SheSue Experience

It’s that time of year for holiday bazaars and gift shows. You wonder through rooms with colorful booths filled with a wide variety of products. The sales people are cheerful and ever so helpful. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work a booth? It looks like fun. You just stand around and talk to people and make money.

Let me tell you what it’s like to work a trade show. I’ve done many and they’re exhausting.

Weeks before the show, you begin to decide what to take with you. What will sell the best. What you can get in your car. How you’re going to display everything. What sales materials you will give out. How you’re going to collect payment. This all needs to be gathered together along with a emergency box of goodies like tape, scissors, stapler, etc.

The day of the show begins early. Hopefully you’re car or van is packed and ready to go. You make sure you have everything you need plus snacks, water and driving directions. When you arrive at the venue, they usually have an unloading zone. If not, you have to carry everything from your car. Larger venues will have hand carts you can borrow. If not, you get to carry everything.

The booth itself will consist of a table surrounded by some sort of curtain separating you from the other booths. Sometimes the table has a cloth, sometimes not. Sometimes there will be a large sign with your organization name on it, sometimes not. All this information would have been in the initial paperwork.

Depending on the products you are going to sell, you often have to assemble some sort of shelving. I used plastic shelves with removable legs. They were light weight and easy to assemble. After the shelves are assembled, you then need to set out your products in an attractive fashion. You also need to set up a sales area with promotional materials to hand out. In back of and under the table you store empty boxes, bags to give to customers, your cash box and any personal items.

And the show begins. You get to be charming and helpful for the next 10 or so hours. Lots of lookie loos. Lots of questions. After about 5 hours you are ready to crawl under the table and hide. If you’re lucky you have help so you can get away from the table and sit down somewhere.

When the show is finally over you get to pack everything back up. Take down the shelves and haul everything back out to your car. It will be one of the longest days of your life. And your feet will be killing you. Your feet and your back. Plus you will want to frown just to relax your face.

But you do meet a lot of nice people plus you get to check out your competition. I always did well at trade shows. The businesses I promoted were all online, so I could mark down my products. Everything was “on sale” at my booth.

Some tips for a successful day:

1. Don’t try to do it alone
2. Bring lots of water
   
3. Bring your own food, the typical fare is pretty dismal
4. Have everything packed up the night before
5. If you do not have help, ask a neighbor to watch your table so you can take breaks
6. Do some simple stretching throughout the day
7. Wear comfortable shoes