N2Advnture
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2005
- Messages
- 1,839
It short, it went very well.
We arrived Friday evening and discussed my presentation a bit - of which I had none. I have never worked in retail, sold a product of any kind directly to people and am a fairly shy person so I was completely out of my element.
We met up with Kurtdesign1. He came up to the Treasure Island for some dinner and to watch the boat battle out front. (It is MUCH cheesier than before, they tried to "sex it up" but it's just cheesy now).
He headed back around 11:30 or so. Sat we met up at Casa Fuente and Bob & Dale from Dogwatch showed up. We chilled and smoked cigars for a few hours.
I then headed back to meet the wife for the Blue Man Group show. I ended up winning $250 tickets by guessing the weight of the plane at take off on the way out. (I was within 500 lbs). Afterwards we eat at an Asian noodle place in Venetian (where the show was). And then crashed.
I didn't get much sleep at all as I was fairly nervous and the events in the days leading up to leaving for the RTDA were some of the most stressful (and expensive) for Niccole and I.
Sunday morning, I headed over to the Sand Expo to set up my booth and try to salvage the display. (It had the old name printed on it, so I had to do a slight modification.) I also had to get some more material printed with the new name. The entire time, I worked on my presentation, in my head at least.
I then met up with a bunch of guys from Club Stogie for some smokes. Great group of guys. Met Havanaddict there as well but I was so nervous and stressed that I feel I didn't great him accordingly.
I headed back after a couple of hours (as did Craig) so Niccole and I could get cleaned up for the Palio retailer's appreciation dinner. We met Craig and Marc from Palio at the Venetian along with a couple of shop owners, hoped in a limo and rode over to Del Friscos. Very nice place as was the company!
Ok...Sunday evening. Couldn't sleep much. Got up Monday (early) and headed over to the show. The place was unreal btw. The wife and I grabbed some coffee and headed to my booth. I was very nervous with the first 10 or so people that came up. (My hands were actually shaking but I think I covered it up well). At about 10:45 I started to get into a groove and by 1:00 I felt good.
Uncle Mikey (who has been very helpful along the way with sage advice) came by with his wife. We talked for a while and he was my first wholesale order! Woo-hoo! (He told me he was going to order at the show but it still felt good).
As the day progressed I met a TON of people, some from the boards but mostly not. At the end of day 1, I had 3 orders. Some other vendors around me said that day 1 was "kick the tires day". Day two is much better, they said. I met "smokyballs" (Brad). Very nice guy and we were supposed to hook up to have a smoke with Moki but couldn't find him again.
So after standing from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm with only a few 5 minute breaks to piss or grab a bit really quickly, we were exhausted! Eat dinner and instead of going to the CAO party, we fell asleep by 8:00. (Don't moan, the CAO got rained out essentially).
Tues...I didn't sleep much again (I think it was the time change at this point). Headed over to show after grabbing some coffee and walked the floor before anyone showed up. It was UNBELIEVABLE how much people put into displays. Hundreds of thousands into some of them!
People started rolling in and I talked A LOT of people. For the exception of 1 or 2, everyone was very nice, very encouraging and very interested in The Puck. I was in a tough spot because people didn't venture down the isle much, so I had to try to get those who did over to my booth. I was into a bit of a groove at this point and things were going well. I got some good suggestions as well about 9 more orders.
I got a TON of leads from retailers who were interested but skeptical about how well it worked. To be expected from a new product, I guess. I also got 3 inquiries from distributors in Canada, Spain and France as well as an order from our Aussie vendor friend. Lisa is a pistol btw! I also talked to Elie Bleu who inquired about using The Puck exclusively in their desktop humidors. That would be cool if it worked out.
At the end of day 2, I was not only beat but my eyes were burning from all the cigar smoke. We headed back, ate and fell asleep again...missing the Rocky Patel party that from what I heard, kicked butt!
Day 3 (Wednesday). The wife had to head home, so I went to show by myself. It was VERY slow compared to Mon/Tues. A lot of people left already. I managed to get about 3 more orders by the end of the day for a total of 15. This day being so slow, I had time to talk to the very nice guy in the booth next to me. He manufactures and sells digital scales. He gave me some good advice on where to get full color retail boxes made. I also had two ideas that his company may be able to bring to fruition! (I am very excited about them and a prototype should be finished in a couple of months).
At the end of the day 3, I was beat. I tore down my display (essentially trashing everything so I wouldn't have to ship it back and because it had the old name covered by a full color plot that I had taped over it).
Before heading back, the guy from Elie Bleu came back by again and asked for a sample. Since the show was over, I gave him The Puck. He again seemed very excited about it.
I headed back to the hotel with every intention on eating dinner and heading to bed but instead, as I smoked my first cigar in 3 days, I found myself at a craps table drinking coronas. After a couple of hours and up a few hundered dollars, I went to bed.
Got up Thursday, grabbed some coffee and played some slots for an hour or so and headed to the airport. (BTW - Don't take one of those stupid shuttle buses. A cab is like $5 more and you head straight to the airport instead of stopping at every freaking hotel to pick up other people).
All in all, it went about as expected. This week I designed a full color retail box that will be ordered this week. I feel (based on feedback) that this will not only be more appealing to retailers but to the consumer as well
and I came away feeling very optimistic.
In a few weeks (after the boxes arrive) The Puck will be in at least 15 stores worldwide! (Hopefully closer to 25 or 30 by then).
Now...I just need to develop the two other ideas! (Like I don't have enough work already).
Can't wait until next year!
~Mark
.
Pic 1 through 6 are from the CS herf at Casa Fuente on Sunday
Kurtdesign1 & myself
Smokyballs (Brad) & myself
The table is the "James Bond" table that De Friscos paid like $375k for at auction. They have since received a bid for something lik $1.5 mil for it! It plays all the James Bond themes when it opens.
Hope they don't mind the water ring that my drink left on it.
(j/k)
The Porsce is a 350 GT that was set up for the RTDA to show case the Porsche Designs line. Pretty freaking sweet!
Bob McDuffee from the Dog Watch Social Club and myself at "The Puck" booth
.
We arrived Friday evening and discussed my presentation a bit - of which I had none. I have never worked in retail, sold a product of any kind directly to people and am a fairly shy person so I was completely out of my element.
We met up with Kurtdesign1. He came up to the Treasure Island for some dinner and to watch the boat battle out front. (It is MUCH cheesier than before, they tried to "sex it up" but it's just cheesy now).
He headed back around 11:30 or so. Sat we met up at Casa Fuente and Bob & Dale from Dogwatch showed up. We chilled and smoked cigars for a few hours.
I then headed back to meet the wife for the Blue Man Group show. I ended up winning $250 tickets by guessing the weight of the plane at take off on the way out. (I was within 500 lbs). Afterwards we eat at an Asian noodle place in Venetian (where the show was). And then crashed.
I didn't get much sleep at all as I was fairly nervous and the events in the days leading up to leaving for the RTDA were some of the most stressful (and expensive) for Niccole and I.
Sunday morning, I headed over to the Sand Expo to set up my booth and try to salvage the display. (It had the old name printed on it, so I had to do a slight modification.) I also had to get some more material printed with the new name. The entire time, I worked on my presentation, in my head at least.
I then met up with a bunch of guys from Club Stogie for some smokes. Great group of guys. Met Havanaddict there as well but I was so nervous and stressed that I feel I didn't great him accordingly.
I headed back after a couple of hours (as did Craig) so Niccole and I could get cleaned up for the Palio retailer's appreciation dinner. We met Craig and Marc from Palio at the Venetian along with a couple of shop owners, hoped in a limo and rode over to Del Friscos. Very nice place as was the company!
Ok...Sunday evening. Couldn't sleep much. Got up Monday (early) and headed over to the show. The place was unreal btw. The wife and I grabbed some coffee and headed to my booth. I was very nervous with the first 10 or so people that came up. (My hands were actually shaking but I think I covered it up well). At about 10:45 I started to get into a groove and by 1:00 I felt good.
Uncle Mikey (who has been very helpful along the way with sage advice) came by with his wife. We talked for a while and he was my first wholesale order! Woo-hoo! (He told me he was going to order at the show but it still felt good).
As the day progressed I met a TON of people, some from the boards but mostly not. At the end of day 1, I had 3 orders. Some other vendors around me said that day 1 was "kick the tires day". Day two is much better, they said. I met "smokyballs" (Brad). Very nice guy and we were supposed to hook up to have a smoke with Moki but couldn't find him again.
So after standing from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm with only a few 5 minute breaks to piss or grab a bit really quickly, we were exhausted! Eat dinner and instead of going to the CAO party, we fell asleep by 8:00. (Don't moan, the CAO got rained out essentially).
Tues...I didn't sleep much again (I think it was the time change at this point). Headed over to show after grabbing some coffee and walked the floor before anyone showed up. It was UNBELIEVABLE how much people put into displays. Hundreds of thousands into some of them!
People started rolling in and I talked A LOT of people. For the exception of 1 or 2, everyone was very nice, very encouraging and very interested in The Puck. I was in a tough spot because people didn't venture down the isle much, so I had to try to get those who did over to my booth. I was into a bit of a groove at this point and things were going well. I got some good suggestions as well about 9 more orders.
I got a TON of leads from retailers who were interested but skeptical about how well it worked. To be expected from a new product, I guess. I also got 3 inquiries from distributors in Canada, Spain and France as well as an order from our Aussie vendor friend. Lisa is a pistol btw! I also talked to Elie Bleu who inquired about using The Puck exclusively in their desktop humidors. That would be cool if it worked out.
At the end of day 2, I was not only beat but my eyes were burning from all the cigar smoke. We headed back, ate and fell asleep again...missing the Rocky Patel party that from what I heard, kicked butt!
Day 3 (Wednesday). The wife had to head home, so I went to show by myself. It was VERY slow compared to Mon/Tues. A lot of people left already. I managed to get about 3 more orders by the end of the day for a total of 15. This day being so slow, I had time to talk to the very nice guy in the booth next to me. He manufactures and sells digital scales. He gave me some good advice on where to get full color retail boxes made. I also had two ideas that his company may be able to bring to fruition! (I am very excited about them and a prototype should be finished in a couple of months).
At the end of the day 3, I was beat. I tore down my display (essentially trashing everything so I wouldn't have to ship it back and because it had the old name covered by a full color plot that I had taped over it).
Before heading back, the guy from Elie Bleu came back by again and asked for a sample. Since the show was over, I gave him The Puck. He again seemed very excited about it.
I headed back to the hotel with every intention on eating dinner and heading to bed but instead, as I smoked my first cigar in 3 days, I found myself at a craps table drinking coronas. After a couple of hours and up a few hundered dollars, I went to bed.
Got up Thursday, grabbed some coffee and played some slots for an hour or so and headed to the airport. (BTW - Don't take one of those stupid shuttle buses. A cab is like $5 more and you head straight to the airport instead of stopping at every freaking hotel to pick up other people).
All in all, it went about as expected. This week I designed a full color retail box that will be ordered this week. I feel (based on feedback) that this will not only be more appealing to retailers but to the consumer as well
and I came away feeling very optimistic.
In a few weeks (after the boxes arrive) The Puck will be in at least 15 stores worldwide! (Hopefully closer to 25 or 30 by then).
Now...I just need to develop the two other ideas! (Like I don't have enough work already).
Can't wait until next year!
~Mark
.
Pic 1 through 6 are from the CS herf at Casa Fuente on Sunday
Kurtdesign1 & myself
Smokyballs (Brad) & myself
The table is the "James Bond" table that De Friscos paid like $375k for at auction. They have since received a bid for something lik $1.5 mil for it! It plays all the James Bond themes when it opens.
Hope they don't mind the water ring that my drink left on it.
(j/k)
The Porsce is a 350 GT that was set up for the RTDA to show case the Porsche Designs line. Pretty freaking sweet!
Bob McDuffee from the Dog Watch Social Club and myself at "The Puck" booth
.
