I got everything under the sun into the car tonight and there’s still more that needs to be crammed in for my show tomorrow at the Spirit of Shrewsbury. This is one of those odd space shows where you get a a 10×6 space. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but the problem is that if you have two 6 ft tables you have an odd setup to deal with. You can set up an L shape, but that doesn’t give you any room to get around behind the table because it goes all the way to the back.
Maybe that’s a good thing because it encourages you to stay out with the customer, but I’ve found often it helps to be able to move around your tables for various reasons. So we made an emergency trip out tonight to pick up a 4 ft table. So now I’ve got THREE tables in the car. This is mostly because I was too lazy to take the extra 6 ft one out, but partly because last year I managed to score a corner spot and the two 6′s actually worked well. But, in the interest of being ready for anything, I’ve got a 4 ft table on board now just in case. It’ll be interesting if I use it as I don’t have a short table cloth in the boxes.
One problem I’m always dealing with is fresh inventory. I have a tendency to torch the night before to make a few extra pieces to have on the table. For some shows I’ll do a raffle donation item the night before; in this case it was just some extra inventory. The problem, though, is that my glass cases are already packed so getting stuff packed securely is a pain in the hiney the next morning. I’m not a morning person and I like to be able to take a quick shower, scrape off the beard, throw my clothes on and head off to Dunkin Donuts for a travel breakfast then off to the show.
Curious about the travel breakfast concept? Consider this: I’m hauling boxes, setting up, and running for who knows how long before I can get a bathroom break. Some shows have volunteers that’ll watch your booth for a few minutes for you to make a trip to the bathroom (tomorrow is one if I recall), and in most cases vendors will help out each other in this regard. While my wife is coming to give me a bathroom/lunch break, I have no guarantee when she’ll show up, so you don’t want a breakfast that’ll send you running to the bathroom unpredictably. So no bran muffin, maybe avoid anything with sausage, etc. In most cases I’ll get a raisin bagel with peanut butter. Carbs, fruit, and protein all in one package. Just be careful, in some cases you’re working locations that have limitations because you’re in a classroom where a kid with a peanut allergy attends during the week. This happened to me once and I had to ditch my breakfast but it was a small concession to make, the organizers offered me a freebie muffin to make up for it.
See? Everyone worries about having enough business cards. Business cards are easy. Dealing with the call of nature is a whole other issue.
I did the Spirit of Shrewsbury last year. It was a good show with only a couple of glass vendors including myself, and a whole slew of other folks. If you’re in the region, pop by. If not…have a lovely day.