GCO Convention Vendor Day

Overall, the vendor show was small but interesting. My table was located between the Libertarian party and a self-defense training organization. The Marketing Goddess and I spent all day talking and showing people products. There were conference sessions scheduled throughout the day, so we had busy periods and quiet periods. During the quiet time, I had a chance to check out the other vendors. There were a couple of gun stores present, so I got to handle one of the new Rossi Circuit Judge rifles (Daddy likes!) and an FN PS90 (liked that too).

By 4pm everything was starting to fizzle out and folks were starting to break down their tables. We were one of the last vendors to leave, hungry and tired, and we headed off to Ted’s for some bison pot roast. So how did we do, and what did we learn?

• We made a few sales, on both stock items from the table and custom gear via the order forms, and that was very satisfying.
• The branding mission was accomplished. We met a lot of people, gave out a lot of cards, and made a few more people aware of what I can do for them. Some of that may turn into sales, I’m just not sure how to quantify it right now, or if it can be quantified.
• I received a lot of great customer feedback (see below) which is incredibly valuable.
• I tested a new naming convention for my products, and it went over well. I was getting bored with bland product nomenclature, so I started naming the rigs in a more interesting way. For instance; the 8xG17 chest rig is now called “ZOMG Zombies!”, and the smaller rig (4xG17 + PALs webbing) is now called “Daddy Will Just Be a Minute”. This makes it more fun for me, and folks at the show seemed to like it.
• I got to dust off my sales skills and get used to talking to lots of people again.

• We didn’t break even on the day’s costs, and with incredibly tight margins, that’s disappointing.
• The lack of Internet access was a big problem. The hotel was charging $80 per person connection fee for the day. Holy cow! Normally this is addressed by the conference planners, who pay the fee once and then quietly distribute a password to all vendors, but this had been overlooked.
• No one watched the slide show! The picture frame has a small screen so perhaps it needs to be bigger. If I do another show or vendor day, I’ll leave the slide show behind and use the table real estate for more demos and stock.

• Loose live ammo wasn’t allowed in the vendor hall, so I need more snap caps to make a better demo. I also need some mannequins, to visually explain the way the chest rigs work. Leaving them flat on the table with straps everywhere makes it hard to see what they are.
• If I do this more often, I may need a mobile internet (3G or 4G) card and a data plan, and a larger display for the web store. My netbook isn’t really big enough. I could use the iPad, and wander about with it taking orders, but I’d look like an idiot doing that around a 6ft table – I think that only works if you have a much larger setup.
• For future shows, I could use a large banner to hang behind the booth or at the front of the table. I haven’t priced these yet, but they would provide a good branding boost.
• I need product variants of my pouches, including speed loader pouches in all shapes and sizes, that have belt loops. I knew this was something I needed to do, but many of the folks present weren’t familiar with the MOLLE system, and had no use for it. Belt pouches on the other hand, anyone can use. Will be working on this over the coming week.
• Women need a good concealed carry thigh rig – there are very few available. I have been working on this but it is very much a ‘back burner’ project. Looks like I need to bring this to the fore.

Overall it was worth being there, and I’m hoping that the time spent on this turns into additional traffic for the web store and ultimately, more sales.