SURF EXPO 2027 · ORLANDO · JANUARY 6–8

Three days. 509 booths.
Follow up on every buyer you actually met.

MeetDrop is a lead capture app for trade shows. After each conversation you speak one sentence into your phone, and the follow-up email is written and sent before they reach the next aisle.

Surf Expo is the watersports and beach-lifestyle buying show: 509 exhibitors at the Orange County Convention Center, and a floor open only to qualified retail buyers and media — no public, no browsers. Everyone you meet can place an order. Here is how to leave Orlando with the follow-ups already sent.

January 6 – 9, 2027 Wednesday & Thursday 9am-6pm, Friday 9am-4pm Orange County Convention Center, Orlando

Claim a Team spot Claim a Pro spot

Free for Surf Expo — limited spots. Or see the plans and start free today, no card.

Curious how it feels? Try it on yourself

1 · You say it

Snap their card or badge, tap the mic, and say what you would have scribbled on the back. Seven seconds, in your own words.

Just met Jack from Northwind, wants the partner agreement, review Thursday.

2 · MeetDrop writes it

Name, company and what they asked for are pulled out. The email is written in your voice, with the right link already in it, and the lead is scored against the people you came for.

The partner agreement — as promised at the booth

3 · You press send

Read two lines, press Send, and it leaves from your own address. Nothing ever goes out that you did not press. Replies land in your inbox.

"So you’ll email me?" — "Already sent, Jack."

Seventy-three seconds, start to finish. The booth is a dramatization; every phone screen is the real app, recorded live. “Already sent, Jack. Take care.”

How three days at Surf Expo actually go

Wednesday, January 6 — the doors open

509 booths and a floor of buyers who came to write orders. Every conversation is sharp and every card gets a note on the back. By lunch there are thirty cards and the notes have stopped.

Thursday, January 7 — the day the booth earns its money

Boutique owners and chain buyers doing their real rounds, comparing your line against the one two aisles over. The good conversations and the polite ones end up in the same pocket.

Friday, January 8 — it closes

Breakdown, a flight. The follow-up is now a task for the week you are back — the week a buyer is placing the orders they decided on at the show.

With MeetDrop, the follow-up left with the conversation

After each buyer walks away, whoever spoke to them taps the mic and says what they would have written on the card. You fly home with a lead list that already shows who opened and who replied.

MeetDrop is free for Surf Expo. Ten spots on each side of the aisle.

Ten Pro plans for people walking the floor, ten Team plans for booths. The price is one public post saying you are going.

A woman with a badge walks a wide convention centre aisle speaking a voice note into her phone

WALKING THE FLOOR

Pro, free through January 31 $99 / mo

10 of 10 left

For retail buyers, boutique owners and anyone attending on their own badge.

Unlimited AI follow-up emails for the show, not the 10 a month on Free
Follow-ups sent from your own email domain
Lead scoring, ideal-customer profiles and CRM sync
The show recap: who opened, who replied, who went quiet

Claim a Pro spot

Two men at a trade show booth; the exhibitor holds his phone over the visitor's business card

WORKING A BOOTH

Team, free through January 31 $199 / mo

10 of 10 left

For the whole crew on the stand at the Orange County Convention Center.

Everything in Pro, for everyone on the booth
One shared lead pool with dedupe — three seats included
Assignment, so the rep who had the conversation sends the email
Team recap by rep, by day, by hall

Claim a Team spot

How to claim it

Post that you are going

On LinkedIn or X, public. Use ours or write your own — it has to say Surf Expo and mention MeetDrop.

We're at #SurfExpo 2027, Orlando, January 6–8 — booth number. Come find us. This year every conversation at the booth gets its follow-up the same day, thanks to @MeetDrop. meetdrop.ai/events/surf-expo

I'll be at #SurfExpo 2027, January 6–8 in Orlando. If we meet on the floor, expect an email from me before you're back at the hotel — I'm running my follow-ups with @MeetDrop this year. meetdrop.ai/events/surf-expo

Paste the link to your post

In the form on the right, with the email you will sign in with.

We switch it on

A person checks the post and turns the plan on within one business day. You get one email saying it is live. Nothing else.

Going to Surf Expo with MeetDrop

Updated as spots are claimed · each name links to their post

ATTENDING · 0 OF 10 CLAIMED

First name
goes here

Open

BOOTHS · 0 OF 10 CLAIMED

First booth
goes here

Open

Listed with permission, from the box on the claim form. Ask us and you come off the same day. After the twenty free spots are gone the wall stays open — post that you are going and you are listed, whether or not a plan came with it.

One app, both sides of the aisle

However you work the show, the follow-up is sent before the conversation cools.

Every badge is a buyer

Surf Expo is trade-only, so there is no sorting to do afterwards. Capture everyone and the list is already qualified.

Seven badges, one list

Each 10×10 booth gets seven badges. All seven capture into the same place, so the follow-up goes out once rather than twice.

No lead-retrieval rental

A small stand needs no scanner hardware and no laptop — just the phones your crew already has.

What we checked with the organizer

9 facts about Surf Expo, each with where it came from.

Surf Expo is trade only — open to exhibiting manufacturers, industry-specific qualified retailers and media, and not open to the public. source
The January 2027 edition is held in the Orange County Convention Center's West Concourse, 9800 International Drive, Orlando FL 32819. source
Published hours for the January 2027 edition are Wednesday and Thursday 9am-6pm and Friday 9am-4pm. source
Qualified retail buyers attend free if they register two weeks before the show; after that a $25 registration fee applies, and buyer guests/team riders are $25 each up to four. source
Non-exhibiting manufacturers, reps and suppliers may apply for a Non-Exhibiting Manufacturer badge at $2,000 per person, maximum two per company, valid for one show only. source
The organizer states more than 80% of its buyers write orders at the show and that it provides exhibitors attendee pre-registration information and free lead-retrieval badge scanning at no cost. source
The organizer cites strong buyer attendance from the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and Central & South America. source
The January edition is organized around Surf, Resort, Swim, Boutique, Footwear, Gift and Coastal Outdoor Lifestyle buying categories. source
Surf Expo is produced by Emerald Expositions, per the developer of the official Surf Expo app. source

What you are actually setting up

Your links, your tone of voice, who you are trying to meet. Then the app writes each follow-up in your words and you press Send. Scoring, your own sending domain, CRM sync and the shared team pool come with Pro and Team — the whole walkthrough is on one page, with what each plan includes.

The capture screen: add a photo or a business card, then tap the microphone — Snap the card, tap the mic

A drafted follow-up email opening with the document the lead asked for at the booth — The email, in your words

Who is worth chasing

The events screen with a trade show set as the current event — One show, one lead list

The Today screen: counts for sent, opened and replied, and a lead who wrote back — Sent, opened, replied

The per-event recap: leads captured, follow-ups sent and who replied — The recap you fly home with

What it costs after Surf Expo

You can start free today with no card. If Surf Expo is the only show you work this year, the Event Pass covers it. The twenty free spots above are Pro and Team at no charge through January 31.

Free

Every lead you meet, kept

Unlimited leads, forever

10 AI follow-up emails a month written and sent for you
Unlimited captures: voice note, card scan, AI extract
Every lead saved, searchable, exportable to CSV
Basic counts
Emails carry a “Sent with MeetDrop” footer

Get started

Unlimited leads. No credit card.

Event Pass

One show, everything captured and followed up

$49/ show

Unlimited leads, forever

200 AI follow-up emails written and sent for you for one show. 30 days from the first one.
No “Sent with MeetDrop” footer
Replies come back to your address
CSV export
Event recap analytics
Email support

Buy an event pass

One payment, no subscription

Pro

FREE FOR SURF EXPO

For people who work events all year

$99/ month

or $79 a month billed annually

Unlimited AI follow-up emails written and sent for you
Send from your own domain
CRM sync
Always-on adaptive follow-up
Drop a list
Lead scoring
Advanced analytics, priority support

Claim it free

Ten spots, one public post.

Team

FREE FOR SURF EXPO

For booths worked by more than one person

$199/ month

3 seats included, then $49 each

Everything in Pro for the whole team
Shared lead pool with dedupe
Drop a list for the whole team
Assignment and routing
User management
Team and per-rep analytics
Priority support and onboarding

Claim it free

Ten spots, one public post.

Enterprise

Ten seats and up, with the pieces a larger organisation needs.

API + webhooks
10+ seats
Everything in Team
Named success manager

Talk to us

Prices in US dollars. Cancel any time; your leads stay exportable.

Questions people ask before Surf Expo

What exactly is MeetDrop?

A lead capture app for a floor where every badge is a buyer. You photograph a retailer's card and say one sentence about what they wanted — the colourway, the order window, the store they buy for — and MeetDrop writes the follow-up in your voice and sends it when you press Send. Surf Expo is trade-only, so there is no sorting afterwards: everything you capture is already qualified.

When and where is Surf Expo 2027?

Surf Expo 2027 runs January 6 to 8, 2027 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Is Surf Expo open to the public?

No. Surf Expo is a trade event open exclusively to qualified retail buyers and media — it is not open to the public. For exhibitors that is the whole appeal: every badge on the floor belongs to somebody who can place an order, so there is no qualifying to do after the show, only following up.

How many exhibitors are at Surf Expo?

509 exhibitors. Each 10×10 booth space contracted comes with seven badges, so a typical stand has several people capturing conversations at once — which is exactly where a shared lead list with dedupe earns its keep.

How do I exhibit at Surf Expo?

By submitting a booth request application, or by contacting the show directly if your company has exhibited before. Each 10×10 contracted comes with seven badges.

What does MeetDrop cost?

Free to start: unlimited leads, with 10 AI follow-up emails a month written and sent for you. An Event Pass is $49 for one show: 200 AI follow-up emails, for 30 days from the first one, with replies coming back to your own address. Pro is $99 a month, or $79 billed annually, for unlimited AI follow-ups, sending from your own domain, lead scoring and CRM sync. Team is $199 with three seats — worth it here, because a 10×10 comes with seven badges and they should all write into one list. Ten Pro and ten Team plans are free for this show through January 31.

Does Surf Expo have an official badge scanner for exhibitors?

Surf Expo offers exhibitor lead retrieval that reads the badge. The badge says which store someone buys for; it does not say they want the January delivery in two colourways and have asked twice about minimums. MeetDrop captures that beside the scan, and imports the scanner's export after the show so the buyer appears once, not twice.

How soon should I follow up after Surf Expo?

The same day, from the show. Most trade show leads never get a meaningful follow-up, and exhibitors who wait more than a week see reply rates fall sharply against those who reach out within two days. A buyer walked 509 booths in three days and placed their orders the week after. The first specific email is the one that gets remembered.

Can attendees use MeetDrop at Surf Expo, or only exhibitors?

Both, though Surf Expo tilts one way: the floor is open only to qualified retail buyers and media, so attendees are buyers rather than browsers. Buyers capture the brands they want to carry; exhibitors run all seven booth badges into one shared list with dedupe. Ten free spots each side.

What does free for Surf Expo include and how do I claim it?

Ten buyers get Pro and ten stands get Team, free from the day they claim through January 31, 2027. Post publicly on LinkedIn or X that you are going to Surf Expo and mention MeetDrop, then paste the link in the form on this page. A person checks it and switches the plan on within one business day. No card. On February 1 the account returns to Free with every lead still in it.

Do I need to install anything?

No. It runs in your phone's browser, which is what you want when seven badges on one 10×10 are all capturing at once. Sign in with Google or an emailed code, set Surf Expo as your event, and the capture screen is ready. There is an iOS app if you prefer one.

Answers to the questions behind this page

Each one is a page that answers a single question properly, without asking for an email first.

Before the show

Using MeetDrop

Weighing it up

All of them on the answers index, or see every comparison.

Not going to this one?

The same thing happens at every show.

See all event playbooks

Free for Surf Expo — ten Pro, ten Team, one post.

Start free

Three days. 509 booths.Follow up on every buyer you actually met.