Privacy Policy

TradeShowTips.com is my personal site about exhibiting at trade shows. I'm Michael Flavin, and I run it myself. This page explains what the site collects when you visit, share a tip or contact me, and what I do with that information.

The contact form

If you use the form on my contact page, you give me your name, your email address and your message. The form also asks a short math question, which cuts down on spam.

When you hit send, the site emails your message to me. I use your name and email address to read and answer your message, and nothing else. I don't add you to a mailing list, I don't sell your information, and I don't share it with anyone.

Your message stays in my email inbox. If you'd like me to delete it, ask through the contact page and I will.

Tips you share on show guides

If you share a tip on one of my show guides, I collect your name, your email address, whether you exhibited at or attended the show, your tip, and the date and time you sent it. Like most websites, my server also records your IP address and browser details with your tip. That helps me keep out spam.

When you send a tip, a copy comes to me by email, and I review every tip before it appears. If I publish yours, the site shows only your first name, your "Exhibited" or "Attended" badge and the tip itself. I never publish your email address or last name.

I use your email only to contact you about your tip. For example, I might ask a follow-up question or let you know it's live. I don't add you to a mailing list or share your email with anyone. To change or remove your tip, or to have your details deleted, use my contact page.

Newsletter

I don't send a newsletter right now, and nothing on this site signs you up for one. If that changes, I'll update this page first.

Analytics

I use three tools to see how people find and use the site. I don't use any of them for advertising.

Google Analytics 4. Google Analytics shows me how many people visit, which pages they read, roughly where they're from and what kind of device they use. It sets cookies named _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID, and these can last up to two years. Google processes this data on my behalf. If you'd rather not be included, Google offers a browser add-on that opts you out of Google Analytics on every site: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Independent Analytics. This WordPress plugin counts page views and visits. It runs on my own site, so the data stays in my site's database and isn't sent to or shared with any outside company. It doesn't set cookies.

Leadfeeder. Leadfeeder, part of Dealfront, looks at the IP address of a visit to work out which company it may have come from. It then shows me which pages were viewed. It's built to identify companies, not individual people. It sets a cookie named _lfa so it can recognize return visits.

Hosting cookies

My site is hosted by GoDaddy, and their built-in traffic tools load on every page. They set a few cookies so I can see basic numbers, like how many people visit and which pages they read. The cookies are named _tccl_visitor, which lasts about a year, plus _tccl_visit and _scc_session, which both last less than an hour.

Cloudflare sits in front of the site to keep it fast and block bad traffic. It sets a cookie named __cf_bm, which helps tell people from bots and expires after about 30 minutes.

Your choices about cookies

I don't run advertising on this site, and I don't use advertising or retargeting cookies. If you'd rather not get cookies at all, you can block or delete them in your browser settings. The site will still work.

Server logs

My host, GoDaddy, and Cloudflare keep standard logs of requests to the site, as they do for almost every website. Cloudflare sits in front of the site to speed it up and block attacks. The logs include things like your IP address, your browser type and the page you asked for. GoDaddy and Cloudflare use them to run and protect the site.

Spam protection

To keep spam out, the contact form asks a short math question. The tip form uses a few behind-the-scenes checks, such as limiting how many tips can be sent from one IP address in an hour. These checks run on my own site.

The trade show calendar

My Find Trade Shows page shows a calendar from TheTradeShowCalendar.com. The calendar comes from their site, not mine, and it loads its own scripts. One of them is StatCounter, which sets its own cookie. Their privacy practices apply to that calendar.

Links to other sites

My articles link to convention centers, show organizers and other sources. When you click through to another site, its own privacy policy applies.

Children

This site is written for trade show professionals. It isn't meant for children, and I don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

Personal opinions

The tips and opinions on this site are my own. They don't reflect the views or advice of any past or present employer.

Changes to this page

The date at the top of this page shows when I last updated it. If the site starts collecting something new, I'll update the page and change that date.

Questions

If you have a question about this policy or about your information, please reach out through my contact page.