Thread: Convention Planning and Suggestions

Originally Posted by azjoe

Sorry Colleen Hopefully you'll post the long version of your thoughts when you get time.

Oh...quite alright!! if I had READ your large print DO NOT POST....."Vote Only" it would'a been ok....actually I was happy to delete myself a person doesn't often get a chance to do that....LOL.

Soapmistress

Are there any national/regional conventions of Barbers or Hair Stylists that we could piggyback with? Might be better than a knife show!?

Randy,
There are a few but most are mid-week, high dollar, "real" trade shows for the industry. Attendees are usually smaller resellers, shop owners and occasionally stylists. Manufacturers and larger distributors are the typical vendors looking for shops or smaller resellers to retail to.

Tony

I had similar thoughts to Randy...

It may be worth seeing if you can join one of the "allied" hobby conventions like knife and or gun shows. From reading some of the other sections of this forum there seems to be a common theme among the different hobbies members are involved in and joining up with one of the more established conventions might be the way to go... for the first time round anyway.

If the attendance or interest in the straight razor section of one of the larger conventions is sufficient it could then be viable to strike out on your own.

It may even be a way of attracting attention and or converts to the art.

Greg Frazer

Apparently August 4th – 8th 2007 there's been an Annual Wet Shaving Convention at the George R Brown Convention Centre, Houston, TX, USA.

Why not try and get a straight razor shaving corner there (nest year)! Where better to try and spread the faith!

Kees, do you have a link for the convention? I searched and found some vendors (Muehle, etc.) referencing it, but no actual link. Maybe some of the Houston members could scout it out?

Greg

As nearly as I could determine with a couple quick searches, the show in question is the RTDA (Retail Tobacco Dealers Association). I can't explain why several European wet shaving products companies are involved... since I haven't had my 2nd cup of coffee yet, I probably just missed something or Google led me astray.

Anyway, a company I used to work for exhibited at trade shows held at the GRB Convention Center. It is in the top 10 US convention centers in size and is expensive (as are all the large convention venues) for our needs. If you've never participated in setting up a booth in a place like this you can't fathom how much things cost.

I can't over emphasize the key element is "cost to attend"... and for most members, travel & lodging cost will constitute the lion's share of that expense. So before we start optimizing the venue costs, or anything else for that matter, we need to determine where to have the event so that enough people will feel like they can afford to attend. Like it or not folks, airfare is the gating element, then hotel costs, then car rental/expenses, etc. We need everyone to vote in the poll and enter their location info on the googlemap to do this.

So far, nearly half of the people participating in this thread have not yet voted in the poll... is this "voter apathy"?? Or are those missing votes really an "I wouldn't attend no matter what the cost" vote (which is a choice I forgot to include in the poll)???

Originally Posted by WireBeard

Kees, do you have a link for the convention? I searched and found some vendors (Muehle, etc.) referencing it, but no actual link. Maybe some of the Houston members could scout it out?

Greg

That's where I found it as well! I checked their calender of events and could not find next years' convention, might be that one is organized elsewhere!

Originally Posted by azjoe

As nearly as I could determine with a couple quick searches, the show in question is the RTDA (Retail Tobacco Dealers Association). I can't explain why several European wet shaving products companies are involved... since I haven't had my 2nd cup of coffee yet, I probably just missed something or Google led me astray.

Anyway, a company I used to work for exhibited at trade shows held at the GRB Convention Center. It is in the top 10 US convention centers in size and is expensive (as are all the large convention venues) for our needs. If you've never participated in setting up a booth in a place like this you can't fathom how much things cost.

I can't over emphasize the key element is "cost to attend"... and for most members, travel & lodging cost will constitute the lion's share of that expense. So before we start optimizing the venue costs, or anything else for that matter, we need to determine where to have the event so that enough people will feel like they can afford to attend. Like it or not folks, airfare is the gating element, then hotel costs, then car rental/expenses, etc. We need everyone to vote in the poll and enter their location info on the googlemap to do this.

So far, nearly half of the people participating in this thread have not yet voted in the poll... is this "voter apathy"?? Or are those missing votes really an "I wouldn't attend no matter what the cost" vote (which is a choice I forgot to include in the poll)???

I will step right off the pier and be totally girly......ahhhm ..."coughs"....I did vote, but I don't recall seeing how to put my location on the map. Would you please explain...?

Colleen

Originally Posted by churley

I don't recall seeing how to put my location on the map. Would you please explain...?

Colleen

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