Booth Set-Up

Spent this morning packing for our booth at the Washington Home & Garden Show (www.washingtonhomeandgardenshow.com) and then early afternoon setting it up. Went fairly smoothly except having to wait half an hour in the loading dock area just to get onto the show floor, then being directed to set up in the wrong booth. We luckily realized after about 5 minutes of unloading, that they had put us in 668 - when actually our booth is 868. In any case, all worked out and pretty smooth. Our booth is on a main entrance aisle and we are directly across from some very large metal palm trees. I can just tell folks "look for the palm trees - you can't miss 'em!"

For show specials, we are offering a free seed pack with every subscription placed at the show. Not a big expense item, but a fun token to get them in the buying mood. Also, we are bundling our first 6 back issues - the whole first year of publication - as a set for $24. It would normally be $36 so I hope a few collectors and other interested folks take advantage of that one to round out their garden library.

With this being our first time, I'm not sure what a realistic show goal for new subscriptions is - obviously we want to make back our booth and direct costs, but more than that I want to get the word out about us and make a significant increase in our subscription base. Wish us luck! With our long show days, I'm not sure that I'll get a chance to blog again until next Monday, but I'll try to check in at least once.