Just got back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas (I'll be talking plenty about that more later as I get over my jet lag – just flew in on the red eye, yikes) and some of the most interesting people there were working the exhibits. This temporary help was hired from pools of modeling agencies, marketing companies, and yes, plain ol' run of the mill temp agencies.
I heard that the pay was okay (for the week of work), sometimes the temp workers got perks (like the clothes they had to wear – though how many shirts with company logos can a girl wear?) but the big win with these assignments were the contacts made.
One woman I was talking to was an aspiring actress, a blogger, and interested in marketing. During her time manning the NBC booth, she met Donny Deutsch (of the Big Ideas fame), Maria Bartiromo (of the Wall Street Journal Report) and Seth Godin (one of my favorite marketers). Talk about some valuable contacts!
What about the folks at the less celebrity flooded exhibits? They met product designers, marketers, and company founders. Oh, and press contacts, many, many press contacts.
'Course all these contacts are useless unless they are maintained. Keep a hold of those business cards. Email them from time to time (send them a link they'd find interesting). Make that assignment pay for years to come.