Nationwide Marketing Group’s biannual PrimeTime event is designed to be a productive and education- and networking-filled event for every independent retailer in attendance. There’s ample opportunity throughout the four-day event to get educated on the latest trends in the retail industry, hear from vendor partners about their newest products and connect with colleagues to commiserate and idea share.

Then, of course, there’s the two-day PrimeTime Expo where the business happens.

As you prepare for PrimeTime — whether you’re a first-time attendee or someone who’s worn out a few pairs of shoes on the show floor — there’s still plenty you can do to ensure that you set yourself (and your business) up for success.

Here are three things you can do, before you touch down in our host city, to ensure you’ll make the most of our time together.

Download the PrimeTime App

The Nationwide PrimeTime app is your go-to resource for, quite literally, all things PrimeTime. Available on both Apple and Android devices, the app is updated for each PrimeTime show. The Nationwide team will use the app to send out reminders about upcoming important events (like the opening general session or Palooza). Exploring the app ahead of time is also a great way to get familiar with what’s happening at PrimeTime before you’re actually at the show.

Within the app, you’ll find all kinds of resources including:

• • A map of the expo hall
  • A full rundown of the schedule for each day (including times and locations for all Nationwide Learning Academy sessions)
  • Bios for all of the speakers at the show
  • Full exhibitor listings
  • Attendee listings, which allow you to connect with others at the show
  • Info on local attractions, restaurants and more
  • Social media streams, and much more

The app allows you to go through the schedule and ‘favorite’ various meetings and events, which then show up in a personalized ‘My Schedule’ section of the app.

Browse the Nationwide Learning Academy Sessions

With over 100 different sessions that are broken out into more than a dozen tracks, the Nationwide Learning Academy (NLA) is always jampacked with meaningful education. Trying to determine what sessions you want to go to while on the ground at PrimeTime can get overwhelming to say the least. That’s why Nationwide Marketing Group posts the course listings and session descriptions well in advance of the show itself — to give you the opportunity to look at what’s being offered and determine which sessions you want to attend, and which you want to send your other team members to.

In the PrimeTime app you can scroll through the entire schedule and click through each session to learn more about the topic and the speakers who will be presenting. There, you can also ‘favorite’ sessions you want to attend and add them to your show schedule. You can also find all of the same information right on the PrimeTime website.

NLA’s cover myriad topics aimed at helping you run a more efficient, more successful business. Tracks include everything from Business and Financial Services to the in-store experience, website management, social media, product training, data and analytics, leadership, digital marketing and more.

Explore the Exhibitor Listing & Offers

Half of your time at PrimeTime is dedicated to buying opportunities, whether that’s during the 90-minute Palooza frenzy or the two days of the PrimeTime Expo. Before you get to the show, get to know which exhibitors are going to be in attendance so you can map out your stops and maximize your time.

Both the PrimeTime app and PrimeTime website have full exhibit hall maps available in the weeks leading up to the show, and the exhibitor listing is updated regularly as vendor partners are added to the show and booth space gets filled in.

Beyond just names and booth numbers, though, you can get a sense of the CashBack and Show Special offers that will be available to you at PrimeTime. Head over to the CashBack website (MemberNet login required) to browse the exclusive offerings each vendor will bring to the table at PrimeTime.

And there you have it; you’re all set up for success at PrimeTime. Just don’t forget to pack more than one pair of underwear!