Pre-show buyer meetings around US trade shows, set before you travel.

A good show puts many people from your category in one place, but an exhibitor is not necessarily a buyer, and an attendee may not make the purchasing decision. Define the target role, customer type and reason to meet before outreach starts.

The US International Trade Administration recruits buyer delegations to some US trade shows, but its event services exist to help US exporters. An overseas exhibitor should check eligibility directly instead of assuming it can use government matchmaking.

Dates as published by each organizer, checked on 4 October 2026: CES 2027 in Las Vegas, 6 to 9 January 2027. Natural Products Expo West 2027 at the Anaheim Convention Center, 2 to 5 March 2027, with exhibit halls open 3 to 5 March. The National Restaurant Association Show 2027 at McCormick Place, Chicago, 22 to 25 May 2027. IMTS 2028 at McCormick Place, 11 to 16 September 2028.

Choose the show your buyers attend, not simply the biggest one. Organizers can change details, so confirm dates on the official site before you book travel or space.

Four more US shows for manufacturers and industrial suppliers. Dates are as published by each organizer, checked on 10 October 2026; confirm them on the official site before you book travel or space, and plan around the buyer roles you need.

• MD&M West 2027 (medtech, design and manufacturing, plastics and packaging): Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, 9 to 11 February 2027. The organizer lists engineers, executives, R&D, production, quality and purchasing professionals among its visitors.
• ProMat 2027 (material handling and supply chain): McCormick Place, Chicago, 19 to 21 April 2027. MHI, the organizer, describes its visitors as manufacturing and supply chain professionals.
• NPE2027, The Plastics Show: Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, 3 to 7 May 2027. The organizer describes a show for the plastics industry covering materials, manufacturing and sustainability.
• PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2027 (packaging and processing): Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, 27 to 29 September 2027. PMMI, the organizer, describes its visitors as decision makers from food and beverage, life sciences, household products and personal care.

Official exhibitor directories, company websites and business records help confirm product and role fit. We respect each event's access and usage rules. A public directory does not give permission for every channel or prove that someone will attend on your dates.

Be wary of unsolicited offers to sell a show's attendee list, and check any such offer with the organizer before treating it as genuine. We confirm interest through the agreed outreach instead.

Send us the event, your travel dates, booth details if you are exhibiting, your meeting windows and the people taking meetings. We agree a meeting place or video option, a realistic length and enough time between appointments.

The brief separates real interest in your offer from a general wish to network. It records the buyer's role, topic, confirmed attendance and where to meet. Late travel changes and cancellations need a named contact and an agreed way of handling them.

• Prioritize buyers and partners with a clear commercial fit.
• Confirm the event dates and the prospect's plan to attend.
• Leave time between meetings for demonstrations and walking the floor.
• Give one person responsibility for calendar changes and follow-up.

Illustration, not a client result: a German components maker exhibiting at an industrial show in Chicago might hold buyer meetings in the mornings and keep afternoons for booth demonstrations. Its profile could require a procurement or distribution role with interest in a specified component range.

Trade-show meetings follow pay-per-appointment pricing, USD $100 to $500 per attended appointment, with every fee and event-specific rule in writing. Travel, booth space and registration are separate decisions. Report bookings, attendance, sample requests and later orders separately.

A planning guide for your team, worked backwards from the opening day of the show. It is not a Vivin delivery schedule or a promise of meetings; the discovery call sets a realistic lead time for your event.

1. 12 weeks or more before: choose the show against the buyers you need, confirm the organizer's dates, and check whether any organizer or government buyer program applies to an overseas exhibitor.
2. About 8 weeks before: hold the discovery call and agree the written buyer profile, the exclusions and the quote. Name the person who will take meetings and the hours that person can cover.
3. 6 to 8 weeks before: the buyer profile and exclusion list are final, so outreach can start. Settle your travel dates and the meeting place or video option.
4. 2 to 6 weeks before: outreach confirms buyer interest and plans to attend. Each confirmed meeting gets a time, a meeting place or video link, and the time zone shown for both sides.
5. The week before: confirm each meeting with the buyer, send your team the brief for each one (role, topic, confirmed attendance and meeting place) and name the person who handles calendar changes.
6. Show week: take the meetings, leave time between them for demonstrations, and record attendance and what each buyer said the same day.
7. After the show: follow up, and report bookings, attendance, sample requests and later orders separately.

These weeks are suggestions for planning, not Vivin delivery times. Booth space, travel and registration are separate decisions and are not part of the meeting service.

Illustration, not a client schedule and not a promised number of meetings: one day at a show in an Eastern-time city such as Orlando, for an exhibitor visiting from Central Europe in May 2027. New York is then on Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) and Central Europe on Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), six hours ahead.

For another origin, use the hours-ahead table on the selling-into-North-America page and check the date: the US changes its clocks on 14 March and 7 November 2027, and Europe on 28 March and 31 October 2027. A show in Chicago runs on Central time, one hour behind Eastern, and a show in Las Vegas or Anaheim on Pacific time, three hours behind.