Conclusion:

I think it is fair to say we all walked/staggered away with a little more knowledge than we came here with.  Even if you did not attend a talk. If all you did was have a walk around to see the vendors or make an attempt to talk to someone be it new or old friend; you probably picked up a business idea or got some kind of helpful advice that you can implement in your daily life by the time you read this review.  That's what makes Target Open Day so special.  It's relationships.  The people. The customers, the staff, the vendors, all of which make up the Open Day family are what make this event more special than any I have ever attended.  The free bar is a great intensive for us all as well. ;)   Happy 20th Anniversary, Target. And may you have many more! ---- Jenni

 

What do you get when you mix Techs, technology, food, alcohol and an Australian?  The Target Open Day 2018!  The day was a prime example of what all distributors should be doing.  It allows us tech see products before we buy them; as it always hard trying to promote a new product you have not seen or used before.   Also a relationship forms between Target, the vendors, and the techs that you would not otherwise get.   I managed to speak to most of the vendors at the event, and when I think back the one stand that stood out to me compared to the others was Blue Digital.  What they did was test your websites SEO.   They gave you a score and put you on a leader board so you could see how you ranked on the likes of Google compared to others who were at the event and they would give you advice on what would help you rank higher. (like more back links or faster load speed by reducing image size).   As Jenni said above, the biggest bonus of these events though is actually getting to meet other techs like yourself!  Thanks again Target for the amazing event, I look forward to what you can do next year! - Phil

 

Stand out point:  We finally got to hear Sonya sing!

 

Pros:

• Great variety of knowledgeable and easy to work with vendors

• Staff were friendly and eager to help 

• Target staff and vendors were very welcoming 

• Great variety of talks and workshops

• The entertainment surpassed any I have ever seen in all of my years of coming

• Getting to meet other piers

• Free bar and evening

• POS if there was any to be gotten

• Prizes/raffle given away

• Good to see awards back and congratulations to the winners

• Vendors were willing to listen and take advice/take feedback

• Most vendor stands were staffed by people who work for the company they represented.

• Target staff were eager to take and answer questions and listen to feedback
   

Cons:

• No fault of Target but the exhibit room and dinning area got really warm with all of the people together

• Evening food could have been better *no fault of Target, more of a venue thing*

• Vendors ran out of POS well before they should have

• Seemed too many talks going on at once.  A few people wanted to see things  that were going on at the same time.  Would have been better if they spaced the talks by 45 minutes in two alternating rooms so no one would miss anything.  *one starts at say 10AM and finish at 10:30 AM the next talk in the other room would be at 10:45 and finish at 11:15, the next one would start in the next room at 11:30 etc*

• The layout is a bit hap hazard.  I think Target have outgrown this venue.  It would be better if all vendors were in one big room 

 

 

 

Scores:

 

Vendor Layout:  3

 

Vendors Available:  4

 

Venue: 3

 

Atmosphere: 5

 

15 points

 

 

 

They got a MUST ATTEND Award for this product.