This is my first time participating in this show and the weather has been perfect.I have just started doing shows in the Southeast and I have found the attendees to be very receptive. Yesterdays attendance seemed to be a little short of what I was anticipating and so were the sales. My biggest disappointment has ben the quality of the of some of the products. I was not expecting a fine craft show but I was expecting more than I have seen. Many booths are representative of what I would expect at the local church bazaar.
I must admit that I came out OK for this show and I have picked up several
New clients but I was down about 40% of my average for a 3 day show. But I only came out on the OK side since my next show is in Chantilly, VA. I truly hope they work on their web presence for next year.
The concession was a joke... I did bring in my cooler since I only drink caffeine free/diet soda or water. I did look at the concession and I saw very few people utilizing it. I passed!
I was there also as a filler show. Slow, slow, slow. You are right about the quality of the work, some buy/sell, some church bazaar, bead society, yarn society...Out of 111 booths I saw about 15-20 booths that were actual artists, designed and handmade all of their work. I barely made fees back. I was too urban, modern for the crowd. Really disappointing. How did you like the snipit about the artists not bringing a cooler...you must buy all your food and drinks at the convention center. Outrageous!
Show outcome... I was fortunate and came out Ok for this show, but several did not. There is no way for a vendor to estimate attendance numbers but it does not take a math wizard to be able to see if there is traffic congestion or if the road is clear. And only one time can I say that it may have been difficult to navigate the isles.
I was able to speak to the show director about web presence and the importance of social media in marketing for artists and craftsmen. He indicated that he was aware that they did need to improve this area of their promotions however, he did not show much enthusiasm for it and said that Southern Virginia was behind the times in catching up with Northern Virginia in the world of social media.
All in all this show made an OK filler show for my Spring tour and I would consider it again for that purpose but I don't believe I would make it a stand alone or destination show unless I was a local.
Up next... Craftsmen's classic next weekend in Chantilly, VA...
Update for Saturday... Attendance was up considerably but still not was I was expecting of a show which is promoted as a high caliber show. According to other exhibitors the two show halls North had the registration and trade show for the Shamrock Marathon which as I understand posed a parking problem for many attendees on Saturday.
While initially researching this show the number of vendors was advertised considerably higher than are present. My count is 111which does not make "the areas largest craft show." EMG Shows who is the promoter does not have serious presence in the social media outlets which is also disappointing in the this age of technology. They have one basic FB page with the picture of the EMG staff as their avatar and no content whatsoever. I discussed this with one of the staffers a couple of months ago and she said they need to improve it. As of this writing nothing has been done.
Today is the last day of the show and I will see how attendance is and talk to more crafts people to see if there out look has improved. If today is the same or better than Saturday I will have done OK... We will see.
Comments
Me too, I'm a cooler kinda gal :) Have a great next show!
New clients but I was down about 40% of my average for a 3 day show. But I only came out on the OK side since my next show is in Chantilly, VA. I truly hope they work on their web presence for next year.
The concession was a joke... I did bring in my cooler since I only drink caffeine free/diet soda or water. I did look at the concession and I saw very few people utilizing it. I passed!
I was there also as a filler show. Slow, slow, slow. You are right about the quality of the work, some buy/sell, some church bazaar, bead society, yarn society...Out of 111 booths I saw about 15-20 booths that were actual artists, designed and handmade all of their work. I barely made fees back. I was too urban, modern for the crowd. Really disappointing. How did you like the snipit about the artists not bringing a cooler...you must buy all your food and drinks at the convention center. Outrageous!
I was able to speak to the show director about web presence and the importance of social media in marketing for artists and craftsmen. He indicated that he was aware that they did need to improve this area of their promotions however, he did not show much enthusiasm for it and said that Southern Virginia was behind the times in catching up with Northern Virginia in the world of social media.
All in all this show made an OK filler show for my Spring tour and I would consider it again for that purpose but I don't believe I would make it a stand alone or destination show unless I was a local.
Up next... Craftsmen's classic next weekend in Chantilly, VA...
Good luck to you, Terry. I hope today is a good day for you.
While initially researching this show the number of vendors was advertised considerably higher than are present. My count is 111which does not make "the areas largest craft show." EMG Shows who is the promoter does not have serious presence in the social media outlets which is also disappointing in the this age of technology. They have one basic FB page with the picture of the EMG staff as their avatar and no content whatsoever. I discussed this with one of the staffers a couple of months ago and she said they need to improve it. As of this writing nothing has been done.
Today is the last day of the show and I will see how attendance is and talk to more crafts people to see if there out look has improved. If today is the same or better than Saturday I will have done OK... We will see.