It has ended, our first ever trade show for our
ladies t-shirts has come and gone and now we're left scratching our heads...Read on...
The show started on Sunday morning at 9.30 and so we arrived on Saturday evening to set up our area. As it was our first show we didn't know what was the done thing so decided to just get creative and try something. Elena came up with a whopper of a design which we printed out and she then painted. In total it was about 5 metres squared and when painted up and in place I think it looked pretty good. The overall set up of our area was not entirely as we had envisaged as we had a rail which just wound up blocking most of the design when the t-shirts were hung on it but thems be the breaks, the set up was done and the spirits were high - our first trade, bring it on...
It was an early start on Sunday, very early. Those who know me know that I'm a night owl of extreme proportions and so having to set the clock for 7.30am was as natural to me as as seeing a flying fish make a tuna sandwich. I managed to make that sandwich though and we arrived on time for the show. The early morning lethargy was quashed with coppious amounts of caffeine laiden coffee slurped back with a gullet in full gear. Once the caffeine had perked us up we sat and waited for the trade show to get fully underway...and we sat and waited....and we sat and waited....and we sat and waited...
Now, this is the part of the story where I'd love to be able to interject and go "But then!" - alas, no, not in this story. Sunday went by and in total one person spoke to us who expressed an interest in perhaps stocking our t-shirts (whether it will come to pass I do not know, I live in fading hope). Some of the few people who passed by mentioned that our set up was nice but for the most part it was as if we were not there. Sitting in that chair, with the caffeine coarsing through the veins and optimism failing, was really tough. There was nowhere to go and nothing to do.
After the show on Sunday I wound up talking to another exhibitor, a dab hand who had been around the trade show circuit and could smell a newbie a mile away. He said that the show was very quiet which somewhat made me feel a bit better about how badly things were going for us but he then went on to say that "Sunday was the busiest day of the 3 days" - I braced myself for tumble weeds..
The show kicked off again on Monday at 9.30 and after travelling across the city with a head full of "what the hell is today going to be like?" I took to my seat and started to mainline coffee. The tumble weeds which were promised had arrived. If I thought Sunday was bad and depressing it was only a glimpse at how lame a show could be. Sitting around all day doing nothing, hoping for people to pass by and take an interest in our
ladies t-shirts was challenging. Both myself and Elena were so gutted and disappointed - ah, really was brutal sitting in that chair. In my mind I was hoping to get some orders, some big orders, from shops and the likes, so that we can get our next collection of t-shirts created. Now, they are in jeopardy - damn it, everything is in jeopardy!
Tuesday, 9.30am, final day of the show. Yet again, nothing happens. The money we had spent on getting the space at the show, the money we had spent on the artwork and fixtures/fittings, the money we had spent on getting there and back 3 days in a row had all been wasted. Hopes had been dashed, future thrown into disarray, plans scuppered, optimism obliterated - the fallout from our first trade show, the Futura Fair, has been toxic.
It's all about learning though I guess. This was our first show and I had expected it to be a learning experience. Sadly though I don't think I really learned anything but to avoid that show in years to come (if we're still here). I had my wholesale numbers ready and was gunning to do some wheeling and dealing with shop owners alas the opportunity never arose. I'm still just as clueless as to how to deal with buyers which was one of the things I wanted to do at this show (as well as getting some sales obviously).
So, where to now? Well, I'm not too sure...Our
online shop is still ticking away (go on, get yourself a t-shirt, we need the cheering up) and we're still in the
Loft Market but we're not in any more shops which is what the real objective of the last few days was...I feel obligated to make this a success so that Elena and her designs can really get the showcasing they deserve (like, look at how dainty she made our area look) but for now I'm left just, well, scratching my head...
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