INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 4)

 The Ottawa Boat Show and the Hamilton Sportsmen’s Show, plus a couple of other smaller shows, were the prelude to the really “Big” Show! If we thought that these smaller shows were a challenge, they were “nothing” compared to the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show. Back when we first exhibited at the Toronto Sportsmen’s Show, it was being held in the old Coliseum Building at the Exhibition ground in downtown Toronto. The new Direct Energy Centre wasn’t, I don’t think, a gleam in some politician's eye! In order to set up in the Coliseum, you had to be given a time and day. If you wanted anything special (electricity, carpet, lights, etc.), you had to book days in advance. There was a lot more at stake, because all of the costs were a lot higher! 

The first year we started off with a small booth 10" X 10'. We had jammed the booth so full of framed art, that we could hardly move. This was a good thing, because people who visited the show, were really interested in our products. We were specializing in wildlife art by some of the best known Canadian Wildlife Artists. Because of the type of show, our booth was quite popular, especially with other exhibitors. This was our first really financially successful show and it “sucked” us in to doing more. In all, we participated in about four Toronto Sportsmen’s Shows. Each time we expanded a little until the final year we took four 10’ x 10’ booths. This turned out to be a mistake because interest in wildlife art had slowed down. Surprisingly, in all the Consumer Shows we did over the years, we never had any products stolen! 

Unfortunately, this record was broken in our last Sportsmen’s Show, when one of Michael Dumas’ originals was stolen. Although we had tried to take every precaution to protect the paintings, someone snipped the wire that attached the painting to the booth wall. The painting was never recovered. Once we started doing the bigger shows, our set-up and take down techniques seemed to improve. Each time seemed to become easier. There were still challenges, but all were small in comparison to our first shows. These shows were a wonderful experience. However, time eventually began to wear us out and it was time to find a permanent location. That’s when we discovered Cobourg!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 3)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Our Second Show

After surviving our first consumer show, Judi and I felt (well at least I did) that we were seasoned professionals! The second show was in Hamilton at their Sportsmen’s Show. Set-up was easy, because we were able to bring our vehicle right into the building, the Copps Coliseum. Set-up had the normal trials and tribulations, but we were able to work through them with few problems. Even the show, itself, went off without a hitch. By the end of the show we (me) were feeling pretty confident and perhaps a little cocky (me)! Like with the set up, we were allowed to bring our truck into the building for the take down! Even the take down went fairly well. Judi and I loaded up the truck and closed the rear doors. We were all ready to drive home! I climbed into the driver’s seat, turn the ignition key and "nothing happened"! NO sign of life in the engine, none what so ever! By this time other trucks were ready to leave! The only problem was, we were blocking the passage way! We tried everything to get the vehicle started, but nothing worked! By this time our fellow exhibitors were losing their patience! Horns started to blare and voices rose. Finally with the help of a few “angry” men, we were able to push the vehicle out the way. With a riot averted, we were able to calmly contact CAA and get the vehicle started. Sheepishly, we drove home, ready for our (gulp!) next adventure!

(To be continues in Part 4)

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 2)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Our First Show

Edwin Matthews had made us an offer we couldn’t refuse! He would supply us with framed art and Judi and I would sell it. Simple, right? The problem was, we didn’t have a physical premise to house and show the art. The solution was to show and sell the art at consumer shows. Our first consumer show was in Ottawa at the Ottawa Boat and Sportsmen’s Show. We didn’t have a clue what we were doing! Fortunately, Edwin had a lot of experience and provided us with the “tools” (booth, screws, signs, etc.) necessary to set up and display. All we had to do was provide the manpower and the seed money! Everything went fairly smoothly during the set-up and the show. We sold enough to cover our costs and to make a small profit. The real “fun” came during “take down”! “Takedown” is actually a very appropriate name for the process! As the show ended, there was a mad scramble to secure “moving dollies”, “loading docks” and the "physical corridors" of the show! Since this was our first time, we didn’t realize that we needed to “scramble to survive"! We did survive, but just barely! I think the scariest moment came when one of the boat exhibitors decided to try to “squeeze” a large boat through a smaller space! They were knocking over everything in sight! We saw them coming towards our area in horror! The pictures, on loan to us, were in their pathway! We moved quickly to get everything out of the way! We did just in time! We thought we were home free! We had moved everything but the booth! You guessed it! Just as the boat reached our area, it started to tip! It rocked back and forth with “all” the boat movers trying to “save” it! They were certainly more worried about their boat then they were about our booth! Unfortunately, disaster was not averted and the large boat actually fell off its trailer and smashed onto the cement ground! It missed our booth, but it blocked the entire passageway and ramp exit! So much for hurrying! It was clear that it would take time to “fix” this problem. We and the other exhibitors in our area had to make long diversions to the other exits in order to "get out"!. This was our first, and certainly not our last experience with “take downs”. It did, however, teach us a valuable lesson, “Protect the prints at all costs”! A lesson that became invaluable on numerous occasions!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (#1)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Organizing My First Event

I was in my early 20’s and I had never been involved in any kind of an event, let alone organized one! But that is what I was asked to do. I was a fairly new member of the Young Men’s Advertising Club of Toronto, when the President called me and asked ME to do him a favour! How could I refuse! He was OUR President, after all! So here I was, the new chairman of the YMASC Car Rally and I was “panicking”! Fortunately, I was able to “recruit” a couple of “green” (that’s inexperienced, not earth conscious!) to join my committee. Together we worked with the previous committee’s notes (very complete), and started planning our event. I think the most fun was choosing the “rally” route! The three of us climbed into my car and we started off. Never having planned a route before, we didn’t have any pre-conceived restrictions. We knew our start and our destination, so we just drove! As we twisted and turned my fellow “newbie's”, wrote down directions, turns and landmarks! We also searched for items (unusual trees, interesting buildings and funny signs) for rally participants to identify along the way. The idea was for them to "find" these items to earn additional points. Back then, being ambitious young men, we were able to obtain some really great prizes. So, doing well in the Car, Rally was a priority amongst rally participants!

Those were great days! I can’t tell you how much fun we had in the planning and then the execution of the event, but it was a lot! The dinner parties, the laughter and the “secrecy” all added to our excitement. Even though we were very inexperienced, everyone at the rally enjoyed themselves and, we, the organizers, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were the hit of the club, at least for the moment. This event, more than any other, sent me on the road for a life-long fascinate with festivals and events!