42nd Annual Ag Expo Has Arrived | Video

Rene Thibault | 1/22/2013

It’s time once again for the KMOT Ag Expo. The North Dakota State Fair grounds will be host to hundreds of exhibits, seminars and equipment. But what goes into putting on an event like this?

It won`t take long for booths to fill in preparation for the start of the 42nd annual KMOT Ag Expo. But many visitors don`t realize the time and effort put in before the event even starts.

“Basically you have to do an inventory of everything you think you might need, because you`re 500 miles from home. Some things can be purchased locally, but if it`s a specific item to your display, you want to make sure everything`s in the trailer before coming to the show”, said Paul Andre with Honeybee Manufacturing, one of the many companies at the Expo.

Over 350 vendors from across the U.S. and Canada drove hundreds of miles to showcase the latest in agricultural technology and equipment. It`s all about finding the next customer for their business.

“It`s very important, you want to make sure that it’s got a nice, clean, open display, that people feel welcome to come into it. You don`t want it to be cluttered, keep it fairly simple but professional”, added Brian Brueske, a representative of Norac.

“Collectively, the exhibitors in the aggregate spend a lot of money on these shows. Literally millions of dollars go into them, but that`s just part of marketing”, said Andre.

The 2013 KMOT Ag Expo starts tomorrow. In preparation, many vendors rented their booths for an extra day, to make sure they had time to bring in all their equipment. “There`s a few of us here that rented this particular building for an extra day just so we can start moving the equipment in on Monday instead of getting it all done today,” said Chuck Lee of Summer’s Manufacturing.

But after weeks of preparations, and the three day event, these vendors are ready to hit the road when the 2013 Ag Expo comes to an end. “The joke among exhibitors over the years is that it takes two days to set up and an hour to tear down. ‘Cause when it’s time to go home and everyone wants to hit the road, they work a lot faster than they do when they`re setting up,” joked Andre.

Doors open tomorrow morning 9:00 a.m. and the Expo runs until 5:00 p.m., Wednesday through Friday.

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