I have always loved Greek mythology. One of my favorite books when I was in high school was Homer's The Odyssey. One of the more memorable stories was the legend of Mentor. Mentor was a friend of Odysseus, the hero of The Odyssey, who asked Mentor to tutor his son Telemachus when he went off to war. However, on several occasions, the goddess Athena (see the photo of her statue above) assumed the disguise of Mentor to give Telemachus more practical advice. This legend resulted in the use of the word mentor (σοφός σύμβουλος) as a synonym for tutor or wise advisor.

Mentors have often had a profound impact on the lives of those they have helped.

Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great,
Martin Scorsese mentored Oliver Stone,
Obi-wan Kenobi mentored Luke Skywalker, and
Batman mentored Robin

Like Batman, TSEA also has some superhero mentors whom you will notice in our new Meet our Mentors section of our home page as well checking out the TSEA Mentors web page which also has complete instructions on how to request a mentor. You can also access this web page from our home page by just clicking on the Meet our Mentors heading at the top of the moving photos of our mentors which you can also click on to read their mini bios and areas of expertise.

Some of our members have commented on the importance of this TSEA member benefit.

Your Super Bowl is the next trade show your staff attends. The trick is to get focused on the right people, select the right shows and establish the game plan. You don’t want to get 100 touchdowns; two or three are often all that’s needed to win.

Which would you rather have: 500 mediocre leads or 25 – 30 high value leads? The answer is obvious. Yet many exhibitors who attend trade shows try to talk to as many people as possible, and then go back to the office with a fist full of business cards and say. “See what I accomplished.”