Apple Harvest Festival Review

We did it! Cindi (one of my bestest friends - http://www.tallysplace.blogspot.com/) and I had a booth at our local Apple Harvest Festival here in Fortuna. My last post talks more on this subject as well. This was our first time for a lot of firsts - our first time being partners, first time with an outdoor booth and first time being at the festival. During our 8 hour booth time, Cindi and I had plenty of time to review and critique EVERYTHING! I want to share with you what some of them are and welcome any and all constructive criticism - BE NICE! I will start the reviewing in sections -

SET UP - This was actually easy because we did a trial set up in my driveway. My lovely husband, Garry helped cut the lattice to size and put eye screws in the pier blocks ~ Thanks Honey!~ We knew it was going to be windy, Garry suggested we use the pier blocks and ratcheted tie-downs for anchors on the tent. The anchors worked great and were easy to use and it added height to the tent. The lattice in the corner did not do so good. They needed more support because the lattice was vinyl which meant it was very flimsy. Once again hubby came to the rescue with 2"x 2" x 80" to support the sides of the lattice not already zip tied to a tent leg. Overall score- 8 out of 10



BOOTH OVERALL APPEARANCE - This is one of the areas that was in need of help... I think it is setup nicely, good traffic flow for the small area, but is where I think it stops. Garry said that our booth needed to be more full of product and I agree. Because life happens, Cindi was unable to have more of her products there and she was so bummed. Signs. Who we are. What we do. How much? Not there and the one sign in the back was nicely done, which reads: Custom Orders Available on Request, (thanks Ammi ), however without any other signs it was just hanging around.

Overall score: 4 out of 10



PRODUCT DISPLAY-

I believe Cindi and I did great job in displaying our products even though we lacked signs. We had purses hanging on the lattice and placed on the tables. Cindi's Buttonfly Fairies were on the lattice and then we arranged a pole to go between two tent legs and they were hung from there. They fluttered beautifully in the wind. The tutu's were hung up around the tent area - next time we will use a round clothes rack, space permitting.

I am calling this one "Tiger Fly" - so exotic........... ( made by Cindi)

Our Woodland Fairy Wands grabbed a lot of attention and we had a sign, but no price. After awhile I did make a price tag sign and it helped.

Overall Score: 9 out of 10

After we went home and warmed up, we began to research booth set up and these are some of the results -

http://craftshowsuccess.nichmarketer.com/articles/craft-show-booth.html

http://www.inspiri-art-and-craft.com/booth-setup.html

http://fluffyflowers.typepad.com/fluffy_flowers/2008/01/how-to-setup--2.html

In conclusion we now know what we need to do different for our next shows. We will do Apple Harvest Festival again next year with the improvements mentioned above along with -

~booth placement~ we were at the end block and next to a food vendor that "smoked" his meat. When people got off the hay rides, they headed away from us.

~ sides for the booth~ it was so windy during the day we had to keep our products from flying away and we were so drained and our lips very chapped - the wind was very bad and cold.

We are not going to give up. We will continue on and keep learning from our mistakes and kindly take advice from others and listen to wisdom from the wise.

One of Our Next Shows will be Saturday, November 14 at the Veterans' Memorial Building in Fortuna