This past week, I had an opportunity to spend time with my biggest client of recent years face to face and learn many facets of their industry. Water and sewer infrastructure companies from all over the world converged on my hometown of Indianapolis February 22-24 for the WWETT Show (Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport). The staff from my client company POSM Software (Pipeline Observation System Management) arrived Wednesday night to set up their booth and prepare for a weekend of forging relationships, learning about the latest products, and educating others about their products.

POSM Software, in a nutshell, is one of a handful of software innovators with a program interface that helps operators use “crawler” robots and / or push cameras, the devices sent down into sewers and water lines to find cracks, weaknesses, blockages, and any other concerning issues that might need addressing. POSM has a pretty competitive product, and where I come in is that I help them tell others about their offerings through their website, brochures, newsletters, and (coming soon) social media and blogs, and why we feel ours is the best.

The awesome POSM crew and me to the far right.

Of course, in order for me to do that, I have to understand the industry as best as I can, so my visiting the WWETT Show accomplished more than simply meeting my clients face-to-face. I went out onto the floor, introduced myself to the companies POSM partners with, brought some leads their way about companies they may not have known about….and I may have had some fun visiting the competition and playing dumb.

WWETT Show Booth Babe

But mostly, I listened and I learned. I collected magazines full of industry success stories, and I even had a short conversation with marketers who specialize in the industry, a connection which should help me do my job better.

POSM Co-founder Bob Katter was away from the booth most of the time, visiting with other company reps and making deals. Those who stayed at the booth had great conversations with visitors, whether strangers or old friends. It was a couple days of positive synergy that hopefully will lead to many good things down the line, and which I hope to bring back into my role as POSM’s contracted copywriter to better do my job.

But first, I came home and slept for about four days, because it was also an exhausting time, and the cold I had been fighting had its way with me after. Then again, if you go to a convention called The WWETT show, you should expect to catch a cold afterwards.

Check out my event photo album.