I want to start out with this picture of my sister Linda (left) and myself right before the show opened on Saturday morning (3/12/16). We had just gotten everything up and arraigned. We were breathing a very big sigh of relief.
We had started out Friday afternoon to get everything set up the night before. Tom and I had put the tent up in a trial run a month ago and had labeled the posts but it wasn’t coming together in my mind and they were closing the building at 7:00. We left everything on the floor to continue the next morning. The show opened up at 10:00 and we needed every bit of that time.
The booth without us in it. We got back to the event center at 7:15 that morning. All night long my mind did not rest, I was going over the instructions when I was sleeping. I probably got only two hours of restful sleep and 4 hours of no sleep. I was very irritated with myself for not putting the tent up the week before. I had thought I didn’t have all my pieces or the labels had too many of the same words. But I was prepared and determined to get that baby set up and going. We did have another wonderful lady, Jennifer Rose, help us too. I believe it took a third set of eyes and two more hands but it got done. This show I learned a lot from. The artists around us were really nice and very informative. The next show I will be pulling that table forward because it did not get a lot of attention. I think people were hesitatn to come to the back of the booth.
I have decided that I need to:Pack the tent last so it is on top.Streamline the items that I really need to bring.Build the tent a week before the next show to get it fresh in my mind. (I do have the poles marked clearly in black sharpie too.)Be sure to have the hotel close. (We stayed 30 minutes away, and missed our free buffet breakfast.)Bring more business cards.From other artists the information that I gathered: Shows that they went to.( Some I hadn’t heard about)How they priced their items.How their sales were doing.Booth setup information.This show had a huge variety (56) of really nice artists. Unfortunately the weather was too nice because the traffic was not in the building. What I didn’t make in sales I made up for with information and meeting new like minded people.
This was my loaner Transit Connect that I was so lucky to use. It is a wonderful vehicle. I was able to load my heavy tent poles on my own. It has nice get up and go. The seats are comfy and there is plenty of leg room. We had frost on the windows on Sunday morning and it took no time at all for it warm up and clean off, which was good because I had no scraper. Thank you Brandon Nimmo-Sales Manager at Tom Kelley Ford in Decatur, IN. I am sure my sad face wore him down when I would ask him to find out where my new Transit Connect was at. He has a very happy customer.
This is just the start of my packing to go but the Transit Connect handled it all beautifully. The one I have ordered has many upgrades and windows and is Race Red.
My sister and I have a fun time doing this and each show will get easier. Till the next time….Thanks for stopping.
I’m so happy to see your first show all set up! The display looks amazing and so do you!! I look forward to attending one of your upcoming shows😊
Thank you for your kind words Kathy!