A Day At The Tradeshow

Whew!  I spent weeks agonizing over my "tradeshow debut" only to have it fly by on a rainy Saturday afternoon.


First off, I just have to say that I implemented almost every tip that was suggested here by all my cyber friends and it made all the difference in the world.  The candy...the slideshow...the giveaway...the various heights...you guys are pretty smart!


The adventure started Friday evening when I stuffed my van full and headed to do the set up at the gym.
This is what awaited me....I had to work my wonders in this 10x10 space!  {Overachiever was my photographer for the evening}

After about an hour and a half I had something that resembled a real live photography booth ~

Here's one table that just had photos on it, and that's a canvas on the big easel...

I set up my giveaway table at the back in the middle. Anyone who wanted to enter the giveaway or grab some chocolate had to at least 'come inside' and take a look!

On the other side I had more photos along with some examples of my products...Christmas cards, greeting cards, accordion books (my favorite!) and I had my trusty Mac at the very end of the table playing my animoto video for the world to see~

So Friday night when I left I was feelin' pretty good about the whole thing...the video played perfectly, everything was in their place and I would hang my banners first thing in the morning...

...so Saturday morning comes alive with rain, rain and more rain!  I spent way too much time on my hair

trying to pull off the "artsy, hip" look, which I mentioned doesn't come naturally to this exhausted mother of 4:)  After making 4 trips in and out that morning trying to carry my umbrella and all my junk, my hair was windblown and wet, and my mood had completely tanked!

When I finally make it to my booth I realize that the hangers I had for my banners are way too small to fit  over the top pipe.  My tanked mood goes even farther into the ground...so I grab some safety pins and do the next best thing.  Hey, at least they're up.  

Then I plug my Mac back in and try to start my video loop.  It shows nothing.  NOTHING!! 

My dvd is nowhere to be found on the screen and I can't find it anywhere in my system, it won't eject, NOTHING!!  I spent about 20 minutes trying to act calm while my booth neighbors are watching when inside I'm wishing I could simply walk away and crawl back in bed:)  Having an income is so overrated...

Then, in a glance, I see that the video that I've been trying to find inside my computer for the last 20 minutes is sitting on my other table, safely nestled in it's case.  I hadn't even inserted it in my computer!

Do these kind of things always happen at events like this??

After I stopped freaking out and the crowd started filtering in, I actually enjoyed myself a lot.  The main attention getter was definitely the video playing...it would catch their eye, they'd watch for a few seconds, then scan the rest of my booth to see what it was all about.  I don't know that anyone stood there and watched the whole thing but it did the job and caught their eye.  And it was so noisy in the gym that the music wasn't even an issue.  I could have had the Barney theme song blaring and nobody would have noticed!

What made my day extra fun was having my BFF's with me...how sweet are they for giving up their Saturday to stand in a gym with me and eat cardboard pizza?

I got to talk to a ton of people thruout the day and had some great visitors too...

...this little gal kept me company for a while...

...and these girls were tons of fun...

My crew even stopped by looking like homeless vagrants and spent the afternoon swiping every free handout they could get their little paws on...yes, their father let them dress themselves that morning!

When it's all said and done I had a great day and learned a LOT!  I was able to talk about photography and photo editing with all new people and that's always a good day in my book.  Was it worth the time and investment? I don't know yet.  I guess I'll have to see how the leads work out this year.  Ya never know until you try.

I do need to address one very important matter that I learned about tradeshows.  If you're going to be standing on a hard gym floor for 8 hours it's a really good idea to wear sensible shoes.  I know this because I DID NOT wear sensible shoes!  Instead, I wore these...

Yep.  Black, leather, knee-high, stiletto heels.  

Would I advise anyone to wear these all day?  Nope.

Did I look better than I usually do in my everyday, soccer mom, sensible shoe wearing outfits?

You Betcha:)

Thanks for all your suggestions/advice/honest feedback/and everything else!  You helped make my "big day" so much better and a great memorable experience~

Stay Tuned...I'm gonna tell you all about those accordion books and why I love them!

  

Animoto ~ My Newest Obsession

Well, I asked for tradeshow advice and that's exactly what I got...GREAT advice from lots of you!


One of the overwhelming suggestions was to have a slideshow playing on a tv or computer screen.  This would allow me to show off lots more photos than I can display and also to have some fun showing some Before & Afters.


So I spent two afternoons choosing the *perfect* photos...resizing...arranging and organizing my folder...searching itunes for the *perfect* music (it doesn't exist!)...only to realize that I stink at making slideshows!  Maybe it's not my fault...maybe slideshows are just....kind of...boring?


But then I remembered a tip that a friend of mine gave me several months ago about an automatic video program called animoto.  He told me it created fabulous slideshows from your own images and automatically put them in beat with the music.  Cool.  So I checked it out...animoto...and guess what?


Animoto is my newest obsession!!


Here's just a few reasons why I love it:
1.  It's cheap.  30 seconds videos are free but 30 seconds is waaaaaaay too short.  I tried it out and made a full-length video for $3.  Tip:  If you want to be able to burn to dvd and play full screen you have to upgrade to high-res for $5.  Still pretty cheap in my opinion.  Or you can buy the all-access pass for $30 per year.  Professionals can get all kinds of goodies for around $249 a year.


2.  It's easy.  The steps are literally numbered for you and the "toolbox" is short and labeled with pictures.  My 8 year old can do it. {probably better than me}


3.  It's quick.  I have about 80+ photos in my first attempt and it was ready for me to view within 20 minutes.  Instant gratification is underrated.


4.  They have their own music.  I'm not really into the music scene thing so I was stressing about the whole music part.  Everyone knows music adds a whole new dimension of emotion to videos but getting the right music is the trick.  Animoto has several genres to choose from and it's included in the cost. 


Obviously this is awesome for photography but I've got so many more plans for this...soccer videos, my kids birth videos, the "year in pictures" videos, vacation...it's endless.  


So enough with the talk, I wanted to share with you the video I made for the tradeshow.  This one is strictly Before & After but I may make a "normal" one too...who knows...I may quit photography altogether and go into the video making business!


Take a look...and I'd love your thoughts on this (I know the first frame is out of whack)...would YOU stop and watch if you had 159 other businesses calling for your attention?



Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

I Need TradeShow Advice!

I'm in way over my head~
I'm going to my very first big trade show in a few weeks and I'm suddenly having a panic attack because I know Nothing about setting up for a trade show!


Let me clarify why I specify "big" trade show...Mary Sue and I thought we'd set up a little table at a local business expo last December.  Neither one of us had the first clue what we were doing and just thought we'd try it out to see if it was a good networking for our new businesses.  We shared a table thinking "How much room could we possibly need?"   Ohh how naive we were~


This was our attempt at a display for photography and custom photo jewelry...actually not that horrible considering we had a little tiny table and not much of anything else!  This was taken with my phone camera...

The second we walked in we realized we were way out of our league!  We were surrounded by huge banners...tables and tables of professional products and displays...gift bags...handouts...you name it and it was there.  And this was a small expo, only about 200 people attending.  The good thing is that I got a lot of ideas but also recognized that I need soooo....much.....more....


So this is where you come in!  If you've ever set up a booth at a trade show I'd love to hear your favorite tips and advice.  And if you've ever attended a trade show I'd love to hear what draws your attention when there's so many businesses in the same venue.


Here's a little info for you so you know what I'm getting into...
~ this trade show is at a local high school in an upscale community with about 6,000 people attending the expo every year.  
~ most of the businesses are like mine, they're not selling anything that day, just advertising their services.
~ I will be advertising my Family Photography business in hopes of getting new client bookings.  This show is very family oriented so I do believe it's a good spot for potential clients.
~ I'm on a budget people!!  I'm new to this so I have to start making some money before I can start putting a lot back into it...it's a vicious circle....
~ The booth I have is a 10' x 10' space.  I'll have 2 8' tables and 1 card table to set my giveaway forms on.  Every business has to offer a giveaway.
~ They'll be about 160 businesses there so it's gonna be busy!
~ The hours are from 9:30am til 4:00pm, one day only.


I do have a few things already....my colors are black and pink so I've got black table covers with a little bit of pink tulle to lay over the tops and scallop at the edges...something like this...

I want the black/pink thing to be pretty consistent so I'll be wearing those colors and so will my bestest friends that I've begged to come with me...I've heard that "appearance is everything" so I've wrangled Raindog...

...and Alexis' Mum...

...into spending the day with me so at least my booth will look good!  And Princess may even make a special appearance wearing this outfit...

...with plenty of attitude to match!  So I may not sell anything but I'm bettin' I'll have the best looking trade show models around~


I'm pretty stocked with biz cards...I've got a banner...and these canvas' to display...

I've also got the cutest little easels to display some postcards...this was taken with my phone camera too so not the greatest quality but you get the idea...

Now it's your turn ~ What am I missing?  What one fabulous tip will make all the difference?  What would make YOU stop and take a look?  I Need Help!!


I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures while I'm there too and tell you all about it...I'm excited...setting it up is half the fun!