When last we spoke, we had packed up the van and were hitting the road for Carolina Fiber Fest in Raleigh NC. Thankfully, this show was fairly local to us so our drive was around 2 and half hours. We have done shows as far away as Minnesota and New York which makes for 9 to 10 hours on the road or more! Once we arrived at the venue, we had to check in and scope out the area to find out where our booth was and where would be the best place to park and unload. Of course, it started pouring rain as soon as we started to unload. Not to mention the dog show that was also happening at the same location which made parking super fun.
At this particular show we planned for our standard 10x10 booth setup, but due to last minute cancellations by other vendors we were offered a double booth instead, which made unloading easier since we had twice the room to offload in without taking up our neighbors booth space. Thankfully our booth was pretty close to the door, so shlepping all the stuff inside was manageable and we were only slightly soaked. We've done some fun load/unloads that involve multiple sets of stairs. Phew!
Once we're inside, the first step is to assemble our grid wall, which consists of multiple panels and feet that all have to be lined up precisely and screwed together which take approximately 15 hands and several strong backs, and maybe a curse word or two. Once our 2 grid walls are up, we add a roof, side panels, lighting, fabric backing, and of course our Queen City sign. Next we consult our booth map layout and hang the hooks and shelving accordingly. Then it's time to add the yarn! This part is pretty quick, thanks to planning ahead and thoughtful packing.
Once the yarn and fiber is in place, we can fill out the booth with signage and other accoutrement like lotion bars, Pom poms, mini's and of course our gorgeous samples. Since we had a large booth at this show, I brought along my spinning wheel for demonstrations on how I make our Handspun line.
At each show, we have a table with a featured yarn, and this time it was a new Coleman yarn. It was a big hit, and placing the table front and center, along with our mannequin June, it draws people in for a closer look.
After setting up the checkout stand and making sure everything was neat and tidy we were ready to roll! We spent the next 2 days meeting and greeting long time customers we haven't seen in awhile, as well as putting our faces to our brand for new customers that haven't seen us before. It makes for long days on your feet but offers us a great chance to get our yarns in the hands of lovely people like yourselves!
Then it's time to do it all in reverse! Disassemble everything in a neat and orderly fashion so that we can easily do it all again the following weekend!
I hope you've enjoyed this peek into everything that goes into getting ready for fiber shows. I bet you might have been surprised at exactly all the preparations that go into it, but we hope you enjoy the results of all our hard work!