First Show of the Season - Sorta

Well we survived the heat but just barely. As I said before, my workspace was unbearably hot (someone registered it over 120- that was as far as their themometer would go) and after a few days of that and a few days of little to no sleep due to the heat in the house I just about cracked. My better half had to force-feed me last night since I hadn't been eating anything and couldn't figure out why I felt so horrible. The good news is the temps dropped substantially overnight and while it will still be warm - for us - it's not going to be the 103 we have had. I don't care where you live, but 103 without air conditioning is just unbearable.

Thankfully the heat has broken as it gives me a chance to get ready for a show I have this weekend. Technically I guess it's the first tradeshow of the season but unlike my others, this is a consumer show where people can actually come in and buy things. Given that it's consumer, and not wholesale, I'm really not sure what to expect out of it. Could be a total bust if it doesn't attract my kind of audience or it could go really well. At the very worst though, it only cost me $185 to have a booth there compared to the 10+x I usually pay for my wholesale shows so I figure it won't take too much to break even. I've tried to price my items in the $5-$10 range including tax mainly to give folks an incentive to buy (it's a touch cheaper then they can find online) and it helps make easy change.

Like I said, at it's worst I figure this is $185 and a weekend down the drain (and truthfully I'd be more upset about the weekend lost) but it does give me a chance to do a quick runthrough of my booth setup for the two big shows coming up and brush off my marketing spiell so I can sound a little more rehearsed and relaxed by the time I go to Vegas in six weeks. And heh, the venue is air conditioned so I can't complain about that!

And since it's always good to have goals, my main goal is to breakeven and get a chance to expose lots of new folks to my product/brand name. My stretch goal though is to make enough money to pay for the new labels I have to pay for next week which is roughly $2K. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll let you know how it goes...