No, I am not expecting you to pay for a trip for your customers to AAPEX or SEMA in Las Vegas, but I would bet if you just organized the trip, some of your customers would sign up to go with you.
It is not that hard to organize a trip like this.
First, send an email or text out to all your customers announcing you are looking into organizing the trip. Tell them what day you plan to depart, and what day you plan to return. Be sure they understand you are not paying for their trip. Tell them you are not looking for a commitment, but you want to see if anyone is interested.
Once you get an idea of how many are interested, contact a local travel agent, and explain you would like them to organize the trip for you. In addition to you, you cannot guarantee how many will go, but a good agent will be happy to help.
Next, you will go back to the interested parties, and tell them you are working with an agent, and the hotel will cost "X" amount of money per night, and the airfare will depend on how fast they book their flights. Since this is an educational work trip, it is probably tax deductible.
Have them contact the travel agent and see what happens.
I might suggest you spring for a dinner one night just to make a good showing.
The great part about offering a program like this to your customers is that even if no one goes, you look great in their eyes for even offering a cool trip like this.
I used to work for a really clever manager named Bob Z., who told me to call my merchant at The Home Depot and invite him to the 1992 Atlanta Braves World Series, so I called to invite the merchant, and he turned me down saying he already had several offers, but he thanked me a lot for thinking of him. Oddly, to this day when I see this merchant, he thanks me for taking him to the game, and how much fun he had. At no time did I ever go to a game with him or even have tickets to the game. Had he called my bluff, I would have had to buy off-market tickets at a small fortune, but in this case, I got the good will, and it didn’t cost me a dime.
Even if no one takes you up on your organizing effort for this year, consider it for next year and talk it up starting in the summer.
You might also send out a post-trip report to your customers telling them about some of the cool things you saw and learned about, and how they could help them.
