Shipping your products and booth setup to a trade show
September 20th, 2007
Okay, here I am to talk about the dang trade show. I think I’ll start from the beginning so today is going to be about shipping and getting your product to the show. I live close enough to Vegas to drive. So, true to my nature, I work right up to the last minute. The show had a full 24-hour move-in, so I knew that whenever I got there in the evening, I’d have time to move in.
I went by myself. My husband was going to go, but we couldn’t take my daughter out of her kindergarten class the very first week of school. This is where we’re at, so off I went. The drive was fine. The move-in was a different nightmare all together.
Our booth was, in my opinion, a million miles away from the main entrance - the only entrance you’re allowed to hand move-in through. I about died when I walked in and saw how far I was going to have to “carry” everything. We were actually on row 15. Which wasn’t anywhere near as far back as we could have been - the size of the show is my next post.
I was moving stuff to our booth until 2:00 in the morning. The only thing that saved me was this old-school baby pram (buggy) we had purchased as a means of displaying our blankets. That thing became my dolly. But it took a lot of trips. And I still had to hand-carry the carpet - which I saved to last and I had to chant “that-the-that which don’t kill me, can only make me stronger” to myself the whole way to keep from crumbling to the floor in a ball of tears.
I got the booth setup by 3:30 in the morning. Well, I saved some of it for the morning, taking the risk and assuming that the first hour would be slow. Buyers wouldn’t even make it to row 15 in an hour. I also knew that there was no way in hell I was moving out the same way I moved in.
Turned out that most of the vendors around me also had various shipping issues to deal with. Some had shipped via UPS instead of the exhibition’s shipping services. This meant that they also had to deal with the hand-carry issue, because UPS was offsite shipping.
I signed up for the cartload program to get me out of there. They loaded my stuff on one cart and got it out to my car in about 5 minutes. Of course, that was after quite a wait because the line for the cartload program was huge (which goes back to the size of the show also).
So, many of you haven’t done your first trade show to know what a nightmare the logistics are. After the few I’ve done, I fully believe it is worth it to use the exhibition’s shipping services and just bite the bullet. Some savvy people only had to box their stuff and saran-wrap it. They dropped off the shipping labels early on the last day, vendors boxed up their stuff, stuck those labels on and walked away.
Far less painful and time consuming than getting your product out of the hall yourself. I paid $45 for them to load my stuff and tote it out - I can’t tell you how cheap that sounded after moving myself in.
Entry Filed under: Shipping & Fulfillment, Trade Shows & Market
7 Comments Add your own
1. Jamie Lentzner | September 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 am
Oh wow - the things we never think of - wish I told you about the services….but then again when I did it there was a strike. I am dying to hear how the show goes - I have not gotten it for the blog yet from my other friend - she emailed some details (and a number of others) would LOVE to put some of your updates in my blog - she did not have a great experience though. Can’t WAIT to hear about the rest of show!
2. Lisa NYC | September 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 am
Amber…this info is so helpful as I soon will be preparing for my first show in the coming year.
I will be doing a NYC show (about 20 minutes from my home), but will definitely use the show’s services as I physically wouldn’t be able to carry everything in myself.
I’ve also heard that different shows have different restrictions and you aren’t allowed to carry your stuff in…guess it depends on the show.
thanks for sharing…can’t wait to hear more!
With friendship,
Lisa
3. Jamie Lentzner | September 22nd, 2007 at 11:35 am
Lisa - Yes especially New York!! You will get fined if you are caught carrying more than a few boxes or bags. It is run by union. Check your stuff VERY carefully - I had items damaged and boxes crushed. Good luck - New York is supposed to still be a good show - with lots of traffic!
4. amber | September 23rd, 2007 at 10:40 am
Hey Jamie - I knew about the services from previous shows, and knew about the services for this one. Life just didn’t happen as planned, my husband was supposed to be the one there doing the unloading - not me (Boo hoo hoo). Plus, we kept adding things to our booth in the last few days, increasing my load.
However, prior to this show, I didn’t realize how EASY the services were. At the last trade show, all of the people in surrounding booths had hand-carried their stuff in - so I hadn’t seen it in action. I’m always trying to save money where I can, but in the end paying for the services was more than worth it.
I’ve heard of the crazy restrictions at some shows where hand-carrying isn’t even an option. We scour the show packet when we get it because it’s amazing how much info is in the fine print.
You’ll see from the next post the really dissappointing aspects of the show..not the best experience by any means!! I’ve actually intentionally took some time to get some distance and hope that when I write about it, it comes from a objective perspective.
5. amber | September 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
So - speaking of New York - everyone at the show was telling me to to do the New York Gift Fair. Is that the show you guys are talking about? Or ENK is also in New York, right?
Also - anyone have experience with Dallas Mart?
6. London | September 23rd, 2007 at 11:35 am
Amber - I think every show is different, especially when different unions run them. I remember the union people in NY not being very friendly at all. I did the Stationery show a few years back and we were able to move ourselves in, they even told us where to park. There were restrictions, like no dollies or something like that, but we had four people moving the stuff in, so it wasn’t a big issue for us. When move out time came, everyone was carrying their stuff out the front door to their cars parked right up front. I’m sure they were locals, but it was crazy. Overall NY was an okay show for us, we got a great contact because it ran concurrently with the Surtex show, but the expenses were unbelievable. Twice as much as any other show I’ve ever done. Orders didn’t come close to covering it. But the contact was good for us. I hear Dallas is one of the slowest shows around, coming from sales reps at a big showroom and other people I know. If you are local, maybe it’s worth it. But I never considered doing Dallas.
7. Lisa NYC | September 24th, 2007 at 8:37 am
Amber…the NYC Gift show sounds like a good fit for you. I was referring the NY ENK show as I sell boys’ clothing.
If you decide to go to NYC, just let me know…I’d love to have dinner w/ you.
Now I’m dying to hear more about the show…I’ll check back!
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