I would imagine that it's pretty typical to see reps from local broker firms attending these Expos in their respective cities? Seems like it would be a good way to make connections in a lot of different areas. I would definitely consider attending one next year

I appreciate all the comments here. I did opt to attend the Atlanta Expo. I wanted to provide some high level feedback on my experience for others that may be interested in a similar event in a nearby city. I don’t know that I would spend a lot of resources to travel to one of these events for ETA purposes, but I have ties to the Atlanta area and could easily make arrangements. Overall, I did think it was a worthwhile opportunity to meet several professional services providers face to face (e.g., SBA banking reps, alternate financing firms, a couple of marketing firms that could potentially help with mass outreach, a CRM rep, etc.). As others alluded to, there really wasn’t much interaction with potential acquisition targets. I did meet several business owners that offered to connect me with folks in their networks that may be open to selling. Time will tell if any of this networking leads to an acquisition, but I did think it was a good use of a few hours, so if there is a similar event in your city it could be worth checking out.