so they can contact you, but we never, ever give out your email address. For a full list of Preferred Vendors, check the Service Directory in our Exhibitor Manual.