new york gift wrap-up

Well, the show is winding down, and since I'm bored out of my mind, I thought I'd do a little recap now. These are my thoughts in no particular order.

display - I'm really happy with how my booth turned out. Having the person next to me have the same curtains turned out to be a good challenge - I LOVE my Ikea curtains layered with the black. When I had hard walls black at ACC, I had toyed with the idea of painting my hard walls black, but had chickened out. Now that I see how the dark makes my displays pop, I'm inclined to try it next time I use hard walls.

finding my niche - I also think my overall presentation positioned my work to a target audience - one with a design-savvy eye. I'm totally ok with this, because that market appeals to me. However, I'm curious to see how I could market the work to a more fashion oriented buyer simply by staging the booth in a different way. This is something I might consider if I'm looking at other shows.

location, location, location - My location at this show did not help my cause, particularly because the buyer I'm targeting might not think to go to this part of the show. I'm definitely going to try to move to another area for the January show.

promotional materials - I have a postcard that I love (and got lots of compliments on), but its time to work on putting together a catalog. That's my goal for the January show.

Overall, despite slow sales, I'm leaving the show feeling good. I've definitely been in a slump these last few months, going so far as to wonder if this is what I wanted to be doing. But being here has energized me - I'm heading home with a clearer perspective on my audience and my work, and I can't wait to get back in the studio. This is what I want to do, and I'm going to reinvest my energies to make it as worth while as possible.