Category: Me

  • At The National Stationery Show 2008

    Yesterday, I talked about setting up. Today, I’ll go into details about what it was like being an exhibitor and what the show was like.

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

    I started my business in 2005, but this was our first time doing the show. Unfortunately, from what I hear it was pretty slow this year (blame the economy). Still, I picked up some great new stores that will be carrying my Pink Loves Brown goodies soon, and I’m very excited! I also talked to some amazing people and met tons of fellow bloggers and artists that I had only ‘known’ online. That was probably my favorite thing about the show – I loved meeting everyone.

    Speaking of meeting people, I saw Chris and Keith from fred flare walk by the booth. An embarassingly stupid “Oh!” escaped my lips, accompanied by an equally stupid arm flailing. A favorable impression was not made. Yeah.

    My Periodic Table of Sentiments were up for a ‘Best New Product’ award, but we didn’t win. Do you know what did? A card with three hamsters, all of which had halos. Glitter halos. And the card lit up when you opened it. Huh. Geared toward a slightly different market, wouldn’t you say? Congratulations sparkle angel hamsters.

    Some of the Best New Product Displays

    Our booth was all the way down towards the end. We were near some great companies (Jack & Lulu, Whimsy Press, Bob’s Your Uncle…), but most people seemed tired by the time they got down to us. I’m not sure how much the location matters, but I suspect that the other side of the show was a bit more hoppin’.

    Oh, but we were across from the Lomography booth, and boy were we glad! We needed some fun people to be near us or I think Brandon and I would have gone crazy. Hi Lomo peeps! We love you!

    Midway through the first day, a woman from GLM (the company that runs the gift show) came in and gave me some advice. She said the booth looked great, but that I might want to move the merchandise towards the front so that people can see more from the aisle. That way it feels more like they’re still in their space, and people are more comfortable with that.

    We rearranged the furniture that night.

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

    The table felt a little crowded with all four chairs around it, but we didn’t have anywhere to store them. I decided to tuck them under the tables along the wall, and it looked fine. Actually, it looked kind of cute.

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

    Most of the other booths didn’t have their business cards and information easily accessible, whereas ours was front and center. Do you know why? It took me a day and a half to figure it out. Contacts! Follow-ups! If people can just grab your card and go, you have no idea who they are and where they’re from. Oops. At least I figured it out for the rest of the show.

    Our shelves fell off the wall several times during the show. It was like a guessing game. When will the next one fall? Which one will it be? That was fun.

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008
    See? You can hardly tell that the shelves are all cattywhompus!

    I don’t think I’d use my round table again, unless I had more space. Hardly anyone sat down to write an order – most people just pulled things off of the shelves and used the table as a surface to gather everything they wanted.

    In addition to people pulling items temporarily from the shelves, we did give away a few samples. It is a trade show, and you can’t sell anything directly at the show, but I’m glad that I brought more than one of each item. We talked to a lot of reps, and several asked for samples. We were able to just grab items off the shelves for the people that needed them, and I know of another exhibitor that was able to provide some items immediately for a magazine photoshoot.

    We had tons of little 1″ buttons to give away. They were popular and a lot of people took one, but I think they were pretty small-time. A lot of the booths were giving out tote bags, which meant that there were a lot of people carrying around big advertisements for those booths (hello, prominent logo!). Very smart, if a bit costly.

    Pink Loves Brown at the National Stationery Show, 2008

    I’m sure I’d make changes next time. A different layout, a smaller table, making sure the shelves don’t fall of the walls… you know, little things like that. ;) A lot of people were surprised to hear that it was our first show – it was an odd compliment (they expect a company’s first booth to look bad?). Still, I think the booth turned out pretty well. I was proud, and it was a nice feeling to be surrounded by the things I had made.

    It was an expensive show, preparing for it was incredibly stressful, and I spent a lot of sleepless nights working. Where do I sign up for next year?

    Next up: Our experience after the show.

  • 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.

  • Oh, the Shame

    While in New York, I did something I thought I’d never do. I bought a pair of Crocs.

    Changing out of Crocs (!)

    I didn’t wear them during the show, but I had them on at all other times. Comfy.

    Brandon made fun of me mercilessly.

  • All Day, Every Day

    This is where we are.

    This is where we are all day, every day.

  • If Only I Could Play

    I took guitar lessons for awhile, starting when I was 18. I really loved learning to play, but eventually I ran out of money and had to quit. I wish I’d had the determination to continue on my own, but I didn’t. I hadn’t picked up a guitar for a few years now, but suddenly I wanted to again.

    My Guitar(s)

    I blame Alex’s loft, which I saw at the Apartment Therapy Party on Friday. He had a couple of guitars on display, and they made me think of my own. I have two electrics (my old Danelectro 56-U2 and a vintage Fender Telecaster), a Sigma acoustic, and a Lotus bass. They’ve all been sitting in the basement.

    I also have a clarinet but I suppose those aren’t as cool, right? ;)

  • P.O. Box 1268

    I can’t find my shrinky dink paper (woe is me!). I wanted to make a key chain and take a photo with my new key because I have a shiny new Oak Park P.O. Box. This is what my key chain will look like eventually:

    P.O. Box 1268 Keychain

    Wondering where to send snail mail (or goodies) to me?

    Pink Loves Brown
    P.O. Box 1268
    Oak Park, IL 60304

    I’m at the post office quite a bit these days.

    Off to the Post Office…

    A huge thank you to my lovely, lovely customers! I truly appreciate it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

    p.s. My Periodic Table of Sentiments cards were in Daily Candy today, and I’m thrilled to pieces!