Weeks out, ORRJO works the attendee and target list, books meetings with named accounts into your team's diaries and confirms each one in the days before. For a climate technology client at E-World in Essen, we have booked 50+ face to face meetings across multiple years.
Below: why teams pre-book rather than wait at the stand, how it works step by step, how far ahead to start, what the other routes cost (scheduling software, the show's own matchmaking and other agencies), and what happens after the show. Every third-party figure links to the page it came from, each checked on 13 October 2026.
- What ORRJO does: builds the list, runs the outreach, books the meetings into your team's diaries, confirms them and hands you a schedule.
- When it starts: several weeks before the event, with confirmations in the days immediately before.
- Proof: 50+ face to face meetings booked at E-World in Essen for a climate technology client across multiple years, and counting.
- Where: the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the US and Canada. Outreach runs in English.
- Price: no separate price for event programmes is published. ORRJO's published prices include Demand Generation from £2,500 a month and sales days from £350 a day (pricing).
Why pre-book meetings instead of waiting at the stand?
Because a stand on its own leaves the pipeline to chance. Most event budgets buy a stand and hope: you pay for the space, the build, the flights and the team, then spend three days hoping the right people walk past. The follow up is a bowl of business cards and a list of badge scans, and six weeks later nobody can tell you what the event produced.
Buyers plan ahead too. ProExpo Service, an independent travel management company, writes that "trade show visitors increasingly plan their time before arriving at the venue". Freeman's 2025 Commercial Trends Report found that more than half of respondents planned to attend just two or three events in 2025 (Skift Meetings), and that 84% say conversations with subject matter experts are crucial (Freeman press release). From the buyer's side, The Meetings Show reports a previous hosted buyer, the MD of Hatch Events, warning that without pre-booked appointments it can be very easy to wander around aimlessly and not get the most out of the show.
In the UK alone, the Events Industry Alliance found that 1,154 exhibitions took place in 2025, drawing almost 6.8 million visitors and 139,000 exhibitors and generating £5.3 billion in direct spending (Event Industry News; EIA research).
How do you pre-book meetings at a trade show?
Decide who you want to meet, reach them weeks before the show, put every agreed meeting straight into your team's diaries, and reconfirm each one in the days before. This is how ORRJO runs it.
| Stage | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. List work | Weeks out | We work the attendee and target list: named accounts, right roles, real reasons to meet. |
| 2. Outreach and booking | The weeks beforehand | We book meetings with the people you actually want, and they go straight into your team's diaries. |
| 3. Confirmations | The days immediately before | We confirm every one, because a meeting agreed six weeks ago needs reconfirming when the show floor gets busy. |
| 4. Schedule handover | By the time you arrive | You get a schedule rather than a stand to staff. Your team turns up and sells. |
| 5. Follow up | After the event | Named follow up, real reasons to speak again, straight into the diary. |
There is almost nothing for your team to do beforehand: we build the list, run the outreach, handle the confirmations and hand you a schedule. You arrive with a full diary.
If you run it yourself, two published accounts are worth reading. Lensmor, which sells event intelligence software, says that for most teams "the cleanest pre-show input is still the official exhibitor list", because it is company-level, public in many cases and available earlier than most person-level event data. Accelevents, an event software vendor, reports that for its own 10x10 booth at IMEX, its CRO and team sent roughly 3,000 messages across the event portal, email and LinkedIn, only to about 20 to 25 percent of attendees who matched their ideal profile, and that the CEO and CRO turned that booth into 126 pre-booked meetings, 116 of which showed up. That is a vendor's account of its own stand, not independent data.
How far in advance should you start booking trade show meetings?
Published advice runs from three weeks to six months before the show. ORRJO starts several weeks out, because the meetings worth having take time to book, and sends confirmations in the days immediately before.
| Source | Type of business | Advice, in its own words |
|---|---|---|
| ExpoLake | Attendee and exhibitor data | "The best time to begin booking meetings is typically three to six weeks before the trade show." |
| Accelevents | Event software | "Most exhibitors see the best results when they start focused outreach four to six weeks before the event." |
| Harbor BD | Trade show lead generation service | "Four to six weeks before the event, Harbor BD begins targeted outreach to the companies and decision-makers you want to meet." |
| meritt | Sales recruitment platform | "Six to eight weeks out, define one primary ICP for this show" |
| Halltime | Trade show appointment setting service | Books meetings "in the three to six months before the trade show". "Six months out is ideal, three is the minimum." |
| ORRJO (publisher's entry) | Event programmes | Several weeks out, with confirmations in the days immediately before. |
Where a show runs its own appointment system, the window can be short. At The Meetings Show, exhibitor Gill Moulden of Moulden Marketing says "the window for making appointments goes quickly, so it's all about being prepared" (The Meetings Show).
What has pre-booking delivered for an ORRJO client?
For a climate technology client attending E-World in Essen, we have run this for multiple years: 50+ face to face meetings booked across those events, and counting. Each year the team arrives with a diary of pre booked meetings with target accounts rather than a stand to staff and a hope.
The organiser reports that E-World 2026 drew more than 37,000 trade visitors and 1,136 exhibitors, says seven out of ten visitors are "decision-makers with strong purchasing and procurement authority", and names the United Kingdom among the visitor countries that were particularly well represented (E-world 2026 press release). The 2027 edition runs at Messe Essen from 16 to 18 February 2027, and by early October 2026, around four months before it opens, 90 percent of the exhibition space was already booked (E-world 2027 press release). These figures describe the show, not our client, whom we do not name here.
Across every ORRJO programme, not only events, we have booked 12,500+ meetings, with 90%+ meeting attendance. We do not publish a separate attendance figure for event meetings.
Which routes can you use to book trade show meetings, and what do they cost?
Broadly, there are three routes: book the meetings yourself with scheduling software, use the show's own matchmaking or hosted buyer programme, or pay a service to book them for you. ORRJO is one of several services: Halltime and Global Collaborations Group sell pre-booking too. Every competitor statement and price below comes from that company's own page and is shown in its own currency. ORRJO's row is the publisher's entry.
Services that book the meetings for you
| Provider | What its own page says | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| ORRJO (publisher's entry) | Weeks out, works the attendee and target list and books meetings with named accounts into your team's diaries; confirms every one in the days before; works the follow up after the event. UK, Europe, the Middle East, the US and Canada. | No separate event programme price. Demand Generation from £2,500 a month; sales days from £350 a day. Retainers and sales days, not pay per meeting. |
| Halltime | "We book qualified meetings into your stand calendar in the three to six months before the trade show." For manufacturers of equipment, materials and technology, in Europe and North America. | €2,880 / $3,480 refundable deposit, credited against the first six meetings, then €480 / $580 per meeting (pricing) |
| Global Collaborations Group | "Multi-channel outreach to target attendees so your team diary is full of qualified meetings before the event starts." Registered office in Lincoln, UK. | Not published; bespoke quote after a short call (home page) |
| Harbor BD | Outreach starts four to six weeks before the event; it "continues working for thirty days after the event"; each trade show engagement is exclusive to a single client within your market segment. | Not published |
| Punch! | UK SDR and appointment setting agency. Its events case study describes working accumulated event leads after the events. | "From £6k a month for one SDR. 90-day rolling contract" (general SDR service) |
Software and organiser programmes
| Product | Type | What its own page says | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cvent | Jifflenow | Exhibitor meeting software | "Request, approve, and confirm meetings before attendees ever arrive on the floor". Cvent's Appointments page directs sales teams to Jifflenow. | Not published; quote only (pricing) |
| Lodago | Platform for B2B exhibitors | "Schedule qualified meetings · Capture every lead · Manage event registrations · Track your event performance." | Annual subscription, custom quote (pricing) |
| Converve | Event platform with matchmaking, priced per event by attendee numbers | Match, Match & Meet and Match & Meet Pro plans, priced per event | From €3,400 net (Match), €4,950 net (Match & Meet) or €7,900 net (Match & Meet Pro) per event, for 1 to 100 attendees |
| Swapcard | Event platform | "Our packages combine licensing fees with per-user rates for attendees and exhibitors." | Not published; quote |
| Sitka | Event app (UK) | "Let your visitors plan ahead with the ability to pre-schedule meetings with exhibitors." | Not published |
| Calendly | Booking links | Plans priced per seat, with an Enterprise plan from 50 seats | Free; Standard $10 a seat a month; Teams $16 a seat a month (billed yearly); Enterprise starts at $15k a year |
| Microsoft Bookings | Booking pages | Included in listed Microsoft 365 and Teams plans | No separate price on the page we checked |
| HubSpot meeting scheduler | Booking links | "HubSpot's meeting scheduler is part of Sales Hub, and you can get started with it for free." | Free to start |
| meetergo | Booking links | Plans priced per user a month, including a free plan | Free; Light €9.90, Suite €29.90, Premium €49.90 per user a month, billed yearly. Suite and Premium are first-year prices, renewing at €34.90 and €59.90 |
Some shows run appointment programmes themselves. On its page for the 24 to 25 June 2026 edition, The Meetings Show in London lists 1,600+ qualified buyers attending and 16,000+ one-to-one appointments and presentations (The Meetings Show). At Business Travel Show Europe, hosted buyers get "exclusive early access" to the appointment tool, buyer requests are "automatically accepted in your diary", and an exhibitor's own requests "remain as pending until actioned by the buyer" (Business Travel Show Europe).
Which route fits depends on what you need. ProExpo Service says "a small team attending one or two exhibitions per year may not need a complex event platform", and also that "appointment scheduling does not guarantee more visitors". Its summary: "The appointment is not the product. The value of the meeting is."
Where does ORRJO run event programmes?
Across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the US and Canada. Outreach runs in English. ORRJO is headquartered in Glasgow, with its registered office in London, and runs B2B webinars and event programmes for companies from well funded startups through to large corporates.
What happens after the event?
The follow up starts, and that is where most of the value sits: three months of pipeline, not a three day sprint. Once you've shaken someone's hand, every message after it lands differently, and the outreach that follows an event is warmer than any cold sequence. We work the conversations afterwards the same way we work the meetings before: named follow up, real reasons to speak again, straight into the diary.
ProExpo Service writes that "a quick, relevant follow-up is usually more effective than a generic message sent to every contact weeks after the exhibition". Punch! shows the other end of the timeline: it reports reaching out to six months' worth of accumulated event leads for the agency HUT 3, then extending outreach to new targets; across those six months it reports 4,936 phone calls and 1,157 emails, resulting in over 100 qualified leads and $60K in new business revenue.
Do you run roundtables and dinners as well?
Yes. Sometimes the format that moves a market is 6 to 12 senior guests around a table rather than 400 registrations. We build the guest list, fill the room, and handle everything up to the point where you sit down. For webinars, see webinars and events.
What rules apply to contacting UK attendees before a show?
The ICO says the rule on marketing by electronic mail "doesn't apply to corporate subscribers", but UK GDPR still applies when you process personal data for direct marketing, even in a business context. Before live B2B calls, it says you need to screen against both the CTPS and TPS registers, as well as your own do not call list. The ICO also says this guidance is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act, so check the current version for your own case.
Questions buyers ask about trade show meeting booking
How far in advance do you start before an event?
Several weeks, because the meetings worth having take time to book. The list work and outreach run in the weeks beforehand, and confirmations go out in the days immediately before, so the diary holds when the show floor gets busy.
Do we need to do anything on the day?
Turn up and sell. We build the list, run the outreach, book the meetings into your team's diaries and confirm them. You get a schedule rather than a stand to staff. We confirm every meeting in the days before, because a meeting agreed six weeks ago needs reconfirming when the show floor gets busy.
What happens after the event?
The follow up is the part most companies skip, and it's where the value sits. Outreach after a handshake lands warmer than any cold sequence, so we work the conversations afterwards into further meetings. We work them the same way we work the meetings before: named follow up, real reasons to speak again, straight into the diary.
Do you only do this in the UK?
ORRJO runs event programmes across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the US and Canada, not only in the UK. Outreach runs in English. For a climate technology client, we have booked meetings at E-World in Essen for multiple years. ORRJO is headquartered in Glasgow, with its registered office in London.
How much does it cost to pre-book meetings at a trade show?
ORRJO does not publish a separate price for event programmes. ORRJO's published prices include Demand Generation from £2,500 a month and sales days from £350 a day, and ORRJO sells retainers and sales days, not pay per meeting. Halltime publishes a €2,880 / $3,480 refundable deposit, credited against the first six meetings, then €480 / $580 per meeting. Converve, an event platform with matchmaking that is priced per event by attendee numbers, starts from €3,400 net per event for 1 to 100 attendees.
Is meeting scheduling software enough on its own?
It can be for a small team. ProExpo Service says a small team attending one or two exhibitions a year may not need a complex event platform, and also that appointment scheduling does not guarantee more visitors. Cvent describes trade show meeting scheduling software as helping your team pre-book, manage and track meetings at events. ORRJO builds the list, runs the outreach, books the meetings into your team's diaries and confirms them.
What rules apply to contacting UK attendees before a show?
The ICO's business-to-business marketing guidance says the rule on marketing by electronic mail doesn't apply to corporate subscribers, but UK GDPR still applies when you process personal data for direct marketing, even in a business context. Before live B2B calls, you need to screen against the CTPS and TPS registers and your own do not call list. The ICO says the guidance is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act.
Sources
- ProExpo Service, How Smart Exhibitors Turn Trade Show Visitors Into Pre-Booked Meetings, 5 August 2026, checked 13 October 2026. Visitor planning, small exhibitors, limits of scheduling tools, follow-up timing.
- Freeman, New Freeman Trends Report Finds Commerce is the Top Priority at Events (GlobeNewswire release), 23 April 2025, checked 13 October 2026. 84% say conversations with subject matter experts are crucial.
- Skift Meetings, Commerce, Not Content, Drives Events, New Freeman Report Finds, 23 April 2025, checked 13 October 2026. More than half of respondents plan to attend just two or three events in 2025.
- The Meetings Show, Making the most of appointments, 24 February 2023, checked 13 October 2026. Gill Moulden and a hosted buyer from Hatch Events on appointments.
- The Meetings Show, Find out more, 2026 edition page, checked 13 October 2026. 1,600+ qualified buyers; 16,000+ one-to-one appointments and presentations.
- Business Travel Show Europe, Exhibitor appointment tool, 2027 edition page, checked 13 October 2026. Hosted buyer early access; pending exhibitor requests.
- Event Industry News, UK exhibitions sector delivered £11.7 billion economic boost in 2025, new research shows, 20 August 2026, checked 13 October 2026. 1,154 UK exhibitions, almost 6.8 million visitors, 139,000 exhibitors, £5.3 billion direct spending in 2025 (Events Industry Alliance study).
- Events Industry Alliance, Research, checked 13 October 2026. 2025 economic impact study.
- ExpoLake, How to Book Meetings Before a Trade Show, 3 August 2026, checked 13 October 2026. Three to six weeks.
- Accelevents, IMEX Pre-Show Strategy Case Study: 10x10 Booth, 116 Meetings, 11 February 2026, checked 13 October 2026. Vendor's own booth: 126 pre-booked meetings, 116 showed up; roughly 3,000 messages; four to six weeks.
- meritt, How to Book Meetings Before a Trade Show, 20 June 2026, checked 13 October 2026. Six to eight weeks out.
- Lensmor, How to Book Meetings Before a Trade Show with a Pre-Show Target Account List, modified 7 October 2026, checked 13 October 2026. Exhibitor list as the pre-show input.
- Halltime, home page and pricing, checked 13 October 2026. Service description, three to six months, deposit and per-meeting price.
- Global Collaborations Group, Global Exhibitions and home page, checked 13 October 2026. Pre-booking service; registered office in Lincoln; bespoke pricing.
- Harbor BD, Trade Show Lead Generation Services, checked 13 October 2026. Four to six weeks before; thirty days after; one client per market segment.
- Punch!, Appointment setting, checked 13 October 2026. From £6k a month for one SDR.
- Punch!, Turning Events Into a Pipeline of Opportunity, 23 April 2024, checked 13 October 2026. HUT 3: accumulated event leads, then outreach extended to new targets; 4,936 calls, 1,157 emails, over 100 qualified leads and $60K in new business revenue across six months.
- Cvent, Automate Meeting Scheduling, Event Networking & Appointment Scheduling Software and Cvent Pricing, checked 13 October 2026.
- Lodago, home page and pricing, checked 13 October 2026.
- Converve, pricing, checked 13 October 2026.
- Swapcard, pricing, checked 13 October 2026.
- Sitka, Appointment Scheduling & Meeting Booking App for Events, checked 13 October 2026.
- Calendly, pricing, checked 13 October 2026 (US dollars, billed yearly view).
- Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Bookings overview, 17 August 2026, checked 13 October 2026.
- HubSpot, Free Meeting Scheduler, checked 13 October 2026.
- meetergo, pricing, checked 13 October 2026.
- E-world energy & water, E-world 2026: Successful Anniversary, 12 February 2026, checked 13 October 2026. 37,000+ trade visitors; 1,136 exhibitors; seven out of ten visitors decision-makers; UK visitors well represented.
- E-world energy & water, E-world 2027: 90 Percent of Exhibition Space Booked, 6 October 2026, checked 13 October 2026. 16 to 18 February 2027 at Messe Essen.
- Information Commissioner's Office, Business-to-business marketing, checked 13 October 2026. Guidance under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act.
- ORRJO facts: Webinars and events and pricing.