WEST 2027 · SAN DIEGO · FEBRUARY 16–18

Three days of Sea Service buyers.
Follow up on everyone 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.

WEST is the largest West Coast Sea Service event: around 362 exhibitors at the San Diego Convention Center, and the people walking your aisle are Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard program staff alongside the primes and integrators who sell to them. Here is how to leave San Diego with the follow-ups already sent.

February 16 – 18, 2027 San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

Claim a Team spot Claim a Pro spot

Free for WEST — 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 WEST actually go

Tuesday, February 16 — the doors open

Flag officers on the keynote stage and a floor that fills straight afterwards. Every conversation is sharp and every card gets a note on the back. By lunch there are thirty cards and the notes have stopped.

Wednesday, February 17 — the day the booth earns its money

Program offices, acquisition staff and the primes doing their own scouting. The conversation that matters is rarely the longest one, and by evening you cannot tell them apart from the polite ones.

Thursday, February 18 — it closes early

Breakdown, a taxi, a flight. The follow-up is now a task for the week you are back — the week a government buyer’s inbox has a fortnight of traffic in it and yours has four hundred unread.

With MeetDrop, the follow-up left with the conversation

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

MeetDrop is free for WEST. 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 March 31 $99 / mo

10 of 10 left

For program staff, primes doing their own scouting, 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 March 31 $199 / mo

10 of 10 left

For the whole crew on the stand at the San Diego 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 WEST and mention MeetDrop.

We're at #WEST2027, San Diego, February 16–18 — 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/west-conference

I'll be at #WEST2027, February 16–18 in San Diego. 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/west-conference

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 WEST 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.

Your stand, in their inbox first

The whole crew captures into one shared list. Two reps met the same program officer? One follow-up goes out, not two.

No lead-retrieval rental

A small booth needs no scanner hardware and no laptop — just the phones your crew already has in their pockets.

Every handshake, kept warm

Exhibitors scan your badge and you have nothing. Walk the floor with a voice note after each conversation and the show ends as a clean lead list.

What we checked with the organizer

4 facts about WEST (AFCEA International & U.S. Naval Institute), each with where it came from.

Runs February 16–18, 2027 at the San Diego Convention Center source
Sea-services and defense conference (AFCEA + USNI); ~362 exhibitors source
Exhibitors are defense/IT contractors; attendees are military and government buyers source
admission: paid registration 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 WEST

You can start free today with no card. If WEST 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 March 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 WEST

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 WEST

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 WEST

What exactly is MeetDrop?

A lead capture app for people who meet prospects in person. After a conversation you photograph their card or badge and speak one sentence about what was said. MeetDrop pulls out the name, company and what they wanted, writes a personalised follow-up email in your voice, and sends it when you press Send — usually within a minute of the handshake. It runs in your phone's browser and there is nothing to install.

When and where is WEST 2027?

WEST 2027 runs Tuesday, February 16 to Thursday, February 18, 2027 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. It is co-hosted by AFCEA International and the U.S. Naval Institute, and admission is by paid registration.

How big is WEST and who attends?

Around 362 exhibitors take space at the San Diego Convention Center. It is the largest West Coast Sea Service event, and the floor is a mix of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel, government acquisition staff, and the defence and IT contractors who sell to them. That mix is why a follow-up written the same day matters: a government buyer's attention moves on quickly once the show ends.

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 a month with three seats included. For WEST, ten Pro and ten Team plans are free through March 31 in exchange for a public post.

Does WEST have an official badge scanner for exhibitors?

Exhibitors can order lead retrieval through the show's exhibitor portal, and it captures the details printed on an attendee's badge. It does not record the conversation or write the follow-up, and attendees cannot use it at all. MeetDrop works alongside it for both, and can import the scanner's export after the show.

How soon should I follow up after WEST?

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. Your lead met dozens of other vendors across three days, so the first specific email is the one that gets remembered.

Can attendees use MeetDrop at WEST, or only exhibitors?

Both. Attendees capture the people they meet in the aisles and at receptions by voice; exhibitors run the whole booth crew into one shared list with dedupe. The free-for-WEST offer has ten spots for each side of the aisle.

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

Ten attendees get Pro and ten booths get Team, free from the day they claim through March 31, 2027. To claim, post publicly on LinkedIn or X that you are going to WEST and mention MeetDrop, then paste the post link in the form on this page. A person checks the post and turns the plan on within one business day. No card is needed, and on April 1 the account returns to Free with all your leads intact.

Is MeetDrop suitable for defence and government conversations?

Treat it as you would any commercial email tool. MeetDrop is for the business-card layer of a trade show — names, companies, roles and what someone said they were interested in. Do not speak anything controlled or classified into a voice note, the same way you would not write it on the back of a card. What you capture is yours, it is not sold, and the privacy policy names every processor involved.

Do I need to install anything?

No. MeetDrop runs in your phone's browser, and there is an iOS app if you prefer one. Sign in with Google or with a code emailed to you, set WEST as your event, and the capture screen is ready. There is nothing for your booth staff to download.

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 WEST — ten Pro, ten Team, one post.

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Three days of Sea Service buyers.Follow up on everyone you actually met.