Glossary

What is Using exhibitor directories properly?

By Benedict Mehlmann, technology and product at Kodo Leads · Last updated 1 Nov 2026

A trade show's exhibitor directory is the best list available before the show: who is there, in which hall, with what offering. Skimming it the evening before wastes it. Reading it weeks ahead means you know on day one which stands you will visit and whom you have already invited.

Partner note: industrie-messen.de is a partner of Kodo Leads; we are business partners. No data is exchanged between the two platforms.

What a directory does and does not tell you

A directory reliably answers three questions: who exhibits, where they stand, and which product groups they registered under. That is enough to find your way around the grounds. It is not enough to decide whom a conversation is worth. Exhibitors choose their product groups themselves, often generously. A company listed under "machining" may be a contract manufacturer, a tool dealer or a machine builder.

Many organisers also publish the directory only a few weeks before the show, and it keeps changing until the last day.

Five steps from directory to meeting list

Get the directory early and note the date. Check it again shortly before the show: who joined, who cancelled?
Filter by target customer, not by product group. Describe your target customer in one sentence, then check each exhibitor's website to see whether they really are one.
Look for an occasion. A new hall, a new site, an announced investment: a concrete occasion turns a stand visit into a conversation the other side wants to have.
Find the right person. Sales staff man the stand; the decision may sit with production management or the owner.
Invite three to four weeks ahead. With hall, stand number and a proposed time. Then sort your route by hall.

Where to find halls, stands and exhibitors

Organiser websites come first, but each is built differently. A uniform overview of the major industrial shows in German-speaking markets is the German trade show calendar with halls, stands and exhibitors at industrie-messen.de, including a planner that sorts your route by hall. Exhibitors can list themselves there free of charge.

The work the directory does not do for you

Steps 2 to 4 are the real work: with several hundred exhibitors, checking each company's core business, occasion and contact person takes a week, right when the stand is being prepared.

How Kodo Leads helps with Using exhibitor directories properly

Kodo Leads does this research for a show's exhibitors: you describe your target customer in one sentence, and Kodo checks for each exhibitor what it really makes, which machines run there, whether there is a dated occasion and who the right contact is, with the origin of every number and email. Every statement has its source; anything that could not be verified is marked as open. The first ten matching exhibitors are free.

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Frequently asked questions about Using exhibitor directories properly

When is a trade show's exhibitor directory published?

Usually four to eight weeks before the show, sometimes earlier for major shows. It changes until shortly before opening.

Are the directory's product groups enough to find target customers?

Rarely. Exhibitors pick their groups themselves. Whether a company really fits shows on its website: what it makes, for whom, with which machines.

What is industrie-messen.de?

A German calendar of industrial trade shows with dates, halls, stands and registered exhibitors. It is a partner of Kodo Leads; the two are business partners and exchange no data.

Last updated on 1 Nov 2026

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