wood expo Michigan

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Wow..yea man. This is the type of show to really challenge a persons physical and mental abilities. It's like showing up at a penturning convention and trying to sell the penturners a pen! Friday..that's the hardest day too, because attendence is the lowest due to everyone being at work. Tomorrow there will be thousands of people. I'll be darn proud if I can sell 4 pens. Sounds like a weak goal..but 90% of the crowd is woodworkers. I knew that going in, but it's a free show and the exposure never hurts anyone. Halfway through the day today, I switched modes from focusing on pens to focusing on blanks. I brought a bunch of scrolled blanks and a pile of cast pine cones, so I started focusing on those as an actual product and the pens as samples. Sales finally started to happen as I sold a handfull of pinecones and a scroll blank. Tomorrow...I don't care if someone makes pens, I'm going to dream up some new strategies to convince them they have to have one of mine!

Oh...My booth looks great. The weather is great. But..a freak wind gust came down between the enclosed tents and somehow managed to blow over a $1200 intarsia picture to the pavement. It is not broke, but it needs an hour of good sanding and re-finishing because the frame is all scratched and gouged up. That's the gamble you take at any event.
 
This is my booth at the woodworking show.
 

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I tried so hard, couldn't meet my goal, but did manage to sell a pen. Sold several pen blanks, but only one pen and my throat is sore. The crowd was way smaller than I've ever seen it and everyone of course there is a woodworker so all they wanted was to see what I do and to receive a seminar on how to make my pens. How how how. Good thing I knew how it would be going in and had a good time, met some new people, had a new magazine offering and handed out lots of business cards. It really is a fun show, but I would do it much different next time around. Next time I'd just bring a couple dozen pens and a couple intarsias. I'd bring my lathe and press and do seminars. Be much easier to just show then tell, and no doubt more fun to be turning something while I'm there. ...actually what am I saying..they would have provided me the lathe and press, I just needed to bring all my accessories for the lathe and pens.
 
Jeff,
Glad you had a good time, sorry that the sales werent there, though. Not uncommon in this Michigan economy, thats why I am not doing any holiday shows this year. Where the heck is Charlotte? You let me know when the next one is and I'll go with you, while you are demoing, I'll sell the goods and vice versa! As a team, we can do some damage!
 
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