Without a doubt, I love Creativ Festival and the experiences I have had on the show floor. For me, it is one show that I budget for because of the amount of people that visit the festival within the 2-3 day time frame.
October’s show will be my 5th show and Creativ has a really strong place in my heart for a number of reasons:
- Guests that you meet on the show floor.
- New relationships with other exhibitors and meeting up with existing exhibitors from previous shows.
- Bonding with our exhibiting volunteers while on the floor.
- Positive interaction with Creativ’s behind-the-scenes team.
Some guests may not realize the preparation required prior to each show. If anyone thinks we just grab some boxes and tables and head to the set up day at Creativ, that’s a complete myth.
Inspiration:
Speaking for The Crochet Crowd®, our booth’s theme and look becomes finalized after the previous show. We intentionally wait for this show to pass as we watch our guests interact and talk about our current theme. Last show, we were “Hooker Alley In Fibre Fantasy”. We have a mental check list that we go through:
- Did our booth inspire people?
- What did the guests say about our exhibit?
- Did our volunteers and guests have a memorable experience while with us?
- Did any guests give hints or suggestions on other themes we could do in the future?
Last show, the overall enthusiasm by guests exceeded expectations. Daniel Zondervan, our show coordinator, immediately came up with the idea of Crochet Carnival for this coming show since Creativ Festival is having a 25th Year Anniversary Show.
Theme Changing & Show Floor:
I get bored of the same old thing and my worry is that I will have a guest come up to me and say, “I saw these people last show and they did the same thing!” Knowing what my fear is, the only way I can change that reaction is to exercise my own creativity and change up our space so that it is new. YES, we may be always “Crochet” but you can always expect to find new projects and ideas while with us on the floor.
With a new theme and looking at our booth space from a fresh theme, it dictates our layout and how things will be shown.
In May, samples for our show were starting to be made. Colours were taken into account for the new theme.
Some projects are released before the show so that our following can work on something new. Other stuff is kept quiet so that it’s a surprise for the show floor.
Summer Months:
Most of the samples are completed by the end of summer. I could be working on afghans in the middle of the summer heat but we need to have everything done. This year has been exceptional as I have a home crocheter that is helping me get some samples done at the same time.
Marketing for our display is underway as we want our customers to know where they can find us. We begin marketing as early as June and by the end of July, everything on a marketing level is finalized.
By September:
We are still not sure about our display layout and exactly how things will come together. We are still waiting for products to arrive that will be available on the show floor. Sometimes we miscalculate the space and realize we need to juggle a few thing here and there. Our volunteer team is confirmed and we are ready to do some final touches for the show.
By October:
We are a full go and no looking back. We are hoping our theme will be great and we are doing minor construction and final booth preparations. Moving day to the Convention Centre is nerve racking as there is a lot of preparations from getting to a loading dock, unloading and then finally putting all of our plans that are on paper into real motion. With the Festival the very next day, it’s the worst day to say “OOPS, we forgot something!”
Creativ Festival is the highlight of my Fall and Spring. I love engaging people and interacting with other people who care about creativity. Yes… there’s a lot of planning but it’s well worth it by the time the show is over and we are back at home unpacking the truck.