I meant to get this up yesterday, but ran out of time. I don’t have anything too exciting to share. I just keep plugging along. I’m slowly getting a game plan together. Thanks to google maps, I can now see exactly where I’ll be staying in relation to the Jarvis Center and scoping out the best way to get there. I plan on doing a lot of walking to avoid cab fees so hopefully the weather will be good while we’re there.

For promoting, we’re still researching more companies trying to get a list together for a postcard mailing. I want to send out 2 or 3 mentioning Surtex, just not sure who on my list I should send them too. I’m slowly working on what samples to show and how to display them within the booth. I’m starting to get some visual ideas, but nothing specific yet. Since the National Stationery Show is at the same time and location as Surtex, I’ll be getting together special samples for those companies coming over to our show. I’m also trying to think of some kind of shelving system and 3-D elements so everything isn’t just flat against the wall. It’s been a challenge since it needs to be lightweight, compact and not much assembly needed when we get there.

I have to admit that my mind has been all over the place with licensing. There’s just so much that can be done! I’m working on rubber stamps, greeting cards, partyware and even product development ideas to show. There just seems like there’s so much to do and even more that can bee done. One big thing I’m working on is physical mock-ups of projects to show. Last week I purchased a few things to use and am constantly on the look out for other things I can use. If I didn’t learn about spray mount or have a packaging design class in school, I would be totally lost on how to mock anything up. I’m also trying to get as much work out there and submitted before Surtex so I can go ahead and be “seen” plus “introduce” myself to those going to Surtex. I’m still panning on unveiling some new designs specifically at Surtex so I can use that teaser as a promo too.

I’ve also been looking at who will be my booth neighbors. So far it seems a little empty around me but hopefully those will fill up with last minute exhibitors. That reminds me, I need to look this week and see if anyone new has been added.

The most important thing is that I’m doing something everyday to grow my licensing business!

EDIT: Just got an email from Surtex that they are changing the layout of the show and my booth number has changed to #359. There was also a mention of maybe staying open for half a day on Wednesday. That cuts out my site seeing time, but you can’t turn down the extra exposure!

From my last Surtex update I really only got #1 done: My business cards. I did get a lot of other “thinking” things done though. I really had to decide on why I felt like I was feeling so nervous and overwhelmed. After having a planning meeting with my licensing manager and lunch with my husband, I decided that I needed to focus more on the art itself rather than planning for the show and getting bogged down with how it will all look, my own self consciousness of selling myself face-to-face, so in order for me to stay on track and to accomplish what I want to accomplish art-wise, I’ve decided to hire a part time designer to pass some work off to. She starts tomorrow and I really hope we fit together well. I’m excited to see how much more work I’ll have ready to show come May.

I also got some relief when the Surtex guys finally posted their set-up manual. Exhibiting at Surtex became more real and manageable after reading everything from how to get all my materials into my booth, to working on press kits. It’s not so overwhelming now and I’m really getting excited about it. I’m sure everyone else in the world knew this but me, but I found out that I had to go through an underwater tunnel to get to Manhattan. I could have done without knowing that until I actually went through it and it was too late to turn back (yes, I am a bit of a weenie). I know it’s no big deal and I’ll close my eyes when we go through it, but I will literally freak out if I see water pouring out inside the tunnel. My husband told me not to go back and watch Daylight before I go. If anyone if familiar with these tunnels, please do not tell me anymore about them!! I don’t want to dwell on it until May

Last Monday I did do a little booth research by going to a trade show here in Nashville. The subject matter wasn’t very interesting to me but I wanted to see how people had their booths set-up, their graphics, and how they were able to get the most out of their spaces. There were only a few booths that really stood out. This one was actually stretched fabric squares on a grid (done by one of those exhibit making places). I liked the dimension it had but it didn’t take up a lot of footprint space:

And I saw another that I really liked. Simple but a way to show off several images and it worked great for istockphoto.com:

I also signed up for twitter this week since one of the things I wanted to do was give updates from my Surtex booth. You can follow me here. If you’re not on it, it’s addictive. Kathy just wrote a great post on it.

To get me back on track with working on all the ideas in my sketchbook, I’m going to get back on track with my daily creative warmups. Hopefully each day I’ll come up with a new line to license.

So…on my immediate to-do list this week:

1) Use my Creative Warmup time everyday to flush out sketchbook ideas

2) picked up from last week — Start printing out my pages for my portfolio (which I will have set up for buyers to flip through at my booth) print out 5-10 pages a week. I kind of have everything in layers on one photoshop file so I need to get them all separated first – UGH!

4) picked up from last week — Start designing a mailer to send out, inviting people to my booth. We have about 325 companies on our list and we are in the process of getting contact info from their buyers.

5) this will be on the list weekly – Keep researching artists that have been at past shows to see what did well for them or how they designed their booth

One thing I really love about licensing is you can draw one thing way back when, and use it for something, use it for something else, and then take it use it for something else. The first image is a tag I put on the back of the baby gifts I make, I then later took it and put it in my doodle+daddies™ collection and then reworked it for a shower invite.

I’ve been doing more Surtex planning and feel a little more confident and in control of it now. I’m deciding if I want to spend any extra money on on-site marketing now. I’ll be blogging and update on the planning process in a few days. Oh, and I’m on twitter now. One of the things I’m going to do during Surtex it twitter during it to give everyone first hand accounts on the show. If you’re on twitter, follow me!

I’ve spent the last month doing some Surtex planning and getting a to-do list together. I’ve been scouring the web seeing what other artists have done with their trade show booth. I’ve found some great references here (includes great tips too!), here, here, here, here,here, here and here. I have a 10×10 corner booth that will be on the top floor. I tried to search for the person who had my booth last year but the layout seems to be different so I couldn’t find them. I did find that Carol Eldridge had a corner booth once and this is what she did.

My main focus for Surtex is presentation. What am I going to show and how am I going to display it all. I’m still thinking about all this. I know I don’t want to spend a lot of money because I don’t think I would use any or much of it again. I know I want some kind of dimension to it rather than just flat panels and am considering mocking up some products to display. We will be driving rather than flying to ensure that my display get’s there in one piece. It will be a long drive from Nashville to Manhattan but being my first show, I don’t want the added stress of worrying about having my display getting lost in the mail or the airport, plus I’d like the opportunity to bring some back up things like a printer, etc. in case I need to print something I forgot.

So…on my immediate to-do list:

1) Get business cars designed – My info on one side, my licensing manager on the flip side. I received some print samples from overnight prints and I really like the satin finish on them. Now, to decide if I should get the straight cut or rounded corners….

2) Start printing out my pages for my portfolio (which I will have set up for buyers to flip through at my booth) print out 5-10 pages a week. I kind of have everything in layers on one photoshop file so I need to get them all separated first – UGH!

3) Get my listing set up on the Surtex site which I have done. See it here

4) Start designing a mailer to send out, inviting people to my booth. We have about 325 companies on our list and we are in the process of getting contact info from their buyers.

5) Create 5 new designs a week

6) Keep researching artists that have been at past shows to see what did well for them or how they designed their booth