Mar
9
Written by:
Steven Fisher
3/9/2009
We’re setting up the Surf Expo Big Top a bit earlier this summer. Now, many exhibitors and retailers are excited about the change of our show dates to August 20-22. But, like anything, that isn't the case with everyone.
I’ve taken a few calls and e-mails from some of you and I’d like convey the gist of some of these questions and my response to them.
“Why in the world would you move your trade show into summer? We’re busy!”
Due to this year’s calendar position of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the dates we had used for our previous summer show couldn’t work. The dates had to move. Keeping the show in September would have meant holding our show at the end of the fourth week of September. These dates would have been much too late for the vast majority of our buyers and exhibitors.
The industry is moving faster each year. Many manufacturers are previewing future lines earlier. I remember back in my buying days getting calls from reps wanting to wheel in a train of rolling racks into my store during August. That was a major hassle. This is still the case, except reps are out there even earlier. Moving the show to August puts us more squarely into the buy-in cycle.
Other trade events are also in this peak summer month. MAGIC is the week before Labor Day. Outdoor Retailer is in July and so is Miami Swim. The rules haven’t changed with the dates. Surf Expo will still provide you with the one-stop-shopping experience you’ve come to rely on. Reps want your orders and understand the value of showing their lines in one concentrated buying environment.
Show Director Roy Turner and I were chatting the other day about this. We’re both old retailers who grew up with Surf Expo. It’s not like we’re asking you to take a vacation! We’re asking you to come to Orlando for a couple of days of work, in a venue that will ultimately save you time and make you more efficient, during a time when reps are already clamoring to see you. What would you rather do, spend a few hours a day for weeks on end getting tugged off your sales floor to see a line at a time in your stockroom or spend three days really managing the future of your business?
“School’s in session/School starts the next week/College kids are back and I have no help.”
Surf Expo isn’t trying to create a staffing hardship for you with this date change. It’s just something that has to be done this year. I was in your shoes for more than twenty years. Business must go on and I always found a way to make it work. I’ve missed anniversaries, kid’s b-days and ball games. No, this hardly made me “father of the year” but I’m proud that I gave them a roof over their head and a refrigerator full of food.
Change of any type is an inconvenience. It moves us out of our comfort zone, but we persevere, adopt, and succeed. I believe you when you say there are challenges to your schedule. What grinds my gears are the retailers who offer complaints about the August dates but historically complained about our September dates too! As humans we seem to strive to find a reason not to do something.
Personally, I tried to challenge myself and my business to see how far I could take it. Rather than rest on my laurels I found ways to get to more shows, to see as much of the market as possible and to dig until I found that one neat, shiny new item that nobody else had ever seen. That was the difference. That’s what separated me and my business from the rest of the world.
By an overwhelming margin, that attitude is what we’re also hearing from our retailers. At the rate of more than 10 to 1, our buyers are choosing to support the show in this unique situation. We appreciate that support. It will be okay to leave your shop for a couple of days near the end of August. We’ll get you back two full weeks before Labor Day. That’s plenty of time to comb through the notes on countless catalog pages you picked up in Orlando and see those summer hold-outs on their way back home.
See you in August. It’s going to be a great show!
Mahalo,
Steven Fisher
Buyer Relations Manager | Boardsports
678.781.7975 vox
We'll see ya right here!
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