Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Trade Show Public

I just finished a successful Mpls Lake Home and Cabin Show!  I made a new bed just for the show and sure enough it was the first thing to sell....I love when that happens.

Like every human, I love talking about myself and my work.  That's pretty much what these shows are all about.  Telling my story of escaping the city life for the country life, and telling the story of the furniture.  Like my card says..."Combining nature and history to create furnishings with an individual story".  Each piece does have a fun tale to tell of the sources of the recycled wood.  Mixing a variety of 5 different reclaimed lumbers from 5 old farm buildings into a single picture frame, or a sofa table is both satisfying and fun to me. :)

People watching at shows is fun too.  I have these little cards made up describing each of the pieces of furniture, the history of the wood, and what makes it unique.  Without even stopping to read them, people would pick it up and try to peel it off the mounted cardboard...as if its the last one, and they JUST HAVE TO HAVE IT!!  I must have stopped 25 people from trying to peel off the labels and take them....I guess it tells me my stories are good and I should maybe make them into take away labels or something!

I had a good time with the kids this show.  I had my Adirondack Chess Set displayed proudly right up front.  Its amazing how many 10-12 year olds play chess!  I had a very adult price of $900.00 on the piece.  
As kids walked up and ooh and ahhed, I would make them an offer..."I will play you for it", I would say and wait for their eager reply.  Then when I had them wanting to play, I would say "You beat me, and you get the chess game for free.  You lose, you get the chess board but you have to pay for it.  Either way you get to take it home!!" and their eyes would grow wide.

Once they saw the $900.00 price tag, they of course would balk.  But I had 4 kids go find their parents and bring them back to my booth and very earnestly ask them if they would put up the $900.00 and let them play me.  No takers on that though....go figure! :)  It was fun watching them make their case on deaf ears.

I met some great potential new clients, had a handful of conversations about cool beds, and got to share pics and stories about the "Schmidt Beds" and how cool they are and about how much I like the Adirondack style of the Great Camps....I hope to be able to create a new masterpiece someday for one of the new clients I met at the show!

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