Dishin' the Dirt at Summer CHA 2007

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Reported by Sarah Moore

I am starting to recover from CHA. Once again... I feel like I was in some sort of Craft Accident... my back still hurts from carrying the huge haul of goodies... and I know; you don't feel sorry for me one bit!

I thought I'd share some of the interesting Marketing conversations I had with the people working the floor. And give you a bit of a taste of what it's like to be at CHA.

So I knew CHA would be big... but this was ginormous! Talk about elaborate set ups... this is the auto show of craft! These people laid carpet and built walls... There were full rotating displays, 15 foot square retail signage hanging from the ceiling... booths were set up with full rooms with doors for private meetings... ice cream machines, electronic displays, lights, glass display stands, samples a plenty... I just can't imaging the work that goes into setting up some of these booths and displays.

The people on the floor were working their little BUTTS off... This is a tough job; I know... I used to do it. You have to be "on" all the time, and on your feet... and it's not just a mental game but physical too! More often than not the Sales/Marketing team is helping to set up (and worse... break down) the booths and displays.... so by the time Day One rolls around these people are already pooped! By Sunday they are just plain loopy! I know I was in a haze by Saturday and I was basically walking the floor for fun and had 2 days under my belt!

I was impressed with the overall level of politeness and glee that all the vendors but forth... We really only had a couple of bad experiences communicating with vendors... and nothing to really write home about. The crowds were pretty calm as well; accept in the opening hour when it was reported there was a mad dash to hit the Basic Grey Booth... Picture hundreds of women in crocs and capris dragging their rolling carts... STAND BACK! :)

As a Press Representatives we did our best to hang back and let vendors do what they were there to do; SELL... If they had time we asked for tours of the new lines and chatted them up... but often we had to duck out when a real customer stepped forth. I really anticipated that vendors would basically shun us as Press... and Blogging Press at that. I know there is a bit of disdain for bloggers by "real journalists" and I totally get that... but we never encountered any of that... even in the press room. People were so friendly and even shared leads with us. Most notable was The Diva herself, Danielle Forsgren from Diva Craft Lounge. She was so generous with us (and adorable in her tiara!)... even telling some of the floor vendors about Craft Critique. Have a Diva Day Danielle!

We also expected that the larger vendors and name brands would want nothing to do with us... and initially we avoided even presenting ourselves to those outlets as potential product reviewers for them. But after an amazing conversation with Scotch/3M we went back to many of those booths and spoke to them... we were so surprised at how aware they were of bloggers and their impact on the market. We learned a lot about our power in the marketplace!

One of our favorite conversations was with the marketing team at Martha Stewart Crafts (MSC) for EK Success. They were so genuinely interested in our take on the current market. They wanted to know what we liked in the first release... what we didn't like... what we thought of the prices and what we thought would be hot next. They took NOTES! It just proved to me; if you have an opinion about a new line... you should say it out-loud! Write a letter; blog it... post it on your fave message board. Even if it isn't favorable the retailers want to know.

One interesting think about MSC... they LOVE Halloween... they are hardcore into it and we were told it's Martha's fave holiday... and almost anything goes too... they basically draw the line at blood and gore. This makes me love Martha twice as much! Their new line (much of which you've already seen here) proves my point. Thanks for keeping Halloween scary Martha!

We loved hearing from Me and My Big Ideas that they actually have a Marketing research staff that attends fashion week in New York and regularly go to Europe to seek out new trends to translate into papercraft. Their new line "Sanctuary" is very forward thinking; bold colors, graphic images and the like. (see past posts for a pic)

And how about the booth at My Minds Eye! Were we the only one that noticed the hottie twenty somethings they had working the floor? In their linen shirts and stubble... these boys could have convinced us friendly plastic and scratch and sniff stickers (anyone... anyone???) were back in style. It certainly didn't hurt that their new line "Bohemia" was right on trend with crochet flowers, scrolls, big flowers and a western font. We like the marketing strategy and the product line. Cute boys in blue jeans were a nice change from the scary salesmen seated at the big round tables in navy blue suits that haunted some of the other big lines! We also liked their wicker furniture and relaxed atmosphere!

click on pics to enlarge

These are cool little journaling cards... go buy a dozen... They are dirt cheap and uber cool!

And don't tell me it was a coincidence... they even had their pictures on their new Memory Blocks Kit! Nice touch!


We were surprised at how many of the big vendors didn't consider the fact that some people might be taking pictures of the lines for later reference. Most of the walls of the booths were not well marked with brand names or line names... or what was "new". It was difficult to see some of the papers that were stacked in traditional 12X12 racks instead of being displayed on the wall. Some of the booths had dark lighting... or super BRIGHT lights pointed at product that distorted the colors. Some vendors even distributed materials without any company names or contact info... we got home; looked at these new line brochures or fliers and were like... "who's stuff is this anyways?" Almost everyone let us take pictures freely... only one (big vendor) wouldn't... and their product line still is not up on their website even! They didn't even have a catalog of their summer release... only a price list. Weird.

It was great to see the well marked and lit booths of lines like these by Scenic Route... Aren't these great colors for fall! Such a nice change from all the muted stuff we've traditionally seen for autumn... these earthy tones are so vivid!






And did anyone else feel sorry for the Ice Cream Girl at Die Cuts with a View? That poor girl needed a break... and what did ice cream have to do with their line anyways?

Oh and the celebrities! Our own Amy Westerman has a brush with greatness with Genevive Gorder (of trading Spaces).

Tim Holt of Ranger has the ladies buzzin' at every turn. How the heck does he do this ALL DAY LONG! Wowza... Our reporters loved him!


But Elsie Flanigan was our vote for the Lindsey Lohan of Summer CHA 2007. We snapped this picture on Day One... Could she be any cuter in her vintage kitchen set up?


We'd love to know what you thought about Summer CHA 2007. If you've posted on your blog about CHA this week please Email us a link so we can include it in our blog carnival on Saturday. Get those posts to us by Friday at midnight (CST) please!