Where Did May Go??

I've been working like a mad dog all month attempting to get imagery out to vendors -specially after Surtex & NSS.

This week much of my time was eaten up helping out Second Chance with all of their last minute collateral needs for the upcoming auction; I'll probably want to initiate a postmortem on that ordeal.

Studio Tip 1: Collateral for any event needs to be planned, devised, and designed well in advance of say 6 months or more. This gives the studio time to source paper, printers, and even ask vendors to consider pro-bono work, otherwise micromanaging the mess at the end is a bad idea -a very bad idea.

Studio Tip 2: When you plan your events out a year in advance, go to the sources at the first of the year (that's January 2nd folks) to be placed on the waiting list. Many services will provide charity work but if you're not on that list, you could be wiped off because they've either made their selections and/or have an exclusive agreement with a similar charity in the neighborhood.

Studio Tip 3: If you're new to an organization and have the opportunity to forge a new path, ask how things were done previously; not because you want to emulate them, but because one needs to know the successes as well as the pitfalls. If you have access to the original designer, get in touch with her -she can outline everything she's done to help make your job easier.

Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from our travels this month that I forgot to post...

ICFF + Surtex
Sunday flew by faster than the speed of sound. Andrew woke feeling like crap so I had to do the thinking for both of us. Luggage got packed, we missed breakfast, taxied ourselves to Javits to check our bags at the luggage corral. Shew!

We managed to walk NSS quickly and efficiently, keeping a close eye on time. We needed to find the people I needed to meet and keep those appointments made prior to the show. Managed to find [most of] my colleagues at Surtex and conducted a small personal trend report. Hey Robin! Hey Andy! Sorry we missed you!

It was great to hear that mfg were receptive to my work and I think that by not exhibiting at Surtex this year forced me to work differently than if I had -preventing me from placing my all marketing/advertising eggs in one basket. Upon returning home, we both surmised that not exhibiting was a smart move on our part.

I have to say that I got as many pre-show inquiries as I would have if I had exhibited at Surtex. While my eyes give away my exhaustion, I'm finally seeing a turnaround in spite of the economy.

Boy, I sure don't miss those overpriced, less than stellar tasting tuna sandwiches at Javits anymore!

NYC: Saturday - ICFF Party at the MOMA

After completing our booth installation, we walked ICFF and I made a few good contacts with mfg who do really cool stuff. I mean, out of this world stuff that's only found in designer magazines. Hard to believe that I can be among them... collaborating.

Not knowing how big the show was, my first reaction was to walk it fast, ascertain the size and return to some of the neat showrooms that we made note of. We became decidedly jealous when we happened across this fabulous space within the show (imagine ribbons hanging from the ceiling made of car seat belt material) that were taught from ceiling to floor enclosing a wet bar -we were jealous that they had a wet bar -making this the hippest show to be scene at. Walking past, the ribbons of seat belts with channels of ghostly lighting being emitted from tiny channels in the floor made the folks sitting on benches inside appear as though they were in a hellish jail. The folks were calm, hanging out, texting their friends and sipping beers and martinis.

So exhausted, we found a little french bistro that we discovered a year ago across the hotel (we usually head to Greenwich Village -much cheaper, much more delish!) due to the nasty rain and the fact that we didn't want to head out very far and expend any more energy than we had to.

The exhaustion forced us to skip one party for which I had registered and move on to the next -our first real NYC party at the MOMA (one block down from the hotel). It's everything you imagine from the movies. Requisite black blazers for straight guys and velvet jackets for the gays. Women wore mostly black, I was the only one in a blue sexy sweater. Lifting hor d'oeurves from waiter's trays and snagging wine from the bar -it was an experience. Seriously, it was a fun party (lots of rude, tall, "I live the bulemic lifestyle, so screw you" types) as we traversed the schools of wannabes and made it to some of the fascinating exhibits.

Currently, there is an exhibit by Dan Perjovschi, a Romanian -I call 'the wall of scribbles'- that was almost 40 feet high -can't wait to upload photos- remarking the absurdity of US life.

Annual Tradeshow: Surtex

Surtex: Install Day

I know I should be more talkative about the annual tradeshow we participate in (SURTEX), but I get so darn busy from February to Mid-May that I don't give myself time to think - much less work out at the gym that my body craves.

It's Friday Night and my husband, Andrew has accompanied me to NYC for the said tradeshow as he has always done the past 4 years. We drove up from Raleigh yesterday, arrived ~10pm last evening exhausted. We unloaded the Element with most of our important IP collateral (imagery + prototypes) and brought them up to the room -I even asked the Bellman to allow me to accompany him up the back elevators due to my over protective nature. After all, I did spend hours upon hours creating and developing them. ;)

This morning, we transported the collateral back down to the Element and drove them to Javits; most of the booth is now installed with minor inconveniences. Mainly, we destroyed our brand new soft cork flooring with a cool new trolley we borrowed -the feet continuously poked holes thru-out the edge as we thoughtfully moved it from one panel to another, climbing up, installing, climbing down. Damn. We were both excited to have this foam core flooring to stand on (esp Andrew since he's recently had his infamous back surgery). Andrew tried to encourage me with statements like, "It'll pop back up." "It doesn't look that bad."

Pftsth!

Later, when Andrew was installing the nightly wall coverings (one must do this to prevent easy image theft) I asked him if we were going to remove the floor each time -especially when our calendar is booked to bolt out of the doors to the parties and dinners we have planned -he acquiesced. Too bad, the floor would have been dynamite to use and we're out over $100 due to our negligence.

We missed lunch today and we were starved, so for dinner, we headed to our favorite Italian Restaurant: Focacceria (Greenwich Village) for Chicken Ravioli & Chocolate moltan lava cake. Tomorrow, we must rise early (O Wicked Sun, You Bring Bags to my Eyes), get back to the booth to eagerly complete it so that we can walked ICFF and attend a few parties at night.

Wish us luck!