Well, I had a booth at another Bridal Show this Sunday and learned that you have to be careful about the promoter and the show. The show we set up at yesterday was definitely not what I was used to from the other shows I had attended. This one was rescheduled from a snow day in February but I don't think that was the reason for the poor set up and attendance at all, I just think this promoter was not doing her job. There was no fashion show, as advertised, no live band as promoted, there were in fact very few wedding specific booths. Needless to say there was some print ad promotion and it was on the Internet but the promoter did not provide incentives for the public or apparently the wedding professionals who work in this market area to attend. I think she was like many real estate professionals who sit around waiting for the phone to ring and she was depending on the excitement of the word wedding to get people to come out. We all need to help stir things up to get people to seek us out. We can't sit back and wait for them to come with a few tried and true old school methods. We need to offer more.
Perhaps if the Bridal Show promoter had found some exciting prizes to get people to come out or really made more effort to replace the fashion show vendor who had dropped out she would have been able to deliver some live bodies to the show but alas we only saw about 4 or 5 couples and most of them left quickly. Let me tell you the mood of the vendors was lethal. We sat for several hours and then finally she came around (I think after hearing the grumblings and ideas on how to report her to someone as a scam) and offered us a free booth at her next event. Like I might waste another Sunday on this type of show. But at least she tried. Oh well live and learn!
There was one highlight to the afternoon. I got to meet two ActiveRain members from PA who were there promoting their new home and re - sales in nearby Pike County, PA. I had "met" Renee Hoover through my blog and have actually started one referral with her. I was also pleased to meet her Broker/Builder Ed Nikles of Ed Nikles Custom Builder, Inc. / Nikles Realty, Inc. It is so nice to meet people who are Active Rain members and we had plenty of time to chat. I hope to do more business with them in the future. You see we are only one half hour apart even though they are in a different state. I often have buyers who decide to drive the extra distance to PA and I am happy to have found someone who I can work with out there. AR is great for getting us to know others who can help us out.
Anyway, each disappointment is a lesson that helps us to do better next time. The promoter promised an email with 50 preregistered brides that did not show up so we will wait to see that one and hopefully it will happen. I am not giving up on this outreach but rather will be better able to judge which shows to become involved with.
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