SHOWSTOPPER Road Map to Rocking Your Trade Show

SHOWSTOPPER â€" Road Map to Rocking Your Trade Show When Khristian Howell aka the-friend-who-Jess-Swift-brought-with-her-to-SURTEX-and-by-the-time-they-left-we-were-all-crying-on-the-street-because-we-loved-each-other-so-much told me about a new product she was working on and asked me to take part, I said, Duh! Then I said, Whats it about, chica bonita? (which I realize should come before the Duh, but you know how I feel about the s-word (should!)). She responded, SHOWSTOPPER is a 14 week email series designed to help exhibitors put all the planning on auto-pilot.  Two or three times per week an email with a specific action item will arrive directly into the inbox.  I invite participants to simply concentrate on and execute this one goal.  This will simplify the preparation process and break it up into manageable pieces.  Most importantly, this will give artists the tools they need to do the juggling act between preparing for the show and creating lots of new fantastic work. I really believe this tool will help take the guess work and anxiety out of the preparation process.  My sincere hope is this will help more artists believe that they CAN make this happen for themselves! Clearly, I am crazy excited! The crazy-excitement was contagious, and I was even more psyched to be interviewed by Khristian around the confidence-building piece of being part of your first show. Love her! So, when it came time to launch, I thought an interview with Khristian would be great. Thankfully she agreed and hopefully you will too! 1. Your first show was SURTEX at the Jacob Javits Center in the spring of 10 (where I met ya!). What was the biggest roadblock you faced in taking the plunge and putting your money where your mouth was? You named it. The green stuff.  It really came down to dollars and cents.  Doing a trade show is a HUGE investment!  During the decision making process my inner dialog would go back and forth between I can totally do this and How the #$*@@ am I going to afford this  It is super scary.  In the end, I really had to learn to trust myself.  If this was to be what I really wanted to do for a living, I would have to take the leap.  Much of my business, like many others, is all about exposure.  There are so many great artists out there, but if the right people dont see them, it really doesnt matter how great the art is. Today I understand fully that if I dont invest in myself, I cant really expect others to do so. 2. Whats been the best thing thats come from showing at SURTEX? Well, there are several.  One of them is a reaffirmed belief that I can make it in this industry.  I was overwhelmed by the response to my artwork, presentation, and professionalism.  The best part about all of that is I was really just being me.  I felt so comfortable in my own skin, and it was amazing to get confirmation that I was moving in the right direction.  The other thing that excites me about doing shows is the relationships that are created both on a business and personal level.  It was so amazing to be in the same arena with people in my field who I had long admired.  Then to meet them and see that they are just like me was the icing on the cake.  Id spent so long putting certain people on a huge pedestal, and thinking WOW Ill never be like them. The truth of the matter is, I am just like them right now, because we all have to start somewhere.  It was great to know that we all have the s ame struggles.  It is even better to have a new wonderful community to share in the wonderful triumphs as well. 3. Looking back, what do ya wish you knew about showing at SURTEX that you learned by being there? This is a tough question for two reasons.  1. I am not good at looking backwards.  I just want to move forwards.  2. Honestly, I feel really great about my first showing.  Of course there are things I will do differently this time around.  However, that is not because I feel I did something wrong last year, the changes for this coming year only have to do with personal growth.  I spent about a year and a half really digging and doing research on the show, the buyers, the exhibitors, and licensing.  I walked the show one year, attended many of the seminars, and sought out the experts in the field.  By the time I was ready to show, I felt really READY!  The one major thing I have changed is that I am constantly saving for the shows.  I have a dedicated savings account just for it! 4. Youre a photographer and surface designer, but have also recently been focusing on helping other artists prepare for their first show. What drew you to switching gears a bit? Oh this was not planned at all!!  When I came home in May from the show, I was emotionally drained.  Id just spent a good six months pouring over every detail regarding marketing, contracts, logistics, shipping, lodgingoh and that little thing of building a huge art collection from scratch!  I was so overwhelmed (in a good way) so I just started to write. I wrote until four am on the Sunday after I got home.  When I was finished, I realized I had just Confessed all the things I had gone through to get to the show.  Then I thought of all the materials out there on doing trade shows, Ive never seen anything from someone like me, a first-timer.  So I organized what essentially was  a huge journal entry, called it Confessions of a First Timer (keep it clean people) and blogged about it a few days later.  Thenthe questions started comingand I started answering.  The questions were the motivation behind SHOWSTOPPER, and thats pretty much that. 5. And heres the required question: What did you wanna be when you grew up? A business owner so I could spend each day on my own terms, traveler and dancer.  Two out of three aint bad.  Need to start working on that third one again! If ya wanna get your hands on SHOWSTOPPER, then click here (or or any of the links that Ive previously linked the name of the product to). In full disclosure, I get a lil somethin somethin if you buy the product from this link, but I always promise to only pimp what I absolutely stand behind! From what I know about Khristian her passion, her drive, her talent, her spunk and what I know from our interview, this is definitely a must-have resource for anyone looking to get in on their first show. Its never too early to start planning!