Pool / Project '06 tradeshows in Vegas

[productdose]

Don't know if anyone was able to make it to Pool and Project this week, but there were some cool new brands to check out. In general Pool was a huge disappointment and Project was much better than expected.

While I was there, I tried to take a bunch of photos and posted the cool stuff up on my blog if anyone is interested in seeing what was there.

Project: <a href="http://www.productdose.com" target="_blank">http://www.productdose.com'>http://www.productdose.com"]<a href="http://www.productdose.com" target="_blank">http://www.productdose.com/index.php?s=project </a>

and

Pool: [url=http://www.productdose.com/index.php?s=pool ]http://www.productdose.com/index.php?s=pool

productdose

http://www.productdose.com

Edited by productdose on Feb 24, 2006 at 06:01 PM

[Icicle Cubicle]

oh nice. PD is one of my fave spots to peep new gear/gadgetry. fresh.

In my past life I was a biblical times savor, in this day and age I'm a political sign waver.

[Jay Allen]

I attended Pool as an exhibitor. It was the first show I had ever done. I can't compare the quality of Pool 10 vs the other nine but many fellow exhibitors thought attendance was way down from previous shows. The management of Pool really didn't have their shit together at all. Vendor badges didn't arrive until the end of day one. We were put in the wrong booth.....vendor list had us in a different place. A re-direct sign that was promised didn't get done until day 3.....etc, etc, etc. Can't say that I was very happy with any of it.

That said...it was a pretty good show for me personally. Never having shown my line before I was thrilled to get picked up by Fred Segal, and wrote several other orders. The magazine YRB is going to do a piece on me in an up coming issue. I certainly learned alot about how to do a trade show. If I were to do another one I think I would look at Project.

Conceived and executed on the working waterfront of Portland, Maine. [email protected]

[baskew]

Quote:

I attended Pool as an exhibitor. It was the first show I had ever done. I can't compare the quality of Pool 10 vs the other nine but many fellow exhibitors thought attendance was way down from previous shows. The management of Pool really didn't have their shit together at all. Vendor badges didn't arrive until the end of day one. We were put in the wrong booth.....vendor list had us in a different place. A re-direct sign that was promised didn't get done until day 3.....etc, etc, etc. Can't say that I was very happy with any of it.

That said...it was a pretty good show for me personally. Never having shown my line before I was thrilled to get picked up by Fred Segal, and wrote several other orders. The magazine YRB is going to do a piece on me in an up coming issue. I certainly learned alot about how to do a trade show. If I were to do another one I think I would look at Project.

--- Original message by Jay Allen on Feb 25, 2006 07:15 AM

congratulations!

http://www.baskew.com

[RedBouncyThing]

I was there buying. Jay's stuff was great. So was Freshjive, RZST, Mulitple Oragami / Engine, Green Apple Tree, and Reebok. Speaking of Reebok, they were in my opinion the best shoe line shown at any of the three shows. Creative Recreation is also very nice looking for Fall.

As far as the other shows go, I hit up Schott, The Hundreds, J $ , Mishka, Reason, Mama, King Stampede, Tank Theory, Triumvir3, Nudie, Gsus, Edwin and a couple of other things. I am very happy with the orders I wrote, and now I am super ready for all the new stuff to come in.

[Bill232]

Jay,

Being a first time exhibitor and being that there are many aspiring clothing lines on here. Do you mind ellaborating more on your experience at Pool. And touching base on things such as how the setup of the show was, how many orders people around you were writing (and yourself), if you set up appointments prior or you relied more on foot traffic, did you find it hard to compete with big budget booths, etc.?

Thanks

[Jay Allen]

My experience at Pool was generally good. Being the first show I've done I don't really have much to compare it to. The show management was a mess from the time we initially paid our fee...right through the end of the show. Wrong booth number.....wrong booth number in show guide.....no vendor badges until the end of day 1, etc, etc, etc.

The only real appointment I had was with Clint from B Blaze in KC. He posts here as redbouncything. I was thrilled to meet a friendly face from the boards....he even placed an order! The lack of appointments was really a function of the fact that I am completely unknown. I think many of the other vendors had a bunch of appointments set up in advance. I think these shows have two functions.....1. To touch base with all of your current stockist, 2. to find new stockist. I was able to write several orders at the show and am hoping to get a few more in the next couple of weeks from people that took my information.

The theory behind is Pool is that there are no "big budget" booths. It is supposedly a "rack show", meaning the product is the focal point. That essentially was the case. The vast majority of the booths were product focused....without a two headed midget....juggling chainsaws....on the roof of a stretch Hummer....in the booth.

I did the show as part of a collective to cut costs. The people I showed with were great and we had a good time together. The other designers were showing jewelery which probably didn't help me. What I observed was that buyers are on the dead run as they travel the aisles....they just glance at a booth and if they don't see what they are looking for they keep on moving. I would estimate that only 20% of the people walking by our booth saw my stuff. They would see the jewelery, and if they weren't looking for jewelery.......they were gone.

That said...I was fortunate enough to write several orders including Fred Segal, a Japanese sourcing company, B Blaze, Where?......and have tentitive orders from a few others. I'm also carried in Toronto at Uncle Otis, Market on Newbury Street in Boston, and Milo in my home town of Portland, Maine. The next couple of weeks will hopefully bring in more orders.

I would say the Pool was good for me.....if I do it again I will certainly know what I'm up against, and prepare a bit better. I don't know if I'll be doing the first NY Pool or not. I need to talk to the management about all of the issues from this last show first.

Conceived and executed on the working waterfront of Portland, Maine. www.jayallen.biz

[starvinglawstudent]

That's great Jay. I wish I was able to stop by, but I was only there for a mintute and was not able to stop by.

[ocstreet]

Congrats Jay we are all proud of you. Wish i stopped by when i was there, i must have missed it.

Looking at some of your collection on line i definetly like it. What is that wash anyways, kinda looks bleached, wish i could see it up close. Guess i'll have to wait. soon enough i am sure.

http://www.ocstreet.com

Real Orange County Street Fashion and Culture

[Proletariat]

Hey Jay, I know how expensive it is to exhibit in Pool. Did you at least break even after writing your orders? Also, how did you know how to write an order? Does Pool provide a little bit of training or are you writing these orders on a piece of notebook paper?

[hifashion]

so overall, what show is the best show to attend if you are a new business? pool, project or magic. is magic just for like the big dogs in the game or what?

[Jay Allen]

The expense wasn't too bad because I went as part of a collective. There were 4 designers sharing a booth. My actual booth expense was only $1,000. We paid way in advance to get the $4,000 rate. After that there are a bunch of expenses including travel and hotel. I was in Vegas for 4 nights, and I was flying in from Maine. The travel package I set up was about $900 for flight and hotel. After that you have to have some sort of line sheet/marketing package. Some people really go all out and spend a fortune on offset printing. I didn't do that.....my wifes company has a great color copier so I made my package there on nice stock. Cost was minimal. There were other expenses but overall I think I spent about $3k doing the show. I ended up writing almost $9k in initial orers AT the show. I think I'll be getting more orders in the next week or so from contacts made there.

If I had done the show on my own it would have cost me about 6-7K. I did better than break even....but I got some great placements that might, in the long run, be more valuable than the orders I wrote.

I'd be happy to drop off one of my show hand outs for you to look at the next time I'm in Boston. I'm dropping off an order next week on Newbury Street if you are going to be around. If not, just send me your address and I'll mail you a copy. As for writing an order.....I just made up an official looking sheet in Excel with item numbers, sizes, price, etc. Nothing too fancy....but it looked pretty good. Let me know if you want to hook up next week.

Conceived and executed on the working waterfront of Portland, Maine. www.jayallen.biz

Edited by Jay Allen on Mar 2, 2006 at 09:00 PM

[moongirl]

you said you'd do project over pool, right? why do you think that is? and is the cost of project the same as pool?

does project accept just tshirt designers? like me?

moongirl :: cute stuff for an ugly world

http://www.moongirl.com

[Rockn]

The Project new york show in January was 7200 dollars, which i believe is more then pool's 5000, granted Project does allow you to share booths. But, yes project does except t-shirt lines but I have been told pool is a lot more laid back then project and features more tshirts compared to denim lines at project. But either way I am sure they are both good shows and get similar types of buyers.