Dear Diary - the Smitten Kitten Blog

18th August, 09

I’m alive!  It’s been soooooo long since I’ve written.  I know, I know.  Bad blogger! Well the show ended last week and I’m just getting back into the swing of things.  There’s buyers to follow up with, orders to send.  You know the usual post apocalyptic chaos that happens after every show…

The show itself went really well for us which I’m super happy about!  It’s our first August show so we didn’t know what to expect.  We got lots of orders from new stores (hurray!), and caught up with some of our existing stores as well.  As luck would have it though, I got a serious cold a few days before the show started (which made setting up extra fun) and it lingered through part of the show itself as well.  After tear down last Thursday, the physical exhaustion and mental fatigue hit me all at once so I crawled into bed and stayed there the whole weekend.  I wanted to get going but my body just wasn’t having any of it.  All it wanted was bed rest, ice-cream and made for TV movies.

So yeah the show went well but the set up was not so much fun.  Oh jeez do I even want to get started talking about this?  I guess I should.  After our mucho ball of laughs with the New York Union lady last May.  I thought we had paid our dues when it comes to bad luck with set up. Oh but not even close…

After the last CGTA show in January, I had requested to be moved to a corner location for the next show.  The organizers put me in a lovely new location near the front of the hall. Awesome I thought.  Well let’s just say that the location was so good that even the fire marshal noticed me and my wallpaper covered foam core walls.

Apparently foam core walls are a big no-no for this show.  And I mean THIS show since 6 months ago foam core walls were not an issue.  Last season the big no-no was pipe and drape walls and like I had pointed out on my January blog post about set up at the last CGTA, for a show with a no pipe and drape rule there sure were a LOT of pipe and drape booths.

So I go into this show thinking that the no foam core rule was more of a suggestion rather than a rule.  Boy was I wrong!  I guess they really meant NO FOAM CORE WALLS.  The Floor managers flat out said I can’t use my walls, and gave me less than 48 hours before the show to fix the problem.  First they wanted me to find some kind of flame retardant spray to cover my walls (which no one can find), then they wanted me to paint my walls with fire retardant paint (which would’ve warped all my walls), THEN they wanted me to spend $1000 to rent an ugly prefab booth.  It’s like they’re out for blood and wanted to make an example out of me for the no foam core rule.  “Let’s just string her up in the middle of the hall and hang her upside down!  Yeehaw!”

I just flat out said I don’t have that kind of budget 2 days before a show.  I might’ve paid for the booth rental if this no foam core rule was iron clad, that it applied to everyone. But the booth 4 (4!!!) stalls down from me had foam core walls also (yeah you know who you are), but nothing happened to them.  So the show expected me to pay $1000 for a new booth while my neighbour didn’t have to?  What kind of a witch hunt is this?!

Anyhoo, to make a very long and painful story short, they decided that they would be happy if I would just wrap all the edges with aluminum tape ‘cos apparently it’s the toxic chemicals released by the foam’s core (IF it caught on fire) that they’re concerned with.  Perhaps they should be more concerned with WHAT might cause my walls to catch on fire in the first place since brooches and greeting cards generally don’t spontaneously combust for no reason.  Perhaps the booth two aisles over that sold fire pits might be a problem? Yeah you heard me, the exhibitor who the show allowed to fire up and display his FIRE PITS WITH OPEN FLAME.  Oh but it’s O.K. ‘cos they have a mini fire extinguisher.  Sheesh!

So I had to stay behind till 3 in the morning BY MYSELF (Seriously, the security guard told me there was no one left in the building but him and I) to take down all the walls I had already put up, wrap the edges, and hang them all back up again.  My cold has turned into a fever at this point and I was feeling like I’m really drunk while climbing up and down the ladder. Oh if I had only made it easy on myself but my walls were divided into 20 panels.  That’s 240 feet of raw edge I had to cover with aluminum tape that likes to cut into your finger tips ‘cos, well it’s essentially like working with thin metal.  You can imagine just how hopping mad I’d get every time I look down the aisle and see the other foam core and fire pit booths they decided not to pick on, knowing those exhibitors having finished their set up hours ago and are now at home enjoying a relaxing night’s sleep.  Grrrrr!

Anyways glad to get that load off my chest! So of course when the show finally starts everything was smooth sailing.  But to sum up the official tally for this show:

# of brokens nails:  7 (damn I was doing so good!  But stress is a bitch)
# of cuts: 11 (stupid aluminum tape!)
# of bruises: 2
# of non-drowsey cold pills I took: 18 (helped me stay awake and alert during set up)
# of people I saw picking their nose when they think no one’s looking: 1

The real kick in the nuts is that once the show started, every so often I’d get buyers and exhibitors alike, coming up to my booth telling me how nice it looks.  “What a great display!  I love your wallpapered walls!”.  I’d tell them thanks but unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to use them again because they’re foam core.  And even after the show, during tear down, exhibitors would come by and ask me what I plan to do with the defunct walls.  “Are you just going to throw them out or leave them behind?  ‘Cos I’d like to take a panel home.  They’re pretty!”

Well I’d like to pass the torch onto whichever poor sucker they decide to pick on at the next show.  ‘Cos the position as the official poster child for the no foam core rule ain’t going to be me next time.  Maybe I’ll just print “This wall is fire retardant” over and over again on some fabric and hang that as my backdrop next show.  Oops!  Wouldn’t that be pipe and drape?  Better check to see what the hot new must-not-have item is for next season.

Categories: show review.
Tags: CGTA wrap up, move in, move out, set up.
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