The 2007 NAFEM Show, held in Atlanta from October 11 to October 13, is in the books, and Mark Whalen, president of Victory Refrigeration and of Aga Foodservice Equipment, said he is pleased with how the event went for his companies. AFE had significant traffic in its booth through most of the show, he noted, including many visits from individuals who have responsibility for major E&S purchasing decisions.

    Coming into the show, Whalen said, AFE had set a goal of reinforcing its three-pronged value proposition of offering products with category-leading energy efficiency, unsurpassed reliability and differentiated features. AFE also made extra efforts to promote its Eloma combi oven brand, which introduced two new product lines in the weeks leading up to NAFEM.

    According to Whalen, both of these goals were achieved, in part due to the live cooking demonstrations AFE's corporate chefs conducted in the company's booth using Eloma equipment. "Eloma received a lot of really positive feedback. Our chefs did a terrific job of cooking and presenting menus of different foods. There were show-goers crowded around them all the time," he noted.

    In addition to drawing attendees to its booth with cooking demos and food samples, good pre-show planning also aided AFE during the '07 NAFEM Show. The firm had a new booth location this year with more space to accommodate its sister companies, Belshaw and Amana. This new location, Whalen said, was near a pick-up/drop-off spot for many busses transporting people to and from the show, resulting in AFE receiving a notable amount of collateral traffic.

    On top of helping the company build its brand, develop new sales and introduce new products, the show afforded AFE the opportunity to conduct key corporate business. The firm brought its reps together during NAFEM for refresher training sessions and executives used the exhibits on the show floor to evaluate their companies' offerings against those of their competitors'.

    All told, Whalen stated, the show provided a significant boost for AFE, and, based on his observations, for many other companies, as well.

    "It's the premier show on the equipment side of the foodservice business," Whalen stated. "As a NAFEM board member and a member of the Tradeshow committee, I was very happy with it. It's gratifying to see how professionally run it is, how well attended and what a great marketing vehicle it is."