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Business Traveller
CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER
Aired February 09, 2003 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: When you think of Las Vegas, you think money. It's big and beautiful, bold and brassy. You think glitz and glamour, with truly big casinos.
But there's an underworld here that really means business. It's the tradeshows on this month's CNN'S BUSINESS TRAVELLER.
Hello and welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month reporting from Las Vegas.
Now, I've come to the modern city of lights not for the slots and the tables, although more of them later, but for the other big business in town, because 4 million people a year come to Las Vegas for tradeshows and conventions. Companies, competitors, clients, all under one roof, doing deals, making new contacts, and ultimately hoping to get the sale.
For every industry, the tradeshow is an indispensable part of executive life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST (voice-over): Advice from one of the world's greatest salesmen. We show you how to make your tradeshow sell.
And the man who sees more tradeshows than hot dinners, we go on the road with the chief executive of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn.
Plus, easing the stresses and strains of the industry convention. We bring you the gadgets that claim to make your life easier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Trade shows come in all shapes and sizes, from the small boutique affairs to the much larger, grander events.
Here in Las Vegas at the moment is the International Builders Show, a giant convention that will bring in 100,000 people and contribute to the nearly $5 billion a year Las Vegas makes from such conventions.
But in this day and age, why do companies still bother? After all, these stands cost serious amounts of money. You've got to bring in dozens of members of staff, a considerable expense.
So is it still worthwhile?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): They're hectic, they're hard work, and everyone is trying to sell you something.
Modern technology was supposed to make all of this redundant. It wasn't supposed to be necessary to get together to do business, so why do people put themselves through this torture? Because whatever your product, when it comes to face-to-face selling, the tradeshow is the key to success.
JOHN BUILBERT, MPEX FITNESS: Having everybody under one captured roof for an audience for two, three days, it's priceless. You can't buy that anywhere else.
QUEST: One company that's cashing in on the opportunity to meet buyers in the flesh is Delta Faucet Company. It's rented 5,000 square feet of space here at the International Builders Show.
JOHN WILLIS, DELTA FAUCET: We've got 40 percent of the faucets that we manufacture here on display. We've got five different vignette settings of our product here to actually show it in use, so that a builder can see what it would look like in his home. And then on top of that, there's all the conference room space that we have. We have four conference rooms here, so it's a pretty major undertaking.
QUEST: A pretty major undertaking with a pretty major bill. Here for instance, wining and dining the client, entertaining the media, building this stand, it'll all cost Delta Faucets the best part of $1 million. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it pays.
WILLIS: What would it cost me, in airfares and everything, to take this -- take my management team and go and visit all these same customers all across the country? It probably only cost me a couple $100,000 dollars relative to what it would cost me to make all those same contacts.
QUEST: Head to the other side of the city, another tradeshow. This time, the Super Show, with more of the razzle and dazzle you expect from Las Vegas, dancers included. It's one of the leading tradeshows for the sport industry.
Here, among the big players of the sporting world, the Reeboks, the Foot Lockers, you'll find the fledglings, and it's because the fledglings are so small that they've decided it's worth coming to the trade show.
LOIS MARQUART, SPORT FRAMES: There is people talking to me about wanting my little frames, let's say, in a Walmart, and hey, I could not ask for any better advertising than that.
QUEST (on camera): In this huge hall, you are small. One table.
STEPHANE CAIVEAU, DASTON: Small. One table. Absolutely.
QUEST: Do you feel small?
CAIVEAU: No. I have a good product. People are attracted. We've been on TV several times already this week, so I think we are doing good.
QUEST (voice-over): So from large to small, expensive to cheap, there is something for everyone at most tradeshows.
The hard part for the buyers is weeding out the right product.
And after traipsing across acres of hall on concrete floors, the whole experience can be exhausting.
JOHN MAGNLEY, TENNIS CONCEPTS: It's very tiring mentally because you've seen all the new products. You're trying to make decisions on what to buy, what not to buy, and a lot of it is future buying, so you're trying to figure out what's going to be hot in six months, what's going to be hot in eight months.
QUEST: Connecting people to people, buyers to sellers, face to face, it's that personal touch that makes the difference.
And that is why the tradeshow is still very much alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And coming up after the break, the Nissan man. He runs a car giant and is a serious player when it comes to trade shows. We go on the road with Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The grand way to travel in style.
Welcome back to BUSINESS TRAVELLER.
If you want to be a high roller in Las Vegas, you got to have some big wheels to roll in. Well, they don't get much bigger and grander than this stretch limo, the perfect way to get from the airport to your hotel to the casino, even to the tradeshows.
Now Carlos Ghosn may not travel in this sort of style. He doesn't need to. He's the chief executive of the Japanese car company Nissan. But he does go to a lot of tradeshows, from Detroit to London to Paris to Frankfort to Tokyo. So he knows how to do business when on the road, which is why we went on the road with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARLOS GHOSN, CEO NISSAN: Nissan is unleashing the blitz of distinctive, innovative models worldwide.
We feel good about our future and it's the confidence that is well- grounded.
Last week, I was I Tokyo, just after coming back from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the model show. I am now in London for the inauguration of our design studio. After this I will be heading back to Paris for an alliance board meeting between Renault and Nissan, then back to Tokyo, you know, for a period of three weeks.
Design is important. It's an important dimension, you know, but it's not the only one, because, you know, design attracts the attention of people, then you're going to have to make sure that the product itself has all the benefits that they are expecting from it.
The first time I came here, this place was a mess. There was nothing. Today the reception is positive because there are a lot of credibility to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of Nissan. People know that we are serious about making bold designs, attractive designs.
You have to be organizing in terms of food, in terms of sleep, in terms of work, in terms of communications, and you know, the key is, if you are very well organized and you have particularly the right people around you, you can do it, and you can do it very effectively, because it is a hardship, moving from one city to the other, from hotel to the other. It is a hardship. You have to take it as it is.
I was born in Brazil. I have been educated and raised partly in Lebanon and partly in France. I am a French citizen. I spent seven years in the United States. I am now in Japan. You know, these experiences don't substitute for each other. They add to each other.
I'm going to make here a small parallel between Nissan and between Japan.
The decade of the 90's has been a lost decade for Nissan. It happens to have been a lost decade also for the country, and there have been a lot of plans in the 90's to try to get Nissan out of trouble. When you take a look at these plans and why did they fail, why there was very poor execution, and execution is 90 percent of the success of anything you want to achieve.
What you have done in the past will have also a lot of influence about what you will be doing into the future, and, you know, I am, personally, always interested in people around me and different cultures, and so I spend a lot of time learning. That's what makes my job extremely exciting, because I know that tomorrow hopefully will be better than today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Nissan.
Now from cars to kitchens, whatever you're selling, the art of closing the deal is at the absolute core of doing business.
The problem is, when you're trying to clean up, there's very little advice on how you actually get the sale. Most business books talk in philosophies, for instance, who's stealing your cheese, instead of practicalities. And if you're at a tradeshow, you can only really put your feet up and relax when the new contacts have been made and hopefully the contracts have been signed.
And now we're going to show you how you can achieve just that with some advice from those that do it best.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM HOPKINS, SALES GURU: '70, '68, '69 -- this was '66, when I won that for the top salesman of the year. I think the '66 is the oldest one.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tom Hopkins, a selling sensation. By the age of 27, he had sold more homes than anyone else in the United States. Now he sells his selling techniques to audiences around the world.
But things weren't always this good.
HOPKINS: Believe me, when I got into sales, I had to much month at the end of the money. I didn't do well when I began because I was so young. And I didn't even have a car.
MAGNAY: Not so for another Tom on the other side of the pond.
TOM HARTLEY, JR., CAR SALESMAN: Hi. My name is Tom Hartley, Jr. and welcome to my showroom.
MAGNAY: His tender years haven't held him back. He's still only 19, but when it comes to doing a deal, he doesn't hang about.
HOPKINS: Well, the first key would be to have the ability to have people like and trust you. That's very, very important.
Then, tremendous product knowledge, so you really know how to not only answer questions, but do a great presentation.
There's not a lot of real secrets, it's just real how-to. How to find out what their needs are, then how to present the benefits in such a way that there's a need created.
HARTLEY: I just need to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because the only black one that was sold -- well, the only two black cars that's been sold, we sold. It must be his buying technique (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MAGNAY: No deal this time around, but the next best thing: the promise of a return visit. And then it's straight on to the next.
One basic sales tip: embrace rejection. With every failure comes that bit more experience, and experience breeds results.
HARTLEY: If you can send the deposit check for $10,000 today, and -- exactly. And then the finance next week can get sorted out. There isn't no problem with that.
HOPKINS: There's intuitive sales people who have tremendous instincts, but the best ones I've ever trained, they've been trained for greatness. They are students. They've learned the fundamentals, and they apply them on a daily basis.
HARTLEY: Now it's just the 456, the new model that we just bought. I've been speaking to the customer about it for a couple of days, and he's quite a hard one to do business with. Got him in the end, though.
MAGNAY: For CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER, I'm Diana Magnay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The art of making the pitch and getting the sale.
Coming up on CNN, from the vast expanse of the tradeshow floor to the Grand Canyon, why getting away in Vegas doesn't always mean gambling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Now besides your products and your entry pass, the one thing you're going to need at a tradeshow more than anything else is stamina. You're going to be walking around these halls for an average of 9 hours a day.
Out of breath, and I could have made life perhaps a little bit easier if I had used some of the gadgets on this month's CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER ROAD TEST.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): First, the CardScan Executive business card reader. Say goodbye to the piles of business cars building up in your pocket during your time at a trade fair.
MARK NEEDHAM, WIDGET.CO.UK: It's an ideal thing for converting the business cards that you collect on a journey or at a trade fair, into some data that you can put into your computer and use for sales purposes.
QUEST: Next, the Super Optical Mini Mouse. Pocket-sized, perfect for presentations.
NEEDHAM: And the Mini Mouse is not only very small, it's also very receptive, it moves well, and it's much better than using a tracker ball or the devices that some people have in the middle of their laptops.
QUEST: So let's meet this month's ROAD TEST guinea pig.
COLIN GILLESPIE, LEGO: Hello. I work for the LEGO company. My name is Colin Gillespie and I'm a brand director for Europe north. One of the things I do a lot of is travel. I travel to trade fairs, I travel to see retail accounts. And one of the things I look for when I am traveling is convenience, ease of use. And that sometimes means gadgets.
I have installed this on my laptop. They've got some good instructions here. Scanners ready. Good job. It's starting to setup. I click on "Install CardScan" -- nice sound effects. It might be particularly nice to look at some of the other toys. I think this might take a while.
You know what, I can't seem to install the CardScan.
The CardScan file, neat item. However, I couldn't use it because it wasn't compatible with my company firewall. If I can get the software installed, that would be great.
This little Atech (ph) device is pretty cool, pretty small. All right, let's see how it works. It's really kind of a nice thing.
The little mouse, this worked great. It was very convenient. I could keep it in my pocket, and if I had the opportunity when I had my PC out, or my laptop, I would use it and it came across very professionally. And also it was good when I was updating my Power Point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now if you'd like to know more information about those gadgets, you can visit our Web site, where you'll also find information about major tradeshows. It's at cnn.com/businesstraveller. Or drop me an e-mail with your experiences as you travel the globe. Usual address. quest@cnn.com.
When the tradeshow day is over and it's time to have some fun, here in Las Vegas that usually means one thing, the tables.
Here at Bellagio, they've allowed me the honor of playing at least for one hand in the Baccarat Lounge, where those with the real wherewithal get to grips and try and make some money.
For me, it's a chance to see just what I can do, and nobody knows the final results.
Well, if all of this is a bit too rich for your stomach, then here in Vegas there are other ways to enjoy yourself, some of which are just as exciting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEARA ERDOZAIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Preparing for takeoff. preparing for the trip of a lifetime.
Welcome to the Grand Canyon, 277 miles long, 1 mile deep and 16 miles wide. This puts the scale of the tradeshow floor well into perspective.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won't see anything else like this anyplace else you go. It's wonderful. Absolutely breathtaking.
ERDOZAIN: This group is on a tour from the West to the Wild West.
An overnight stay here at Canyon West Ranch cost around $399. No room service, no electricity, it's certainly not a five-star experience, because this is the place where real cowboys live.
FLOYD DWIGGINS, GRAND CANYON WEST RANCH: 15, almost 16 years ago, working out here with the cattle and stuff, something hit me and I this is something that I figured that everybody should be able to enjoy, and I thought that things were just getting lost, that our tradition was getting lost.
ERDOZAIN: Around 31,000 people visit Canyon West Ranch each year. The horses, the teepees, not to mention the cowboy action, it all provides a healthy escape for the business traveler.
MANNY JOHAR, INTEL: We travel all over North America. To come on a trip like this, it refreshes the mind. It is, you know, so cool, right out here in the desert, not thinking of anything else but these cowboys, you know, playing with these guys rather than working on the laptop. This is so cool.
ERDOZAIN: A world away from work and a world away from the tradeshows, but not a million miles from Las Vegas. So if you're tired of the bright lights and the gambling machines and you feel like something a little more tame -- well, maybe this isn't the place for you.
For CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER, I'm Meara Erdozain, at the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Whatever the trials and tribulations of a tradeshow, there are compensations, such as a day out in the Grand Canyon or the Nevada desert. And so when you're bust and broke from Vegas, there's always the open road ahead.
That's BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest.
Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you next month.
END
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Aired February 9, 2003 - 08:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: When you think of Las Vegas, you think money. It's big and beautiful, bold and brassy. You think glitz and glamour, with truly big casinos.
But there's an underworld here that really means business. It's the tradeshows on this month's CNN'S BUSINESS TRAVELLER.
Hello and welcome to CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER. I'm Richard Quest, this month reporting from Las Vegas.
Now, I've come to the modern city of lights not for the slots and the tables, although more of them later, but for the other big business in town, because 4 million people a year come to Las Vegas for tradeshows and conventions. Companies, competitors, clients, all under one roof, doing deals, making new contacts, and ultimately hoping to get the sale.
For every industry, the tradeshow is an indispensable part of executive life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST (voice-over): Advice from one of the world's greatest salesmen. We show you how to make your tradeshow sell.
And the man who sees more tradeshows than hot dinners, we go on the road with the chief executive of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn.
Plus, easing the stresses and strains of the industry convention. We bring you the gadgets that claim to make your life easier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Trade shows come in all shapes and sizes, from the small boutique affairs to the much larger, grander events.
Here in Las Vegas at the moment is the International Builders Show, a giant convention that will bring in 100,000 people and contribute to the nearly $5 billion a year Las Vegas makes from such conventions.
But in this day and age, why do companies still bother? After all, these stands cost serious amounts of money. You've got to bring in dozens of members of staff, a considerable expense.
So is it still worthwhile?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): They're hectic, they're hard work, and everyone is trying to sell you something.
Modern technology was supposed to make all of this redundant. It wasn't supposed to be necessary to get together to do business, so why do people put themselves through this torture? Because whatever your product, when it comes to face-to-face selling, the tradeshow is the key to success.
JOHN BUILBERT, MPEX FITNESS: Having everybody under one captured roof for an audience for two, three days, it's priceless. You can't buy that anywhere else.
QUEST: One company that's cashing in on the opportunity to meet buyers in the flesh is Delta Faucet Company. It's rented 5,000 square feet of space here at the International Builders Show.
JOHN WILLIS, DELTA FAUCET: We've got 40 percent of the faucets that we manufacture here on display. We've got five different vignette settings of our product here to actually show it in use, so that a builder can see what it would look like in his home. And then on top of that, there's all the conference room space that we have. We have four conference rooms here, so it's a pretty major undertaking.
QUEST: A pretty major undertaking with a pretty major bill. Here for instance, wining and dining the client, entertaining the media, building this stand, it'll all cost Delta Faucets the best part of $1 million. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it pays.
WILLIS: What would it cost me, in airfares and everything, to take this -- take my management team and go and visit all these same customers all across the country? It probably only cost me a couple $100,000 dollars relative to what it would cost me to make all those same contacts.
QUEST: Head to the other side of the city, another tradeshow. This time, the Super Show, with more of the razzle and dazzle you expect from Las Vegas, dancers included. It's one of the leading tradeshows for the sport industry.
Here, among the big players of the sporting world, the Reeboks, the Foot Lockers, you'll find the fledglings, and it's because the fledglings are so small that they've decided it's worth coming to the trade show.
LOIS MARQUART, SPORT FRAMES: There is people talking to me about wanting my little frames, let's say, in a Walmart, and hey, I could not ask for any better advertising than that.
QUEST (on camera): In this huge hall, you are small. One table.
STEPHANE CAIVEAU, DASTON: Small. One table. Absolutely.
QUEST: Do you feel small?
CAIVEAU: No. I have a good product. People are attracted. We've been on TV several times already this week, so I think we are doing good.
QUEST (voice-over): So from large to small, expensive to cheap, there is something for everyone at most tradeshows.
The hard part for the buyers is weeding out the right product.
And after traipsing across acres of hall on concrete floors, the whole experience can be exhausting.
JOHN MAGNLEY, TENNIS CONCEPTS: It's very tiring mentally because you've seen all the new products. You're trying to make decisions on what to buy, what not to buy, and a lot of it is future buying, so you're trying to figure out what's going to be hot in six months, what's going to be hot in eight months.
QUEST: Connecting people to people, buyers to sellers, face to face, it's that personal touch that makes the difference.
And that is why the tradeshow is still very much alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And coming up after the break, the Nissan man. He runs a car giant and is a serious player when it comes to trade shows. We go on the road with Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: The grand way to travel in style.
Welcome back to BUSINESS TRAVELLER.
If you want to be a high roller in Las Vegas, you got to have some big wheels to roll in. Well, they don't get much bigger and grander than this stretch limo, the perfect way to get from the airport to your hotel to the casino, even to the tradeshows.
Now Carlos Ghosn may not travel in this sort of style. He doesn't need to. He's the chief executive of the Japanese car company Nissan. But he does go to a lot of tradeshows, from Detroit to London to Paris to Frankfort to Tokyo. So he knows how to do business when on the road, which is why we went on the road with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARLOS GHOSN, CEO NISSAN: Nissan is unleashing the blitz of distinctive, innovative models worldwide.
We feel good about our future and it's the confidence that is well- grounded.
Last week, I was I Tokyo, just after coming back from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from the model show. I am now in London for the inauguration of our design studio. After this I will be heading back to Paris for an alliance board meeting between Renault and Nissan, then back to Tokyo, you know, for a period of three weeks.
Design is important. It's an important dimension, you know, but it's not the only one, because, you know, design attracts the attention of people, then you're going to have to make sure that the product itself has all the benefits that they are expecting from it.
The first time I came here, this place was a mess. There was nothing. Today the reception is positive because there are a lot of credibility to the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of Nissan. People know that we are serious about making bold designs, attractive designs.
You have to be organizing in terms of food, in terms of sleep, in terms of work, in terms of communications, and you know, the key is, if you are very well organized and you have particularly the right people around you, you can do it, and you can do it very effectively, because it is a hardship, moving from one city to the other, from hotel to the other. It is a hardship. You have to take it as it is.
I was born in Brazil. I have been educated and raised partly in Lebanon and partly in France. I am a French citizen. I spent seven years in the United States. I am now in Japan. You know, these experiences don't substitute for each other. They add to each other.
I'm going to make here a small parallel between Nissan and between Japan.
The decade of the 90's has been a lost decade for Nissan. It happens to have been a lost decade also for the country, and there have been a lot of plans in the 90's to try to get Nissan out of trouble. When you take a look at these plans and why did they fail, why there was very poor execution, and execution is 90 percent of the success of anything you want to achieve.
What you have done in the past will have also a lot of influence about what you will be doing into the future, and, you know, I am, personally, always interested in people around me and different cultures, and so I spend a lot of time learning. That's what makes my job extremely exciting, because I know that tomorrow hopefully will be better than today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Nissan.
Now from cars to kitchens, whatever you're selling, the art of closing the deal is at the absolute core of doing business.
The problem is, when you're trying to clean up, there's very little advice on how you actually get the sale. Most business books talk in philosophies, for instance, who's stealing your cheese, instead of practicalities. And if you're at a tradeshow, you can only really put your feet up and relax when the new contacts have been made and hopefully the contracts have been signed.
And now we're going to show you how you can achieve just that with some advice from those that do it best.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM HOPKINS, SALES GURU: '70, '68, '69 -- this was '66, when I won that for the top salesman of the year. I think the '66 is the oldest one.
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tom Hopkins, a selling sensation. By the age of 27, he had sold more homes than anyone else in the United States. Now he sells his selling techniques to audiences around the world.
But things weren't always this good.
HOPKINS: Believe me, when I got into sales, I had to much month at the end of the money. I didn't do well when I began because I was so young. And I didn't even have a car.
MAGNAY: Not so for another Tom on the other side of the pond.
TOM HARTLEY, JR., CAR SALESMAN: Hi. My name is Tom Hartley, Jr. and welcome to my showroom.
MAGNAY: His tender years haven't held him back. He's still only 19, but when it comes to doing a deal, he doesn't hang about.
HOPKINS: Well, the first key would be to have the ability to have people like and trust you. That's very, very important.
Then, tremendous product knowledge, so you really know how to not only answer questions, but do a great presentation.
There's not a lot of real secrets, it's just real how-to. How to find out what their needs are, then how to present the benefits in such a way that there's a need created.
HARTLEY: I just need to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because the only black one that was sold -- well, the only two black cars that's been sold, we sold. It must be his buying technique (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
MAGNAY: No deal this time around, but the next best thing: the promise of a return visit. And then it's straight on to the next.
One basic sales tip: embrace rejection. With every failure comes that bit more experience, and experience breeds results.
HARTLEY: If you can send the deposit check for $10,000 today, and -- exactly. And then the finance next week can get sorted out. There isn't no problem with that.
HOPKINS: There's intuitive sales people who have tremendous instincts, but the best ones I've ever trained, they've been trained for greatness. They are students. They've learned the fundamentals, and they apply them on a daily basis.
HARTLEY: Now it's just the 456, the new model that we just bought. I've been speaking to the customer about it for a couple of days, and he's quite a hard one to do business with. Got him in the end, though.
MAGNAY: For CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER, I'm Diana Magnay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: The art of making the pitch and getting the sale.
Coming up on CNN, from the vast expanse of the tradeshow floor to the Grand Canyon, why getting away in Vegas doesn't always mean gambling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Now besides your products and your entry pass, the one thing you're going to need at a tradeshow more than anything else is stamina. You're going to be walking around these halls for an average of 9 hours a day.
Out of breath, and I could have made life perhaps a little bit easier if I had used some of the gadgets on this month's CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER ROAD TEST.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): First, the CardScan Executive business card reader. Say goodbye to the piles of business cars building up in your pocket during your time at a trade fair.
MARK NEEDHAM, WIDGET.CO.UK: It's an ideal thing for converting the business cards that you collect on a journey or at a trade fair, into some data that you can put into your computer and use for sales purposes.
QUEST: Next, the Super Optical Mini Mouse. Pocket-sized, perfect for presentations.
NEEDHAM: And the Mini Mouse is not only very small, it's also very receptive, it moves well, and it's much better than using a tracker ball or the devices that some people have in the middle of their laptops.
QUEST: So let's meet this month's ROAD TEST guinea pig.
COLIN GILLESPIE, LEGO: Hello. I work for the LEGO company. My name is Colin Gillespie and I'm a brand director for Europe north. One of the things I do a lot of is travel. I travel to trade fairs, I travel to see retail accounts. And one of the things I look for when I am traveling is convenience, ease of use. And that sometimes means gadgets.
I have installed this on my laptop. They've got some good instructions here. Scanners ready. Good job. It's starting to setup. I click on "Install CardScan" -- nice sound effects. It might be particularly nice to look at some of the other toys. I think this might take a while.
You know what, I can't seem to install the CardScan.
The CardScan file, neat item. However, I couldn't use it because it wasn't compatible with my company firewall. If I can get the software installed, that would be great.
This little Atech (ph) device is pretty cool, pretty small. All right, let's see how it works. It's really kind of a nice thing.
The little mouse, this worked great. It was very convenient. I could keep it in my pocket, and if I had the opportunity when I had my PC out, or my laptop, I would use it and it came across very professionally. And also it was good when I was updating my Power Point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now if you'd like to know more information about those gadgets, you can visit our Web site, where you'll also find information about major tradeshows. It's at cnn.com/businesstraveller. Or drop me an e-mail with your experiences as you travel the globe. Usual address. quest@cnn.com.
When the tradeshow day is over and it's time to have some fun, here in Las Vegas that usually means one thing, the tables.
Here at Bellagio, they've allowed me the honor of playing at least for one hand in the Baccarat Lounge, where those with the real wherewithal get to grips and try and make some money.
For me, it's a chance to see just what I can do, and nobody knows the final results.
Well, if all of this is a bit too rich for your stomach, then here in Vegas there are other ways to enjoy yourself, some of which are just as exciting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MEARA ERDOZAIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Preparing for takeoff. preparing for the trip of a lifetime.
Welcome to the Grand Canyon, 277 miles long, 1 mile deep and 16 miles wide. This puts the scale of the tradeshow floor well into perspective.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won't see anything else like this anyplace else you go. It's wonderful. Absolutely breathtaking.
ERDOZAIN: This group is on a tour from the West to the Wild West.
An overnight stay here at Canyon West Ranch cost around $399. No room service, no electricity, it's certainly not a five-star experience, because this is the place where real cowboys live.
FLOYD DWIGGINS, GRAND CANYON WEST RANCH: 15, almost 16 years ago, working out here with the cattle and stuff, something hit me and I this is something that I figured that everybody should be able to enjoy, and I thought that things were just getting lost, that our tradition was getting lost.
ERDOZAIN: Around 31,000 people visit Canyon West Ranch each year. The horses, the teepees, not to mention the cowboy action, it all provides a healthy escape for the business traveler.
MANNY JOHAR, INTEL: We travel all over North America. To come on a trip like this, it refreshes the mind. It is, you know, so cool, right out here in the desert, not thinking of anything else but these cowboys, you know, playing with these guys rather than working on the laptop. This is so cool.
ERDOZAIN: A world away from work and a world away from the tradeshows, but not a million miles from Las Vegas. So if you're tired of the bright lights and the gambling machines and you feel like something a little more tame -- well, maybe this isn't the place for you.
For CNN BUSINESS TRAVELLER, I'm Meara Erdozain, at the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Whatever the trials and tribulations of a tradeshow, there are compensations, such as a day out in the Grand Canyon or the Nevada desert. And so when you're bust and broke from Vegas, there's always the open road ahead.
That's BUSINESS TRAVELLER for this month. I'm Richard Quest.
Wherever your travels may take you, I hope it's profitable. I'll see you next month.
END
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