I just got back from a trip to India.  Being there was beyond my imagination.  It was a trip of extremes, that ended up being the most emotional vacation I have ever had.

I found myself in tears at 3 different points of the journey, for 3 different reasons.

I fought back the tears after we left a tiny village en route to Jaipur from Agra.  It’s impossible to avoid the poverty that pervades many areas of the country.  We were told that one way to give back was to offer supplies such as pens, pencils, crayons and markers to school children.  We asked our driver, Santosh, to take us to a school where we could give out the 200 some odd writing implements we brought from home.  He knew of a small village school that was in need.  I was humbled by the children’s excitement, awestruck by their beautiful faces and shattered by the reminder that we have so much more than we need.  I got to hand out the pens to each of the students.  We got back in the car and the tears flowed.

I teared up for a different reason when we arrived at the Taj Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur.  Quite simply, the finest hotel experience I have ever had.  The beauty of the place took my breath away.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  It actually got me choked up when we were escorted to our suite and I saw the splendor of this magnificent property.  And, the service we encountered the next five days was even more stunning.

I lost it one last time on the way to the airport in Mumbai to get on the plane to come home.  I called our ground agent, Saleem, from India Travel Promotions Ltd., to thank him for the incredible arrangements he made for us.  We had postponed our trip twice due to ever changing work schedules — Saleem had to rebook our full itinerary three different sets of dates. The entire time leading up to the trip I was blown away by his kindness and patience.   And, once in India, we felt cared for even more.   Every member of Saleem’s staff was more impressive than the next — from the efficient airport greeters, to the intrepid drivers, to the passionate tour guides.  I wanted Saleem to know how much we appreciated everyone.  After I thanked him, in true Indian fashion, the call ended with him thanking me.  ”Thank you for the honor of allowing us to show you our country.”   I hung up the phone, and wiped away more tears in realizing my two weeks in India was coming to a close.

I fell in love with India — the difficult things to witness, the dazzling things to see and the people throughout the country who touched us in a profound way.  I urge you to visit.  I will happily point you in the direction of great experiences.  No photo or movie or blog entry can capture its essence.

I leave you with this thought…

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” –Samuel Johnson

The funny thing is, when you return from a trip where you have witnessed the way things are, rather than regulated, your imagination is unleashed.

Since Jeff is traveling, he asked me (Angela Stassi) to jump in as a guest blogger for this week’s Series of Events.

Like most of you probably are… I’m a member of various groups on LinkedIn.  So, I see the questions that colleagues, competitors and clients put out into the cyber universe.

Recently, a question was posed on LinkedIn asking for ideas on what to do to draw traffic to a tradeshow booth.

The perfunctory suggestions were given:  cupcakes, massages, and cocktails.  Trust me, I like a good cupcake just like anyone else, but those are things that never sat well with me as ways to really connect with a potential client or partner.

So, I thought I’d share what we had done at BKA for an industry tradeshow that shook things up.  Perhaps it can inspire you to think outside of the 10×10 box for your own tradeshow booth or that of your client.

During the frenzy of the Presidential election, we mailed an invitation to attendees with a simple graphic, an iconic campaign button promoting “FREE CREATIVE”.  It was the start of a movement to free creative in their minds (and to get some free advice from a team of creative experts.)

We followed up to schedule appointments.  Attending a tradeshow and getting something of value was compelling to the recipients and they signed up, in advance!

Onsite, we brought guests into our booth which we designed as “The Studio” where they met with our Creative Directors and Designers. The space was full of color, designs… and that’s where we had the chocolate!  White boards, sketchpads, and colored pencils were on the table encouraging participation.  Plexi panels separated the studio from the tradeshow aisle, creating privacy but also allowing passersby to view the action where ideas were happening!

Participants couldn’t believe how creative, relevant and fun it was.

Through this experience, we were able to connect on a much deeper level than typical at a tradeshow.  At the end, participants received their schwag, a set of colored pencils that read “I GOT CREATIVE.”

But did this lead to business is what you probably are asking?

And the answer is YES; we booked business as a result.  And, over the course of about 5 hours, we spent 20 solid minutes connecting with 10 relevant potential clients offering real solutions for their real needs.  It beats rifling through a bunch of business cards of people who just stopped by because of their sweet tooth.

Would love to hear about creative solutions you’ve implemented to boost qualified traffic at your booths.