Welcome to Design Blog, a new feature of the PhilaIFS website. This space will be a home for the thoughts of the show director and the reactions of exhibitors, attendees and the on-line followers of the show.
We are now just a little over two months out from the show and today I started to feel the swell of last minute applicants headed toward shore. Over the past few days applications have been coming in from exhibitors hoarding their precious cash resources until the last possible minute. Just this morning we got a phone call and an email from some more late comers. These two span the gamut of reasons for late applications in the current economic climate .
The first, this morning’s phone call from a potential exhibitor in the south, said things were slow on the commissioned custom work and cabinetry side of the ledger and he wants to see if he could sell some furniture. Although he is a seasoned veteran, this would be his first show. Being a careful sort he visited the show last year to scope it out.
The second were producers of extremely sophisticated work which I first encountered at the Philadelphia Craft Show. These folks sat on the fence for a long time but finally concluded that exposure was the name of the game.
No one needs to be told about the precarious nature of the economy. But last year’s show I think was a good lesson about marketing for small scale artisans. Everyone went into the show (myself included) holding their collective breaths – would anyone come, would anyone buy?
In fact, we had a significant increase in both attendance and purchases. Folks who buy furniture and furnishings are surviving and still have an appetite to buy. It is more important than ever that we not hunker down in our shops but get out there and be seen. We are about 3/4 full, so if you want to come on board but have been nervous about the economy and now are embarrassed about coming in late, stop thinking and get in touch.
