The Good & The Bad

Ok, here it is, the Good & the Bad of the Chicago tradeshow. Let's start with the bad news first:

The Bad:
1. It's obvious that the economy is having an impact on retailers. Even more apparent that it's currently hitting the midwest harder then the west coast at least based on sales and interst at this show versus the Las Vegas show. Part of it though, is that I think more of the west coast retailers who used to go to this show are now going to the Las Vegas show since it's closer and cheaper for west coasters to attend.
2. Fewer buyers = fewer sales.
3. My hotel. Now I'm the type of person who can happily camp without a shower for days on end but I'm finding that when traveling for business - especially when at a tradeshow where you're on your feet (or in my case, foot) all day - you really want a comfy room at the end of the day. My hotel was a little subpar in that area. Next year I'll up the ante, pay an additional $8/night, and stay at the nicer hotel that's right next door (and gives out free chocolate chip cookies!)

And now the Good Stuff
1. At first blush it appears that we at the very least broke even on our show costs with the orders we received. In this economy I'll take that as a win.
2. Reorders - we had a lot of retailers who have placed orders with us in the past who came by and placed reorders. In addition to the revenue and the opportunity to show them our new products, it was a chance to show them that in this economy we're still around and still planning new products.
3. A potential new Northeast sales rep. In talking to some other retailers, this rep is really the best rep in the industry and is doing this as a real business as opposed to so many other reps who, it seems, do this as something on the side or because they think it will "be fun." Best of all, since we're in the Northwest, we've made very little headway into the Northeast so if we can go in with him and make headway in that region then hopefully it will be win-win for all parties.
4. A new booth setup. I really liked how one booth had set up their merchandise so I asked where they got their booth furniture. They told me and it's not too expensive. Plus it turns out that this week said company is running a sale that includes free shipping. It's on my to-do list tomorrow to place an order.