THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 15, 1994 TAG: 9409150426
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Lori Long hasn't missed a BizExpo in the last three years. She walked away last year with the door prize, Garth Brooks tickets, and landed a job with a company at the trade show.
She met people in 1993 at a credit-services booth, studied their brochure, took some computer classes and called them later for a job. They gave it to her.
``It gave me a really good idea of what the business world was like, how to dress,'' the 27-year-old Virginia Beach resident said of BizExpo.
The seventh annual BizExpo, billed as Virginia's biggest business-to-business trade show, doesn't promise jobs. But it does offer a furniture auction, two business fashion shows, a forum for networking, a chance to see the latest corporate gadgetry and, of course, freebies.
``I came here for the freebies and to observe the very cute men,'' said Amy Harrell, one of the people scoping out the show. She and Long carried plastic bags stuffed with pens, pencils, key chains, plastic tumblers, a yardstick and note pads.
BizExpo sponsor, Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, expects more than 6,000 people during the two-and-a-half days of the fair, which runs until 6 p.m. today. The event, being held at the Virginia Beach Pavilion, is flush with more than 200 product and service exhibits. Computers, cellular phones, academic institutions, makeup vendors, temp services, the U.S. Postal Service, health care programs and financial services were represented among the various booths. So were more exotic pursuits like Gamemaster USA, an entertainment company that offers corporate packages in paintball, where participants try to shoot opponents with paint pellets.
Many participants think the trade show helps their effectiveness in business. John F. Symons, regional coordinator for the United Leukodystrophy Foundation, finds the fair a good networking opportunity because hospitals are unfamiliar with his nonprofit organization.
Companies can answer questions about products and services, said Jan Ruckman, who supervises Express Mail for the Postal Service. She fielded questions about corporate accounts and the holiday season's effect on mail service.
But the games and giveaways drew the most attention from participants. Radio station WNIS 850 AM drew passersby with free cups for throwing marbles into a poster-sized Rush Limbaugh's mouth. People played roulette at Contel Cellular's booth. First Union Bank offered cups for three consecutive putts in the hole of its toy putting green.
``It's an attention grabber,'' said Kevin L. Joseph, assistant vice president of First Union's midtown office. ``We talk a while and then we ask `where do you bank?' '' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo bu Gary C. Knapp
Dale Marn of Chesapeake talks to Brenda Lee of Williamsburg, who
was representing A Basketful & More, a gourmet shop.
by CNB