My First Event

My First Event was at the Belmont County Fair 2014

Since I am on the topic of county fairs I want to talk about doing my first paid show at the Belmont County Fair. You may be asking why here. Belmont County is the county that I grew up in and where I have received a lot of motivation and support for my product. What better place to feel at home.

I didn’t make the decision to participate until a month before the fair. I called the office and found out I could still get in. I sent my fee and registration. I was advised that they needed to have the fair added to my insurance so I had to get in touch with my agent.  That was another fee(which I have found out I have to pay for almost any event I participate in). OK insurance information faxed in and I now have final approval to participate.

Now I have to consider just what do I need for the event. At this point I only have product. I wanted to make a good showing and so I thought of all the places I had been and what they had in their booth space.  I have only three weeks to get ready.

I wanted people to recognize me not only when I was at my booth but also when I was out at all the other fair exhibits and midway. I decided I needed shirts made. I went to a local embroidery place and I decided on the shirts. While I was there I figured I needed to decide on a give away that would have my business name on it. What better item to get than an ink pen that also is a stylus for the touch screens. They also imprinted my logo on a red sheet for the table cover. Now the only thing I had to do was to get the design to them so they could get the work done. It was a tight schedule but they got it done for me.

It was exciting to find my exhibitor space.  I felt like I did when I went off to college the first time and found out my room and roommates. I looked at the floor plan and found my space. I had the space right as you come in the door. It was the best spot in the place!

Now that I’ve seen my space I needed to figure out what I needed for the tables. I decided on plastic red table covers and table  skirts. Over these I placed the tablecloths with the logo. this gave me complete coverage. I made a copy of my patent and displayed it. I had a basket for the chance tickets and red bowls for candy. There were plenty of brochures and business cards as well.

I made a basket of local goodies for the raffle drawing and placed the banner between the tables.

The last item to do was to create a “car seat.” With the help of my friends we took a standard chair and made a seat back out of foam core. We punched two holes in the top for the head rest and what do you know…..we have a car seat!

Everything is done. The doors open and the fun begins!