I don’t know how I managed to mess this up but I omitted a good portion of Daniel’s concluding thoughts (checklist). Sorry about that. Here is the summary of Daniel’s launch journal thus far; parts one, two, three, four, five, six and seven. Daniel also has a thread going in the forum to discuss the proprietary elements of his line’s launch.
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Interesting websites

• ConstantContact.com – Great for managing larger email distribution lists
• www.bestjobsph.com and www.philippinesoffshoring.com – Looking for offshore (read outsourcing) labour
• CraigsList.org – Good for almost anything. I used them to find models and photographers

Getting email addresses

• Scour the website of the tradeshow you are going to for potential leads
• Do you belong to an association? Ask them!
• Ask the organizers of the trade show for email addresses from past shows.

Shipping

• Find out how much the hotel you are staying at charges to receive packages.
• Use any contacts you have in that city to receive packages.
• The UPS Store, PakMail and other can receive packages for you at a nominal charge. Make sure they will be open when you need them to be!
• Give yourself at least seven days (more for overseas) to have packages sent to you arrival destination.

Hiring Models/Photographers

• It’s great if your models can do double duty. It was great having three other people there working the booth.
• Even if you think that you can do a show by yourself, get someone local there too!
• Send your people as much material a head of time so they can get educated on the product/service. Send updates in the weeks before the show. Keep in constant contact.
• Confirm with any employees a couple of times that they will be there for you at the show. Remind them of the date and time.
• Get the models to be active. Have them stand outside your booth area and engage customers, draw people into your booth. People are attracted by people. “Look at the crowd! Let’s check them out!”

Printed Material

• Media Kit for Journalists
• Line Sheets
• Look Book
• Other Brochures
• Help Wanted sign for trade show bulletin board.
• New A/C form
• Order form
• Don’t be afraid to have too much printed material. It’s cheaper to bring with a few extra printouts than getting them printed at the show/hotel. Also much more convenient!

Leads

• Approach and talk with anyone who walks by. You never know where a conversation will lead to or who the person is.
• Rate your leads on a scale of 1-5.

Other Tips

• Keep hydrated
• Wear comfortable shoes
• Throat lozenges

Oh wait don’t go yet….
The photographer that I used was great. Here are some pictures that we got of the models. If you are ever going to be in Las Vegas for a tradeshow and need any models/photographers, please let me know and I’ll be pleased to forward the contact information.