Me My Life Pink Loves Brown

The National Stationery Show: Setup

Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

Well, there I am, looking relatively collected and rested. It took a lot to get to that point though!

I was going to write everything in one post and subdivide it into three parts (setup, the show, after the show). The whole recap was getting really loooong though, so I’m splitting it up into three separate posts instead. Today I’ll be talking about…

The Setup

Brandon and I arrived in New York on the 16th. I picked our hotel (The New Yorker) based on its proximity to the show, but we were surprised by how cute it was. Apparently they’re nearing the end of a renovation.

After checking in at the hotel, we walked to the Javits Center. We got there around 4:00 and realized that we only had an hour left to work on the booth. Luckily, our neighbor told us that nobody really enforces the time cutoff until the next day, so we stayed until 8:00. We put down the carpet (FLOR carpet tiles), we finished the panels and shelves for one wall, and we left for the night.

The End of Setup Day 1

The next day, we arrived bright and early at 8:30 to find that our booth had flooded. Nice. Want to know what the downside of having a column in one’s booth is? Besides the odd floor plan? The roof in the Javits Center leaks, and all of those leaks are collected and funneled into rain barrels at the base of each column. Guess who’s rain barrel overflowed?

Squish.  The Booth Flooded.

Squish, squish. Looks like I may not be reusing the FLOR tiles. The guys that cleaned up the mess asked for gloves – the water was gross.

After the water incident, we finished setting up the booth by noon. That left me a good five hours for futzing with my displays, so I had Brandon assemble my press kits while I arranged everything.

Brandon Stuffing Folders

The Booth, Setup, Before Products

We went back to the hotel, and I committed my crime against fashion on the way there. I bought my Crocs.

Me: “They’re so comfortable!”
Brandon: “So are sweatpants.”
Me: “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about those too…”

We walked to Times Square and then back along Broadway. We were looking for a restaurant, but it seemed like everything was either deli/pizza to go, or Applebees/T.G.I.Friday’s. We ended up eating back at the hotel restaurant, going to bed early, and hoping for no more water issues.

Next up: I’ll be writing about my experience at the show.

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  • Kylie
    May 27, 2008 at 1:03 am

    It looks gorgeous!! What a bugger about the flooding. :( Are those white shelves from Ikea? I love it all! Gosh, I wish we had these in Australia where regular people can go along, it’s me idea of heaven.

  • Mim
    May 27, 2008 at 4:57 am

    The booth looks great! That sucks about the water. Being a paper-based show, you’d think the Center would be a little more prepared! Guess not.

    As for Crocs- yes they are ugly but they are too comfortable to ignore! I’m an elementary teacher and I love my crocs.

  • alivicwil
    May 27, 2008 at 5:31 am

    Kylie – I read “bugger about the flooding” and thought “another aussie!!” :D

    Nicole – I adore the Brownie/Guide (Girl Scout) -style sash with your buttons :) Your whole booth is great.

    I’m also highly envious of your Flor tiles. My bf and I can’t find a rug we like (it’s winter here), and I just pulled up an old Dooce post where she showed off her Flors. I did another search, but they’re still not available out here… I sighed and redirected here – only to see you’re talking about them, too! Jealous :(

  • Jenny Sun
    May 27, 2008 at 6:32 am

    It’s so refreshing to see the process of setting up your booth. We often see coverage of these shows as if everything “auto-magically” happens, but we all know there’s a lot of time and effort put into all aspects of your presentation. Beautiful work!

  • mabrie
    May 27, 2008 at 7:17 am

    You made your area look amazing! I hope people were as crazy about you as we are!!!

  • danielle
    May 27, 2008 at 8:32 am

    I see the yellow shoes! (I got mine and love them!!)

  • Carrie S.
    May 27, 2008 at 8:37 am

    I’m so glad you posting about this process! I’m taking notes for the California Gift Show in July! Thanks!

  • Artsy Fartsy
    May 27, 2008 at 8:47 am

    You and your booth look awesome! You guys did a great job setting up…I’m not exactly sure what the National Stationary Show is, but I hope it brings you tremendous business!

  • Emilie
    May 27, 2008 at 8:49 am

    Where did you get the round white table and chairs? That is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

  • patricia
    May 27, 2008 at 9:01 am

    Flooding!? Of all things to happen. So sorry to hear about that.

    Your booth looked wonderful! I really like the mannequin/sash set up.

  • Morgan
    May 27, 2008 at 10:29 am

    I use to do wholesale and garden shows with my mom’s garden art business. We were always super jealous of people with crazy cute booths like yours!

  • Jen
    May 27, 2008 at 10:45 am

    Ooooh, the flood situation was NOT good.

    (But I’m with Kylie and am dying to know where the white shelves came from.)

  • Making it Lovely
    May 27, 2008 at 10:51 am

    Thanks, everyone!

    The shelves and the tables were all from IKEA. The chairs were from Crate & Barrel (years ago). I made the panels out of hardboard from Home Depot that I covered in huge sheets of paper that I had printed.

  • John
    May 27, 2008 at 11:46 am

    Hey, we have those chairs! Except ours are now painted white, which seems to happen to lots of things around our house these days.

    Nice booth! If only I were still in NYC to see it in person

    -John

  • Jen
    May 27, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Fabulous set up!! That sucks about the water though…and I know from experience that Flor tiles do not handle floods very well! Hope you’re able to re-use them :)

    Can’t wait to see how the rest of the show went!!

  • Hannah
    May 27, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    Next year you should request a booth in the low-ceiling section! It’s much warmer and better-lit, and there are no rain barrels.

  • Lili
    May 27, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    Both you and your both look fabulous! The little white shelves look like they work perfectly for stationery. Do you sell product at nss or is more of a meet and greet?

    I am always so appreciative of boyfriend/hubbys/henrys/brandons that help out! I’ve got Henry scheduled for wee pocket production tonight.

  • Danielle
    May 27, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    Cute booth! I keep wondering, how do you all manage to get a booth put together like that?!? Do you SHIP all of your furnishings and paper items there, or do you carry them on, or toss them in the car and drive to your hotel? I’d be a mess if I had to lug that stuff around NYC…

  • Carolina Eclectic
    May 27, 2008 at 8:23 pm

    The booth looks great, and so does your outfit…but Crocs?

  • Elizabeth K
    May 28, 2008 at 6:22 am

    Terrific booth. That is crazy about the flooding. I hope nothing else got damaged!

  • metroville » Blog Archive » ahhhh.
    May 28, 2008 at 8:18 am

    […] link will take you to part 1 of 5), as well as posts from Emily at OrangeBeautiful and Nicole from Pink Loves Brown, all of them featuring booth and product […]

  • amy purple
    May 28, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Wow, it sounds like a lot of work setting up your display! It was worth it because it looks fabulous! I can’t wait to hear more about the show! Sorry about the water leaking.

  • Kristen
    May 28, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    Oooh I so wish I got over to see your booth at the show!! It looks truely lovely…and I love the L shaped table. I’m in need of a new desk and happy to hear its from Ikea!
    Congrats on how fabulous everything looks and I hope everything was a big success.

  • Silvia
    May 29, 2008 at 8:09 am

    Wow you should be really proud of you and what you have achived! The set of your stand is stunning!
    Congrats for everything!
    Silvia

  • Tracey
    May 29, 2008 at 8:50 am

    I love that you are taking us through the entire process of a show. Most people do not see the hard work behind the scenes! Great display- yucky flood!

  • Making it Lovely » Blog Archive » At The National Stationery Show 2008
    May 29, 2008 at 8:57 am

    […] « The National Stationery Show: Setup […]