Our booth

I just finished up my second trade show ever. I have shown and sold at smaller venues such as art galleries and at design shows before. These are my observations and what I learned the first and second time around. Please add useful and informative comments so that we can all learn and navigate the big, crazy yet amazing world of trade shows. Here’s what I have learned so far…

Be Authentic

I don’t know how to be something or someone that I am not because it would make me feel really uncomfortable. The reality is that people can see through the facade. Be yourself and represent your brand and what you are selling and people will feel the authenticity that you are bringing. Whenever I walk a show (which has been many-a-convention) I can always tell when someone believes in their brand and their product; it comes naturally to them. Stand behind your product and brand or why bother going at all?

Don’t Worry So Much

You paid a lot of money to be there. Or maybe you haven’t. Whatever the case is don’t worry so much. If buyers love your work you will get picked up and maybe not right away. I’ve had buyers contact me after shows with really great opportunities. I didn’t even know these people had been at my booth! Oftentimes potential buyers need to bring back the goods to their teams in order to make decisions about what you have to offer. If the sale doesn’t happen right then and there at the show, it may happen later. Try to stay focused and don’t worry about the periperal things that are happening around you. There are plenty of exhibitors who will complain about the show. Find the one’s who aren’t and take note of what they are doing.

Follow Up!

For designers and artists this may seem really tedious and difficult. I know it was for me. It has literally taken me years to feel comfortable writing an email without deleting it five times until I send. You’ll get used to it and maybe (I’m sure you will) even get good at it. The most important thing to do is to do it…follow up that is. If you ask for a business card at the show then email those people right away. I like to send thank you cards inside my orders afterwards. I also like to send a “hey, thanks for stopping by my booth” in an email… I’m not a sales person but you need to remember that these buyers have seen so many products during the show that yours could easily get lost in the mix. You have to reach out somehow and remind them of who you are, what you do and why you rock.

Smile or be Exuberant or emit Positive Energy (whichever you prefer)

This goes along with being authentic though so don’t fake it. Smiling makes people smile. Make eye contact too. Your body language is saying something about you. You should always be aware of that. It is not easy waking up early every day, after long, long days, of the show trying to maintain a positive vibe when things are slow or you are dog dead tired. You have to do it anyway. The upside is that smiling will actually tell your brain that you are happy, awake and alive even. On the positive vibe thing…I actually burned dried sage in my apartment before the second day of the show to get rid of the negative energy I had felt the first day! Call me crazy but it worked for me. What works for you? Find it and do it.

One of our pedestals

About a…Booth

One section of my booth completely broke while I was setting up this year. Maybe it was karma for not using it the first year because I was on a corner and only needed two walls. Whatever the case, all I could do was improvise at that point. I had lost my third wall completely. So I used my designy brain and decided that two walls were actually better than three. No one else (in their right mind) was going to put their walls into a V shape. My walls were actually facing buyers when they walked by which I realized gave my product a huge advantage after-all. My cuffs are small so it is easy to walk by without understanding what they are. But my walls have huge images of the cuffs printed on them. If the walls had been facing one another how could someone have seen them? If they had been hidden in the depths of three-wall-hell, how could people see? I noticed also that when someone in my booth was blocking one of our walls that people would just pass on by, not even looking at our products, but when it was unblocked people did a double-take and would come by to check us out. Design wisely, it’s all about the space and showing your product.

A girl I met at the show made her entire booth out of thick foam core walls and decorated it with coffee filters. She brought her own lights. She spent $2,000 less than I did. I didn’t use my whole booth. I barely used any of it. My advice is to design your space wisely and be frugal. My plan is to design a booth that I can carry with me anywhere on earth. I don’t care if that sounds crazy. I am a small, actually tiny, start-up and I need the extra money. Note that I am not suggesting that your booth looks like it was made of cheap materials and put up by monkeys. I am saying that we are designers and artists and we can be super creative. We can plan things to be efficient, beautiful, and budget-friendly if we want to. And we do want to. Actually, think of your booth as your piece of art or your product. Design and create accordingly. It’s all in the details.

Walk the Aisles

I did not do this beforehand. But I did it this time! I realized that maybe I want a better location. That was after I was already exhibiting (aka gave away my left arm, which is the one I actually use). After speaking to some exhibitors, many of them having years of experience (and I did some online searches as well), they all said that they walk the aisles of the show before they had made a commitment to a space. Not only do they choose and request the location they want, they also decide if they are a good fit for the show at all! I never knew this. I learned this my second time exhibiting. Now I plan on attending a few shows this year to see if I would make a good fit and if I do, what spot do I worship most? I personally like corner spaces. Traffic is criss-crossing so you get buyers coming from multiple sides and you are not hidden in some three-caged-wall-thing. But whatever floats your boat and whatever sells is good! As long as you are happy and sales are up. Also I’d stay away from locations that are too far from entrances. People get so tired walking around these shows. They are HUGE! I’d pick a spot up close to the front where people can see me.

Talk to Exhibitors

Last year, or last time, I spent all of my time in my booth. This year I was determined to figure out the trade show world. I don’t know what came over me but I spoke to many, many exhibitors. I went crazy almost (I mean, I am crazy so how could I almost go crazier?) I asked exhibitors if they liked their locations, how well they were selling compared to last time, if there was a last time, how many years had they been doing this show, do they always pick the same spot, why, why not? Let’s see what else did I ask? If there was a lot of foot traffic, did buyers that they wanted come by, actually come by (like if you want to get into museum stores, did those buyers come by), would they do the show again, why, etc. etc. etc.

My thing was to understand the nitty gritty of the show world. I needed to know how it worked. I yearned to know. And so I asked. I pried even. I was probably the most annoying person in the room, asking all these questions, prying into peoples business. I did it cheerfully. You know why? Because not only do I care about my company but I do care about others. I want others to succeed as much as I do and I am not afraid of other peoples ideas. So I ask because I want to know how other people are really feeling. It’s a camaraderie thing. You want to make friends. Or at least you should want to because these people are doing what you are doing. Honestly if a booth friend helps me out I will do the same. I helped redesign the entire front of a booth-friends booth to help her get noticed more. I loved every second of it. She handed me fresh flowers on the last day of the show because it was my birthday. Or because my mom and I helped her. Either way it doesn’t matter. Be friends with everyone. I am a designer first and I want people to succeed. That’s who I am.

Don’t Drink too Much Coffee or Eat Weird Things or Spend Too Much Money on Food

For real. I had one cup of coffee every morning (at home, but you can do that in a hotel too) and then drank tea. I get jittery after a few cups of coffee and no one wants to see the crazy come out. Eat well too. I noticed that the prices were absurd at the show so I made my way to the nearest food store and bought muffins for the week. I also made sure I only purchased the cheapest thing on the menu for lunch. Honestly the empandas at the NY Gift Fair were so yummy, and for $4 how can you beat that for lunch? I also brought my own water because where I was a bottle of water cost $4.00! Too much for my tiny/non-existent budget. Bring your own water. Bring as much food as possible. We even brought chocolate for the moments where we were too tired to move. It immediately picked us up and felt like a reward. And of course don’t eat food that will bring you down…to sleep that is. Nobody wants to see you drooling in your booth, unless its over an amazing sale.

I will post more as I do more! Please leave comments!

#1 – Pratt Pop-up Shop

Where: Pratt Pop-up Shop in Dekalb Market, Located at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue Extension and Willoughby Ave.

When: December 14th-December 24th, 2011 from  11am-10pm daily

What: We will be selling our NYC, London and Paris Metro Cuffs which are all made of stainless steel.The opening reception will be held on December 17th from 11am-7pm. I will post images as soon as we get set up!

You can follow Pratt Pop-up Shop updates and Dekalb Market updates on twitter

#2 – Greenpoint Holiday Market

Where: Lutheran Church of the Messian, 129 Russell St, Greenpoint, Brooklyn

When: Saturday December 17th, 2011 from 12pm-5pm

What: We will be selling all of our Metro Cuffs (except the sold out London embossed cuff). This includes NYC, London, Paris and Milan.

Let us know if you’re coming, check out the official Greenpoint Holiday Market invite on Facebook 

Come get your holiday shopping ON! We’d really love to see you at one or both.

The final textile

I made it through weaving class!

As I mentioned in a previous blog post and various twitter and facebook posts, I was taking a Weaving 101 class at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY. Last post I couldn’t help but express how insane setting up or dressing the the loom was but once I started actually weaving everything was so simple. It was calming and I’d zone out for a while just going through the motions.

Beginning to Weave

To kind of (but not really since that was kind of ranty) pick up from my last post…

The last thing you do when you’re dressing your loom is pull the warp through the heddles (metal wires with a circle for your yarn to go through), then through the reed combs (check out this loom diagram), and tightly tie the warp around a bar connected to the loom. Then you can start weaving! Your warp is the “structure,” in my images it is the dark gray yarn going through the loom. The yarn pulled through the warp is called the weft. Yes, kind of sounds like “left.” The weft is one way you can create patterns.

But there are also warp patterns which depend on what order you pulled your warp through the heddles. So for instance, I was working on a 4 harness loom, that means I had four sets of heddles to pull my warp through. When I began pulling my warp through the heddles I used a 1, 2, 3, 4 repeat pattern. In the middle of pulling the warp through the heddles I switched it up and used a 1, 2, 3, 4 – 2, 3 – 1, 2, 3, 4 repeat pattern. So if you look at my photographs you can see that the left side of the weave looks very different than the right side. Though I was using weft patterns through the entire warp, the warp pattern ultimately determined the overall outcome. That means that there are endless pattern possibilities while weaving and I found that out firsthand by experimenting.

2/2 Twill Weaving Pattern

And really the most challenging thing once I started weaving was remembering where I was in the pattern. In the image above you can see that I wrote the pattern out on a sheet of paper, however I would often get lost and forget which of those 8 lines I was working on! At the beginning of the class I just didn’t understand what was going on but everything started to come together and made sense in the end. The experience makes me want to purchase a loom for my studio even if it’s just for pleasure!

FYI: Our teacher let us flip through The Handweaver’s Pattern Directory by Anne Dixon, which is where my 2/2 Twill pattern came from. This is a fantastic resource of patterns and how to make them.

Experimenting

Might I mention that in the last post I was unable to recall hardly a single word from weaving, and look, I am retaining all sorts of things!

Bobbin Boat Shuttle

Taking the finished textile off of the loom

Well…what do you think?

Officially tonight was my second weaving class at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn. First of all let me just say that weaving is a bit more tedious then I had imagined. However, in all of it’s technicalities there’s just something really meditative about pulling 240 individual pieces of yarn through various contraptions which I cannot for the life of me remember the names of.

dressing my loom - part 1

My goal: to learn the process so I can design something…anything with all of the knowledge accumulated throughout my years of tinkering with the stuff.

Back to the class…

What is going on anyway? I have no idea really. My teacher tells me to do this and that, to pull this piece of yarn through that hole and that piece through a different hole and everything will come together real nice.

Huh? Alright, so I pull 240 pieces of yarn through this and that and viola I have created a structure or frame of sorts and now I can (supposedly) begin weaving. Hopefully (cross-fingers).

dressing my loom - part 2

And there are all these terms or words that I don’t quite “get” yet.

Like dressing the loom? Harness? And the tools! Someone needs to create better tools for these weaving souls. Everything seems too flexible, breakable almost. I feel like a bull in a china shop. Seriously. My rings get stuck on everything. My legs get in the way of the contraptions.

dressing my loom - part

The tools fall on the ground at every move. I feel like I need something to hold things in place. It’s frustrating, it’s tedious, it’s crazy…and I love it. And I cannot explain the why or how yet.

yarn crosses

When you are dressing your loom one of the things to always be aware of is your “cross”. This is when your yarn pieces create crosses in between one another. You have no idea what I am talking about. Well in any case…my cross wasn’t really working out tonight so I decided to forget the cross. I took all the yarn in my hand, tool in other hand, and improvised. And somehow I made it through. I dressed my loom….Finally.

Next week I weave!!!

Park Slope via rutlo on flickr

For the second post in our Subway Stop Spotlight Series, I wanted to do a special focus on Park Slope now that I’m rolling into my 3rd year here. In total I have been in Brooklyn for almost 5 years and feel like it is my home. Here are some of my favorites spots to check out in the Slope.

If you are coming from Manhattan, the easiest way to get to the first spot is to take the N train to the Atlantic/Pacific St. stop and head down 4th Avenue towards Bergen Street.

First Stop: 4th Ave Pub 

4th Avenue between Bergen and St. Marks Place

4th Ave Pub via Bernt Rostad on flickr

While not in Park Slope yet, this being considered in Boerum Hill, this is a great first stop if you enjoy good beer like I do. 4th Ave Pub has upwards of 60 beer options, free popcorn (try it with Old Bay seasoning, very good), and an outdoor patio. There is a fairly eclectic mix of people who drop in and a host of regulars. I’d say the average crowd ranges in ages between 24-35.

Second Stop: Cherry Tree

4th Avenue between Bergen and St. Marks Place

Another bar which is directly across the street from the 4th Ave Pub. I like Cherry Tree for it’s trivia nights and that it shows football games on a huge projector screen. On a football night there is usually a small crowd so you can watch the game, have a few beers and relax. It’s the only place that I could catch an Eagles game before I had a tv (sorry all other football fans, I am from Philly).

Third Stop: Textile Arts Center

505 Carroll St. between 3rd and 4th Avenues

Textile Arts Center via facebook.com/textileartscenter

I have to admit, I have not been here…but oh do I want to go! Textile Art and Design is one of my biggest passions in life, so this may be a bias stop. I have heard, however, from some other locals that the gallery is worth a visit and if you get over there between September 10th and December 2nd you can view their current exhibition Yield: Fashion Without Waste. Did I mention that they offer an incredible assortment of adult and youth classes as well as weekend workshop intensives? Weaving, Fiber, Dying, Knitting & Crocheting, Embroidery & Quilting and more served up in a newly renovated 3,200 square foot, used-to-be sweater factory, open space. Need I say more? They are closed on Sundays and hold fairly typical gallery hours, closing at 6pm on weekdays and 5pm on Saturdays.

Fourth Stop: Oaxaca

4th Avenue between President and Carroll St.

Oaxaca Tacos via JasonLam on flickr and his website mightysweet.com

This teeny-tiny place has the best tacos in all five boroughs, without a doubt (of course this is my opinion). There are a few locations in Brooklyn and they are beginning to stem out to places around Manhattan now. Their tacos seem to fit perfectly in your hand, they are really cheep and my favorite part is the pickled onions. This is the perfect place to grab a quick bite. There are limited seating options.

Fifth Stop: Mission Delores

4th Avenue between President and Carroll St.

Now we are playing this cross-cross game and I promise it was not my intention! After you have lost your mind eating tacos at Oaxaca run across the street and head into Mission Delores bar (closer to Carroll St.). There is always a bouncer at the front so bring a valid ID. This place almost always satisfies me, except for the rare occasion when it is completely empty. Being such a large open space it needs bodies to make you feel welcome, you know what I mean? During the weekend nights after 10pm Mission (that’s what we call it) gets pretty packed. When you first enter inside you will walk through an indoor space, then to the outdoor area and back to the main indoor space which houses the bar. Other features: seating in all three spaces, two pinball machines and two bathrooms! The crowd is cool and a bit more hipster than other bars in the neighborhood, Williamsburg hipster that is. Ages range from 21-40, roughly, yet everyone seems to mesh and mix well.

Sixth, Seventh, Eight and Ninth Stops: 5th Avenue – Vintage/Thrift Store Shopping

Walk up President or Carroll Street and make a right onto 5th Avenue. First stop by Housing Works on the corner of 5th and Garfield St. The space is small but home to lots of delicious thrift-store goodies such as clothes, accessories, books, furniture, and home goods. Once a year, during the Fall season, they restock their entire store and sell everything they’ve had for the year, and yes things go for great prices. This event is taking place on September 27th at 11am, get there early!

Next stop, Two Lovers Boutique, between President and Union St. on 5th Avenue. It never fails, I always leave this store with something, my last purchase was a lovely black and white striped dress. The ladies here are very selective in their wares making everything a worthy purchase, even if it is used. They only sell clothing and some accessories but it’s a great stop.

Odd Twin via www.oddtwin.com

Next up, Odd Twin on 5th Avenue between Degraw and Douglas St. Prepare to step into a different galaxy when you arrive here, it kinda feels like stepping into a Hitchcock movie, maybe not as creepy. While their prices are higher than I’d like they do have a fantastic mix of truly vintage clothing, accessories, hats and home goods. My last purchase there was a pair of vintage red cowboy boots which were hand-made in Italy, hard to find anywhere else especially in nearly perfect condition.

Last Vintage/Thrift Store stop is Beacons Closet on 5th Avenue at the corner of Warren St. Not to be missed, you will regret it, I promise. Plus you just NEED a vintage club jacket (which they seem to never run out of). Cheap, cheap, cheap but good quality used clothing and accessories, including purses, belts, hats and shoes which are all hand selected by Beacons Closet employees in-the-know. Actually you can take a bag of your own clothes there for trade or cash which is a really great idea, but again they are selective so don’t take it personal when they don’t hand you cash or credit (instead they will send your bag, if you let them, off to charity)! They have maybe five or six fitting rooms which are always in use, this place is the hottest thrift store in the area. My suggestion is to go during a weekday, early afternoon, to have some time and space to peruse the goods, the place gets packed during after-work hours and weekends. They also have a Williamsburg and Manhattan location. The Williamsburg store has a large collection of jeans.

Goorin Bros Progress Shot via goorin.com/blog

I want to add that there is the new hat shop, Goorin Bros., on 5th Avenue between Union and Berkley Pl. They were setting up shop a few weeks ago and I know they have opened their doors since then but I haven’t had a chance to make it over there. Maybe that is a good Saturday afternoon stop?

Goorin Peek A Boo Collection via goorin.com/blog

I have not even touched Park Slope or the surrounding areas but I will do a follow-up post and end this one here. I hope you enjoy and please send along any of your favorite stops!

Please feel free to tell us your favorite a) stops and b) spots on the stops! Any suggestions are appreciated and we will consider using them as stop spotlights!

So where is our first stop? Covent Garden in London – Check out why we chose this stop for all things vintage!

photo by n_willsey via flickr.com

Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog (over to the right) so as not to miss anything.

»Rokit Vintage Store - 42 Shelton Street«

photo by eddiedangerous via flickr.com

Born in 1986, Rokit houses a huge assortment of vintage items, including women’s, men’s and children’s clothing and accessories as well as games and housewares all ranging from the 1920’s to 1980’s. Also check out Rokit’s blog.

»Cath Kidston Store - 28-32 Shelton Street«

If you have never been to a Cath Kidston store and you love vintage-inspired, fun, quirky, cute products then you really do need to make this stop.

3 reasons we love Cath (as a person that is)…

1. Cath found her childhood passion and worked it into her career…
2. Cath started small. With £15,000 she began selling, and later designing, vintage items in her Holland Park, London store…
3. Cath is still the creative director of the company, and we really, really admire that!

If you do not make it to the store in Covent Garden you can pop into Terminal 4’s Departure Lounge at Heathrow Airport, be prepared for some super sweet travel accessory shopping among other gifty-like items. I purchased a pink and green floral luggage tag and matching passport book as well as a few travel-size lotions (which smelled so delicious I wanted to eat them) last time I was in Heathrow.

»London Transport Museum and Shop – Covent Garden Piazza«

photo by Loz Flowers via flickr.com

3 reasons we love the Transport Museum…

1. The London Transport Museum is designed to highlight three themes and one of them is the poster collection, though the collection varies there are many vintage posters!

2. The Museum shop has the best offering of London Underground souvenirs in London, which makes sense since it is connected to the Museum.  For instance, the Museum shop has just recently launched the Chelsea Flower Show Collection in which they have created an assortment of souvenirs detailing 1938 and 1939 (vintage anyone?) flower show posters (all created by the London Underground company). Or my favorite the Under Attack Exhibition which, again, are a variety of souvenirs created with old wartime poster sayings and illustrations including the “Gas; Put on your mask” and the “It Takes Time” series.

3. It is located right outside of the Covent Garden Market which hosts 40 stalls ranging from jewelry to hats and the like. Be sure to walk around the Covent Garden Piazza (outside of the covered market) for some good ‘ol entertainment from jugglers, mimes, and musicians. This is the only place in London that street entertainment is allowed and the performers are pretty good (as they have had to go through an audition process and become licensed to do so).

»Covent Gardens Market and Piazza«

First, stop by Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop, it is one of my favorite toy stores ever. Dating as far back as the 1880’s, Pollock’s Toyshop holds true to their traditions by continuing to sell vintage looking/inspired toy theaters; to see one is to step back into a time long forgotten. 44 The Market

It has about 100 stores now in the UK and abroad but PaperChase is well worth a stop in while roaming around Covent Gardens Piazza – if you are into even more fun, colorful, super playful products that is. 13 The Piazza

Just fyi, the Covent Garden stop is on the Piccadilly Line on the London Underground.

Let us know which places you always stop in while visiting Covent Gardens.

About our Subway Stop Spotlight Series:

Each week we highlight a stop on the subway in the cities which correlate to our Metro Cuff Series. So get off the metro or subway or whatever you call it and do some exploring.

Storefront @ The New Temporary Contemporary, Fabric Workshop and Museum

I was so excited that this year’s ISTE Conference (an annual conference I attend with Sweat Equity Education, whom I also work for) was held in Philadelphia because not only is it my hometown but the Convention Center is directly across the street from the Fabric Workshop and Museum! So…I was lucky enough to run across the street during a break and wander through the beautifully renovated galleries and store.

I was directed up one flight of emergency exit stairs to check out the first exhibit Close at Hand: Philadelphia Artists from the Permanent Collection which exhibited an incredible mixture of old and new textile craft. I was, and still am, in love with Edna W. Andrade’s Maze print!

Next I headed over to The New Temporary Contemporary building to watch Fighting Kissing Dancing, a seven film sequence exploring the three themed title. Now I’m not one to read all the museum signs, I am usually just too excited to see everything and therefore sat down not knowing what to expect. The first film was so interesting in approach that my jaw was hanging open for the entire length. Just go see it (if you can).

The Fabric Workshop and Museum has been a source of inspiration for me ever since I was introduced to it during my undergraduate studies at The University of the Arts. It is even more impressive now that I have formal training in textile design. If you are in Philly my suggestion is to stop by…Oh and while you’re in that neighborhood stop by Reading Terminal Market to eat some super fresh Amish food from Lancaster County, Pa.