For 17 years, we’ve grown the Androscoggin Business to Business Trade Show to be the best and largest one-day business show in the state. Expected to attract more than 2,500 attendees and nearly 200 exhibitors, we are proud and humbled by the consistently positive feedback we receive each year by business leaders who consider the show one of their best networking opportunities of the year.

This year’s Androscoggin Business to Business Trade Show has a new, progressive feel to it. With a new website and new social media tools in place, more than ever we are reaching out to larger audiences.

The theme of the show is “Networking Locally, Connecting Socially — Maximizing your Results.” Largely considered the great equalizer, how businesses utilize social media and modern technology to their advantage while still maintaining a personal touch is essential to growing their business.

Social media is a tricky avenue to approach. Make a mistake and within a few seconds you might find yourself answering a journalist’s question from halfway around the world. But at the same time, social media is the great equalizer. Few of us can afford to have an encompassing, 360-degree media presence in television, print, radio, digital and others. But if done well, social media can be a cost-effective path that not only opens a business up to opportunities in the marketplace, but perhaps new successful pathways that have yet to be explored.

However, even with the advent of new and advanced technology, the feature that makes the Business to Business Trade Show so valuable is the fact that we are able to bring so many business leaders, professionals, the public and industry leaders into one room to meet face to face and shake hands. No amount of email communication or social media interaction will ever replace meeting a new contact for the first time and introducing yourself. That much will forever remain true.

Of course, events like this don’t just happen. It takes months of planning and countless hours to bring to you a premier event. The Business to Business Trade Show remains a premier event throughout the state thanks to the many organizations involved: the Planning Committee, Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, cities of Lewiston and Auburn, staff, and countless others.

It’s also no secret that in order to generate publicity, receive quality leads, and draw a high attendance, we rely on our promotion and advertising partners to advocate for us via their media channels. On behalf of the LAEGC and Lewiston-Auburn, a special thank you goes out to our media sponsors in print, television, radio, and digital as well as our partners who make the event happen, partners like our exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees like you.

Lucien B. Gosselin

President