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I am so excited! I can't wait. I'm almost giddy.
The Brooklyn Renegade Show is just a few hours away. We made it into town after what seemed like the drive that would never end & found our hotel which was a bit of a stresser because you never know what you're going to get. By the looks of the parking lot, there are a few other designers staying here too. I hope our paths cross.
I have been looking forward to this show since the Chicago Renegade show last September. We had record rain fall that weekend (no, really I mean it... the most rain Chicago has ever gotten in a weekend in recorded history) & it was still an amazing show. Those Renegade Girls really know how to put on an event. I can't wait to experience the rest of their shows. I've planned and plotted how in the world I could make it to the West Coast for their LA & San Fran shows. It won't happen this year due to Mart, but if they'll let me we'll head west next year.
This weekend and all of the time I had to think made me conjure up a list of shows around the country that I would love to check out (my Wish List.)
Chicago Renegade
San Fran Renegade
LA Renegade
Chicago Holiday Renegade
Bazaar Bizarre, Boston
Stich, Austin (once they are a go again)
Art vs Craft, Milwaukee
Crafty Bastards, DC
There is always my favorite ICE shows, but those are easy since they are in Atlanta. And I'm sure that a google search will pull up many many more that will soon be on my radar, but for now 8 is a reasonable number for me to try to work in.
Sure, it costs a little bit more to do these out of state shows. Sure it takes longer to get there and back. But what an experience. Today we ate "local" in Durham, NC, DC & Philly. We are going to expose NY to Rinse & help promote the Beehive Mt. Kisco store, & we get to check out the city. What can be better than that? Only if we come home empty...
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They say that the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. I have a problem. As you would at any meeting for addicts, I feel I should introduce myself & share a little bit of my history.
My name is Heather. I am the founder & formulator of Rinse Bath & Body which was founded in 2003 after a need for a creative outlet turned into something huge. Before Rinse, I worked for a small business & a big corporation which created & fed my addiction. For the small business I toured the country for Nintendo promoting the Pokemon Gameboy game (yes, I got paid to play video games.) In the corporate world I toured the country working with national sponsors for Supercross (yes, I got to hang out with dirt bikes & fun sponsors like Anheuser Busch, EA Sports, THQ...)
My addiction is not traveling (although I LOVE to get away whenever I can.) It is the event part of my past that I can't get enough of. There is nothing like hearing the roar of a crowd, meeting your fans, launching new products...
Although the scale of my events have now changed (craft shows & markets rather than professional football & baseball stadiums with 40,000+ screaming fans) I still get that feeling. The butterflies in the stomach. The anxiety building as we approach the venue. The high from meeting my fans (and the people who have never seen me or Rinse.)
 Because of everything mentioned above and more, I just can't get enough! Let's see, to date I have 15 markets/shows confirmed between now & December 18. For those keeping score at home, that's 12 weeks with a holiday & a week off thrown in there. And note, I said confirmed. I have a few other shows that I'm waiting to hear back from, so that number still can, and probably will go up.
You're probably asking yourself, why should you care about my addiction?.?. Because through the Bee Blog I'm going to share what I know about what to do, what not to do, where not to go, how to find where to go, what to bring & what to do if you forget what you're supposed to bring at home. In the mean time, here's a little meat for you to chew on until my next installment.
Why Events?
No one can sell my products as well as I can. I'm not a salesperson. No means no to me. I can't pressure anyone. I couldn't sell ice cubes to eskimos.
What I can do is talk to visitors about my products. Not just what they are & what's in them but tell them the story behind them (like it took me 1 1/2 years to formulate my lip balm or that the smell of the Pumpkin Patch soap is the same smell that I used in my 1st ever batch of soap.) I find that consumers, especially these days, like to have value added to their purchase, even if it's just intellectual value.
I can also show my customers that I still LOVE what I do and have enthusiasm for whatever is around the corner for Rinse. Chatting & smiling go a long way a confirm that I genuinely do love what I do. Being enthusiastic & a bit chatty tend to be a good combo for me. It results in sales, contacts (you never know who you're talking to or who they know,) referrals & wholesale accounts almost everywhere I go.
So far, events have been the key to Rinse's growth. I've done less than a handful of cold calls for wholesale accounts. All the others (30+) are either a direct result or a 2nd degree result of a show. Same thing goes for PR.
I may not be an official expert, but my addiction has taught me many things, which I'm ecstatic that I'll be able to share. Now I'm off to find an Events Anonymous meeting. No, actually I'm going to Orlando to walk a spa show to see if I want to do it next year. Curses. I'm never going to kick this habit.
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