I saw it - I now believe!
Winds were definitely light, although they picked up a little bit late Sunday afternoon. Very pleasant Saturday in the mid 60's, overcast most of the day. Fog didn't lift until after noon. More of the same on Sunday.
The promoters (Chamber of Commerce) were highly visible, walking the vendor area all weekend, addressing any issues quickly and stopping in to say hi, frequently. One of them even thanked us for a great tape job and routing of our power cord.
The event was held in Old Town Bandon, but not in the lot adjacent to the harbor as I thought it would be. It was a great location except for one "small" issue, which I will explain, further on.
All of the food vendors, except for Kettle Corn, were located in another area of Old Town. There were about 50-60 vendors in our area with a couple of non-profits.
Kettle Corn did very well because of their location away from the other food vendors. Just about everyone had a bag of Kettle Corn!
Just about everyone was holding or walking a dog, too. It's Coos County - it's a given.
Dogs (and kids) were well-behaved. We invited the doggies in to enjoy a bowl of water -- and to suggest that we have dog's names, as well as people's names. It's funny how some folks will read the description that I put on the screen for their dog's name and comment how well it fits their fido, even though they are all human traits...
And not one lifted leg the whole weekend...
Did we do good? In a word, Yes.
However, it could have been much, much better.
The "small" issue that I mentioned above, wasn't the event's fault, but an oversight on my part --- and a major learning experience. It also had a major impact on my weekend earnings.
Show opened at 9am and was a little on the slow side, early. The parade began at 10am. The crowds were obviously increasing rapidly for the parade and foot traffic was increasing in the vendor area during the parade.
The issue was a (one month old) printer that began adding a line of individual dark pixels on my backgrounds. They were spaced abut two inches apart and not easily noticed, so I don't know how many pieces (if any) I sold after it started.
I spent about 30 minutes trying to remedy the situation, without any luck. I had a backup toner cartridge --- but not a replacement drum or printer for an easy fix.
The 30 minutes that I spent on the printer could have been much less -- but the parade. Only one street - and one exit on to that street to escape Old Town, and there was a parade on it!
Not wanting to run over any of the school kids participating in the parade --- and not having a flashing red light --- I waited patiently for an opening, once I decided that I had to make the 40 minute drive to Coos Bay to get my other printer -- the printer that would have been needed to make any sales at my flea market booth during the weekend...
Anyway, the parade ended shortly after I finally escaped the confines of Old Town Bandon. It certainly helped to know the alternate escape routes in the city of Bandon, as the traffic was backed up well over a mile on the main highway --- due to, you guessed it, the parade.
Of course, those masses of people that were enjoying the parade, discovered the vendor area while I was on the road, north!!!
My failure to understand that even new printers fail, cost me just over 2 hours of the absolute best selling time on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.
LESSON LEARNED!
This was the first show where I earned more on Sunday than Saturday. And it was definitely slower on Sunday...
LESSON LEARNED!
I will be visiting Eugene and buying four printers. Fantastic sale at Best Buy on my printer --- only $49.95 for a $100 laser printer. It's actually cheaper to buy the printer rather than a drum. How ridiculous is that?
I feel pretty confident that I would have surpassed my great weekend at the Blackberry Arts Festival, last month --- if I had been a bit smarter...
LESSON LEARNED!
It was still a great weekend and, as usual, I had a lot of fun. My wife did too, except for the hour that she drove around trying to find a parking place when I returned from Coos Bay with the printer...
LESSON LEARNED!
Do you think I learned something???
