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Mission West Show Results (Read 2,517 times)
 
Vaughn McMillan
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Mission West Show Results
Apr 29th, 2009 at 2:28am
 
LOML and I did the Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register last weekend in South Pasadena, and I figured I'd share a few of my observations.

We've done the spring version of this show three times, and the fall version twice. This time was not as profitable as some of the previous ones, but after a slow start we ended up not only covering the $280 entry fee but most of the fee for the next show, too. Still not something I'd want to try to pay the mortgage with quite yet, but I was glad to come out in the black. After having a couple of money-losing shows last fall as the economy was tanking, I was pretty apprehensive about this show.

Before the show, I concentrated on building up my inventory of smaller $20 - $30 items like Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register and Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register. (Here are some Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register.) I'm glad I did, because the small stuff ended up being about half of my dollar volume. The pieces still weren't flying off the shelves, but they did make a difference to the bottom line.

At least in the South Pasadena neighborhood (a relatively affluent part of town with lots of classic Craftsman homes), people still seem to be really holding onto their dollars. The crowd was relatively small, and many who came were just window shopping. The vendors selling the $5 items were doing pretty good business, but the folks selling $100+ items were not selling much at all.

We had a fun time, as usual. The weather was great, we had good (or at least entertaining) booth neighbors, and got some new leads on shows we'd not heard about before. (Including one in a couple of weeks in Studio City that I've applied for.)

Here's the obligatory booth shot:

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...and a little closer look:

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« Last Edit: Apr 30th, 2009 at 1:32am by Vaughn McMillan »  
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Brendan McAreavy
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #1 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 3:55am
 
That's a good set-up you have there Vaughn.  The root bowl and progress picture display looks great but something else caught my eye - the very thin platter beside it.  That must have been difficult to do because I imagine it must have flexed a lot, great job.
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Brad_Mortensen
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #2 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 10:37am
 
Nice looking booth Vaughn.
If I may though, the one thing my eye was continually drawn to is the blank area to the left of your sign. I had to litterally force focus to the other areas that your work was displayed in. Of course you don't want to clutter that area, which would cheapen the look of your booth.
A couple simple things you might want to concider is centering your sign and or hanging a couple photos there.
When I got my eye off the blank area the booth looked great.
I think eye traffic is as important if not more so then foot traffic.
Just my opinion.
Brad
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« Last Edit: Apr 29th, 2009 at 10:39am by Brad_Mortensen »  
 
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #3 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 12:13pm
 
Looks good.  One question, Where'd you get the chair?

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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #4 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 1:13pm
 
Looking Good Vaughn

It's okay to use the img tags to display your pictures
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #5 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 5:12pm
 
Very nice Vaughn, clean, everything has a place and not all cluttered up. I too would like to know about your chair... looks comfy!
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #6 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 5:26pm
 
Very nice set up.  I grew up doing lots of art shows---my dad makes metal/steel sculptures..--full-time ---...so I have seen a lot of booths and even have some experience.  I have done a few shows myself too. 

At your next show....you may want to put up your side panels on your tent.  My dad...and I have learned that items look better with a white backdrop, and sell better.  I have no idea why but we both experienced it.  Just a suggestion.

Keep up the good work and good luck in future shows.--Andy
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #7 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 5:44pm
 
congrats vaughn.  looks real good. smiley=beer.gif smiley=beer.gif
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #8 - Apr 29th, 2009 at 10:28pm
 
Beautifull setup,fantastic looking work,That big ole root bowl had to be fun turnin  smiley=thumbsup.gif smiley=thumbsup.gif smiley=thumbsup.gif
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Vaughn McMillan
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #9 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 1:23am
 
Thanks for the comments guys, and thanks for the suggestions Brad and Andy. We put the sides up at some shows, depending on the wind and other conditions. I'll have to see if we seem to have better sales with the sides up. I have mixed emotions about the white space Brad pointed out. I agree somewhat, yet I also like the idea of keeping it somewhat uncluttered. I suspect pretty soon that space will be taken up with more shelves or another tall display. (Wall hangings, maybe?)

I got the chair from Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register. I wasn'[t completely happy with their customer service, though. They sent me the wrong color (their mistake), but I had to pay the shipping charges to return it. If you search Amazon for director's chairs, you'll see several along the same lines.

LOML got a shorter version of the chair somewhere else, (knowing her, it was QVC) and she keeps it tucked in the corner behind the pictures of the root bowl. She spends all week as a receptionist in a busy law office, so on the weekends she prefers to not have to be "on" all the time. She tries to stay quiet and in the background (clipping coupons and catching up on her magazines) while I chat up the customers. If need be though, like when I'm away from the booth on a break, she can charm the socks off nearly anyone.

Ron, I was avoiding the IMG tags so I didn't slow down the dial-up guys. Now that I've read your recently-posted picture guidelines, I'll play around with Method 2. Wink
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« Last Edit: Apr 30th, 2009 at 1:29am by Vaughn McMillan »  
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #10 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 6:15am
 
It all looks very good to me..  But am only a retired educator and a minister so I see different elements than the experts.  I wish you greater success in the up coming shows..
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #11 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 10:34am
 
I have mixed emotions about the white space Brad pointed out. I agree somewhat, yet I also like the idea of keeping it somewhat uncluttered.

I very much agree with the keeping it uncluttered. If it was to become cluttered, you enter an intirely different type of setup which doesn't lend itself to turners displays.
If you were to center your sign, it would in effect frame your sign with the white. Which would create a couple possitive situations. First, it would break up the white space allowing the eye to flow more naturally. Second, it would project an organized image of both you and your booth. (which on a subliminal level encourages people to be more comfortable in purchasing) Third, your sign would be more vissable when your sitting in your booth and gives the impression of filling up the booth with out cluttering it up.
Of course vendor personality and sales methods play a part in display tactics, so these are strictly impressions on my part base on a photo and that may have no value at all.

Please don't get the wrong impression, I think your booth looks better then probably 90% of the vendors out there, it has an nice clean look, with a good placement of items and natural eye flow of items.
Yeah, I study this stuff and occationally do consulting and tweeking on vendor displays. LOL I probably should have just only said it great display (which it is). But, some times I can't help myself. Undecided
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Vaughn McMillan
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #12 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 1:03pm
 
No offense taken at all, Brad.  Wink I appreciate the input.

I just now realized that your recommendation to center the sign means center it in the available space, not the center of the back wall. When I started out, I had the sign centered on the back wall, but I moved it to the offset position when I added the shelf. But I see now how moving the sign a foot or so to the left would help the balance. As you can see from the rest of the display (and from my logo), I'm trying to stay away from symmetrical layouts, but that doesn't mean they should be unbalanced. Your suggestion would improve the balance and still maintain the unsymmetrical idea.

Thanks again -
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« Last Edit: Apr 30th, 2009 at 1:07pm by Vaughn McMillan »  
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #13 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 2:43pm
 
Guess I wasn't very clear on the whole centering thing.. yep in center of current available space... I tend to get long winded so self edit and end up leaving stuff out... 
It really is a nice set up and inviting booth.
Brad
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Re: Mission West Show Results
Reply #14 - Apr 30th, 2009 at 4:46pm
 
Vaughn, Fantastic work I especially love that root ball.
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