Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Expo Season

I just reserved my room down in Redmond for the 2008 Parelli Tour. I got my fliers in the mail yesterday for the NW Horse Expo. Ugh! What a tough decision to make! It is the same weekend that Clinton Anderson will be in town! I've got clinic and expo fever. I love everything about horse expos. I love to shop and take notes at the seminars. This year the Mane Event is in October, so that gives me time to save some cash for the wonderful vendors and I may just have a booth again this year for Stable Hand Video. Booth rentals are pretty pricey and I am a one man band, so when I have a booth, I have to man it all day every day. It is a lot of work, but I meet tons of cool people. What could be better? The tough part is convincing people why they should get video of their ranch, their horses, or their riding. Lots of talking and enthusiasm wears me out and I usually don't get time to enjoy what the expos have to offer. I posted a couple of pictures of my booth space for the Mane Event from 2006. I didn't do one this year because I got so busy with little side projects, not to mention Maddy. But maybe 2008 is my year. I am trying to get more focused and finish my horse documentary projects, so I can get back to working with clients again. By the way, I posted a trailer of my documentary "Inside the Backside" on YouTube if you guys want to check it out. I am hoping to upload it here when I get the time because I am looking for some feedback. I have "tweaked" it a little since posting it, but essentially it is similar. I wanted to mention, all the things (excluding electronics) in my booth I either made or got at garage sales, including the breyers on the shelves. I love bargain hunting!

13 comments:

Rising Rainbow said...

Having done exhibitions before I know how long those hours in the booth can get. Not to mention how worn out the voice can get talking to so many people. I don't envy you. I'm glad I haven't had to do that in a while. LOL

Jessica said...

You are the garage sale queen! I remember your Duluth apartment. Every single time I pointed out something as being cool you'd say "I got that at a garage sale!"

Best of luck with the booth! It looks great! (Oh, and thank you for spelling flier correctly! It drives me nuts when people write flyer when they mean flier. Flyer is a train people!!!)

Callie said...

Cool, I checked out your "trailer". Pretty neat. I'm one of the ones that goes to the exibitions.

learninghorses said...

Julie

learninghorses@yahoo.com

I'll help you with some booth time! I also hope you will be part of my learning horses day!

Anonymous said...

I could wander the booths at horse expos for hours! I've been to several Equine Affaires, and my only complaint is that there's tons of stuff for Western riders and not much for English. I think my favorites, though, are all the cool horse art.

Anonymous said...

trade shows!!! the days are so long, make sure you wear good shoes. How is Maddy coming along, I think that you have about a month of stall rest to go.

Anonymous said...

Hi - I found your site a few months ago and have been enjoying your posts. I recently bought a ten year old Thoroughbred who I have yet to ride, partly due to the fact that I'm a novice rider but mostly because he injured his right hind leg in a fence. It's been two trips a day to the stable for the past couple weeks to check on him, change the bandages etc. Even though this is not nearly in the same ballpark as Maddy I do understand how tough it is to have your "baby" injured.

The trailer really hooked me - can't wait to see the entire thing - especially enjoyed the comments from the man in the diner (?). I did find that the way the text appeard kind of distracted me - I loved it for the intro but would prefer it just to appear for the rest. Just an opinion, YMMV.

All the best,
Marcy

Mrs. Mom said...

Your booth looks great! Love the red- really grabs the eye of people passing by. Having spent my fair share of time at equine expos, I can fully emapthize with you!!

Sometimes I miss it. Its a great way to watch people, catch up on all the newest trains of thought and training methods... IF you can get someone to cover your booth for a bit that is...lol...

Have a fun time- hope you can get away for a little while at least to enjoy where you go!

EquineSpirit said...

Loved the video...way cool! :)

EquineSpirit said...

Tag...you're it! :)

Anonymous said...

Exhibitions are so much fun! I was supposed to be helping out at Equitana November just passed and was disappointed when things worked out for the worse due to Equine Influenza.

Had an absolute ball a few years ago looking through all the booths and seeing what people are offering in the wonderful world of equine. Good luck with your booth!

Kristine said...

I've done a couple expos in my time and they definitely wear you out. But so worth it! The people you meet and things you see, awesome. :)

Off to watch the trailer! :)

Anonymous said...

I don't know how many expos I can go to - I seem to be buying a lot! That is an awesome trailer! Can't wait to see the film. My dh is involved in the racing industry but deals with the corporate end - it's so easy to forget those people who actually make the track run day to day.