Saturday Tammy and I attended, as a Tastefully Simple vendor, the 3rd annual Women's Expo at the fairgrounds in Kalispell. This is a big event put on by the local Biz-to-Biz network (http://www.biztobizinc.com/Womens_Expo.php). I think there were about 75 vendors there.
It is a bit expensive to have a spot there: $275 for the cheap spots. But Biz-to-Biz claimed a thousand people attended the first year and 1,600 the second year. So for Tammy, who is new to the Valley, it was a good way to get the word out that she and Tastefully Simple is here.
Since Tammy moved here several weeks ago we learned that several women had sold the Tastefully Simple product in the Kalispell area in the past, but they stopped last year and earlier this year for various reasons, among which was that they moved away. So some women attending the Expo knew of Tastefully Simple and were very happy to have a consultant in Kalispell from who they could buy their favorite Tastefully Simple product. The Beer Bread mix is especially popular.
Many other women had never heard of Tastefully Simple and Tammy had to do some explaining of the product and how it was sold.
The expo ran from 10 am to 4 pm. People traffic was fairly steady all day. A few times it was slower, such as when the Expo put on a fashion show at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. I am not sure how many people attended as I am not an expert people counter, but I wonder if it was a thousand people. Still it was a good turnout, especially since the Expo was competing with a large arts and craft show this weekend at the Majestic Arena.
The weather cooperated. While it was an overcast chilly day, the day was better than what the weather forecasters had predicted: which was snow. We didn't have any snow.
Vendors were allowed to set up Friday afternoon and night. Which was essential as it takes time to set up one's table with product and signs. We set up Tammy's table Friday night once it got too dark for me to fill the septic drain field's trench back in with dirt.
The Expo provided a free lunch of tacos, chips, cookies and candy for the vendors from 11 am to 2 pm. I went to eat at 12:30 and they had just run out of meat for tacos with no plans/means to get more meat. A few vendors were frustrated by this. So my lunch was chips, lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes and olives. I guess you can call it a salad. Oh, and lots of the cookies and candy.
Once I finished eating Tammy went to eat before the rest of the food was gone. When she came back she told me they had gotten gumbo to eat. So I went back and even though you were limited to one meal they allowed me to have a plate of gumbo since I didn't have any meat earlier.
In the spots next to us was a Pure Romance vendor (www.joellenwilliams.pureromance.com) and a vendor (Mike Powers) selling Farm Bureau Financial Services (www.mwfbi.com). Mike also helped organize the fashion show. In the morning before the fashion show he seemed to be away from his booth more than there. Most vendors give away a door prize in order to get people's names and phone numbers or email ids. Most door prizes are related to the product being sold. Mike's door prize was a free one hour massage. He got lots of door prize slips from people. Imagine that!
The next vendor location was for Northern Lights Chiropractic (www.northernlightschiropractic.com). Rhonda was giving free neck tests using a scanner and laptop. In the afternoon Tammy had her neck checked. The scan picked up that her right side of her neck had issues. This is the side where Tammy had fractured her shoulder this past February.
Tammy sold about half of her product. She sold out of her Beer Bread mix.
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| The view from Tammy's location. |
Tammy's Tastefully Simple website: www.tastefullysimple.com/web/tshank
If you see something you would like, you can order it from her website and it will be shipped directly to you.
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