Rousted James out of bed (he was surprisingly pleasent) and off we went. It wasn't that far away, only an hour, but I am glad we had extra time - we got lost. One of my biggest concerns was that doors open to vendors at 8 - doors open to public at 9. That gives me an hour to set up. Found my spot, right next to a baked goods booth (oh the irony) and "oh happy day!", they had provided a table and two chairs!!! I was grateful to have the help, and flustered because he had no idea how to set it up and was always in my way. I stood in my chair and made an announcement to all the other vendors in the room I would rent him out for the morning. Everyone cheered and laffed, cept him :)
Now how do I want to set it up? I chose setting up the table along one side of the area instead of in the middle to open up the booth and hopefully make people feel more welcome. This proved to be a good choice with the table next to me being crowded all day. There was a lot of overflow into my area of people visiting and shopping the yummy desserts.
On the end of the table, I hung (hanged?) DISPLAYED! two signs. One with my name and my town (shows I am local), and the second touting the give away I am doing. I was excited about the give away. I offer the give aways to my FaceBook fans and to my blog readers, but I wanted to extend it to my shoppers as well. I had the necklace and the issue of Bead Trends it was published in displayed on the table with a little tent telling customers they could 'Win This!' If they signed up for my email list they got one entry, bought something, they got three more entries added to their name for a possible total of four. It was a smashing success!
I used half of the table cloth to cover my small table, and the other half draped across the chair to hold my earring board. I put one of my signs against the wall to show some of my pieces that have been published in Bead Trends and then had several of the magazines displayed under the earring board so customers could browse them if they wanted to.
As it happened - I had more than enuff to cover both tables! I honestly could have set up another table if I had had another cloth to cover it. This opens up a whole new world for me and the size of the shows I can do. I was very excited.
Over all it was a great success. My formula for a good show, is that I make three times my booth rent in sales. This show, I did over five times my booth rent!!!!
During the down times I do have to find ways to entertain myself. This show was no different. The ladies had provided each of the vendors with a little goodie bag of water, Nabs, and some Chicklets.
You know exactly what I did!
