Our first booth at the Oshi-Katsu EXPO: turning research into a place where you can meet us
KAZAORI Inc., which runs The Oshi Lab, set up a booth for the first time at the Oshi-Katsu EXPO in summer 2026. We usually analyze oshi-katsu through audio and articles, but at a trade show we can talk with companies, creators and fans in the same room.
The goal of exhibiting wasn't just to explain our services one way. It was to learn directly who describes their troubles, and in what words. It became a chance to test, in live conversation, the hypotheses we had built online.
- 01Go with a hypothesisNarrow down the value to convey
- 02Listen to conversationsRecord questions and hesitations
- 03Compare reactionsFind wording that lands
- 04Feed it back into publishingImprove articles and services
- 05Test it at the next venueKeep the learning circulating
The result isn't only the number of business cards but what you learned and what you will fix next.
At the venue, many people pass by in a short time. Before any detailed explanation, it has to be clear whom you help and with what.
A question asked again and again on site points to information missing from the website or sales materials. By feeding it back afterwards, the exhibition fee turns into learning.
The smaller the booth, the stronger "say just one thing" works
At a trade show, the list of things you want to show keeps growing: logo, video, panels, handouts, demos. But you're visible from the aisle for only a few seconds. Cram in information and people walk past without knowing what kind of company you are.
So we put one question at the center that links our oshi-katsu research and our business, and show detailed materials only after a conversation has started. Think of the booth not as an instruction manual but as an entrance that gives people a reason to talk to you, and it gets easier to narrow down the information you need.
People who knew our show came by: publishing builds trust before you meet
At the venue, we met people who had come to the booth after seeing our podcast and articles. Even at a first meeting, they already knew what the lab values. Before the short business talk, a stack of published work had already introduced us.
Publishing that doesn't turn into sales right away also stays around through search and sharing, and gets found on the day someone needs it. We felt for ourselves that what you build up online becomes the common ground that starts a conversation offline.
Publishing before and after a trade show
Publish your themes and thinking, and create a reason for people to come see you.
Answer the questions you got at the venue and connect them to the next consultation or article.
Don't let the numbers end at "it was a lot": use them for the next decision
At a trade show, record separately the number of visitors, people who stopped, people you talked with, people who took materials, and people who moved on to follow-up contact. A total of business cards alone can't tell you which words or displays helped.
Breaking numbers down isn't meant to make the success look bigger. Keep the time of day, the visitor's industry and the type of question, and you can change staffing and explanations next time. On-site numbers are not a reflection but a blueprint for what comes next.
The preparation and teamwork that supported our time out front
Exhibiting involves a great deal of work: planning, design, printing, equipment, load-in, shift changes on the day, teardown and correspondence. Take everything on at the last minute, and you lose the room to listen to visitors at the venue.
Who explains, who records, how to take breaks, and a shared list of the questions that come up often. The room to face visitors is made not on the day but during preparation.
Summary: the lab's next role, as seen from our first exhibit
- Collect conversationsListen on site for the words people use for their troubles, rather than explaining products.
- Connect publishingSupport the trust before meeting and the relationship after it with articles and audio.
- Keep what you learnRecord numbers and questions, and feed them back into the next service or exhibit.
A trade show is not only a place to show a finished company. It is a place where people tell you about problems you didn't know about, where you fix your own words, and where the next research begins. We will bring the conversations from our first exhibit back into future articles and services.
