a shrinkwrapped pallet in the middle of our bare booth...

Did my last post stop you cold? did you wonder, "how did she get her booth delivered on a shrinkwrapped pallet?, "was that expensive?", "complicated", "how how how?"...
Relax, here is everything you need to know.
First off, what's a pallet (aka, a skid)? (alright listen, if you don't know what a pallet is, you are really new at this, but that's ok, I won't tell anyone and I will even show you a photo of one)...here you go. Most standard pallets in the USA and Canada are 48" x 40". If you need one at the end of the show at the Javit's Center, you can usually ask one of the guys out back on the docks and you will be able to get one, do NOT expect this to be as easy on the Piers in NYC or other shows necessarily, so be organized. If you are looking to find one in your area, you can call shipping companies or even ask a local business in your area that ships alot or receives alot and they should be able to point you in the right direction. They are not feather light, most good sturdy pallets weigh around 30 to 40 lbs, so expect to pay for this extra weight when/if you are shipping your goods.

want more pallet info and the complete history of pallets? (not sure why you would?  but heck, I'm thorough, here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet .

Another little detail at this point, shrink wrap!

Basically, with good quality shrink wrap and a bad case of dizzy when the job is done, one can pretty much securely attach anything to a pallet. Just pull tight and start circling your pallet with the wrap, and make sure that you also circle the actual sides of the pallet, this will keep your stuff attached to it, a kind of important detail...you will be amazed at how secure you can get stuff on there!
In an ideal pack job universe, everything that you will need to set up, exhibit, write orders and pack up at the end of your show, will be shrink wrapped to this pallet, perfectly packed in perfectly fitting boxes that all line up and make a perfect cube...perfectly up to about 4 ft in height...but let's face it, nothing is perfect! (well, except my daughter...but we won't go there right now).
Here is an excellent step by step guide to how to shrink wrap, http://www.wikihow.com/Shrink-Wrap-a-Pallet .
You would be amazed at what my pallet looks like and what I can get on it. (I will take photos of it the minute I am reunited with it in NYC in August, promise!) But long story a little bit shorter, I can get ALL of my product samples, 6 ikea display tables (which I am really just lugging around and not even using at this point), 1 round wooden table with heavy legs, tools, sign, a step ladder, a fabulous silver trunk, booth chairs and catalogs onto 1 single skid! To save on time and space, I found that packing all my product samples into large plastic bins with some layers of bubble wrap to keep things safe has really cut down on packing/ unpacking time, breakage during transport and stacking ease and uniformity on the pallet. Where can you buy shrink wrap? any packaging store or supplier like http://www.uline.com/ or even your local http://www.staples.com/ or http://www.officedepot.com/ store...wondering if the rolls you see with the cardboard handles are worth buying? YES! they definitely are!
For those of you who are going big, you might want to look into a crate or custom packing system on wheels. You will definitely increase your shipping expenses, but it might be worth it depending on your products or needs. I am not going to go into detail about this sort of thing, because I am really geared at helping the companies that want to do this trade show thing as painlessly and inexpensively as possible. But here is a photo of what a crate would look like.

Where is my pallet when it's not in my booth?...
ah, the question of the day...
IN NEW JERSEY!
I know right?, my warehouse is out in California, I live on the east coast and my pallet is stored in New Jersey...wtf? right?...well, actually, it's quite simple.
There's this guy... Stuart Stockelberg...and he takes care of all of it for me! (love him!)

He works with a company called http://www.servicebyair.com/ and they have changed my packing and shipping and moving to and from trade show procedures from complicated and tiresome to simple and affordable.
Since most of my shows are (were) on the east coast, I decided that I was tired of moving my stuff around, these guys pick it up right out of my booth after the NY shows, and bring it in (or ship it) to the next show. They are connected with a storage warehouse and the one pallet costs me roughly $35 / month to store in NJ, so in between any shows, I simply leave it there and pay the storage. The in and out of the show shipping usually runs about $125 each way, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on how heavy it is. I have also used them to ship my pallet to other shows, sometimes they quote better than anyone else, sometimes they don't, you have to check, but the service is fantastic and these guys KNOW trade shows, so you don't have to worry about hidden charges or delivery into convention center prices. There will be no surprises and I highly recommend them.

Of course I encourage you to shop around, as there are other companies offering these services, likely even at the Javits Center or connected to your show, they might work out swimmingly, or not, just do your homework and ask exhibitors who have used the company you are considering hiring.

details details details

In getting ready for the Metropolitain Cooking and Entertaining Show that's coming up in less than 2 weeks in Washington, I have found myself, once again, stuck deep in the depths of trade show preparation and details. I pretty much have NYC down to a science, I know on my drive down, what I need and where I can get it, from my booth flooring from the Home Depot to the wood slats I use to put up my very simple and effective Ikea shelves. I even get together with a few other exhibitors who do the Gift Fair and we order foamboard together (gives your booth a hard wall look for a much less expensive price and you can walk out of the booth and leave them at the end because for the price, they are NOT worth saving) through Utrecht Art Supplies in NYC. We organize it so that someone is at the Javits Center at the right time and Utrecht delivers it right to the door for us on the first set up day, so convenient!
We actually have a skid that stays in the NY area now.
After each show, we pack up our samples and booth decor (tables, chairs, shelves, booth sign etc) and shrinkwrap it, then we walk right out of the Javits Center and that's that. We have Service By Air pick it up (right out of our booth) and they store it for us and bring it in or ship it out to our next show.
Storage for the one skid runs us about $35/month, plus we pay for transporting it in and out, (they will ship it from coast to coast if that is what you need).
This costs us less than shipping everything back and forth all the time in between shows and saves us on logistical headaches and organizing. We keep almost all our needed supplies on that skid (a tool box with everything you would possibly need to set up a booth) even a step ladder, our electrical cords and clamp lights. New samples are usually sent from our warehouse to our hotel in NYC or a local Fedex office and we get fresh flowers and any little details we need at each show.
So now we are going to DC, and, it's not a trade show, but rather a retail show.
As mentioned here, we need to think about presenting, stocking and selling, rather than simply displaying and order taking (as with wholesale trade show).
Once again, baby Tess will be accompanying us, but this time we will not be driving, but rather flying.
We have decided to not rent a car. We are staying close to the convention center and we will make it work without the added expense and hassle of driving around to pick up supplies and schlepping a 7 month old along.
Originally, I had thought about hiring a DC area rollergirl to do some running around for us, (another wonderful example of how great it is to be part of the rollerderby community/network), to pick up flooring, do an Ikea run for us, etc but after a steady run of unforeseen obstacles, even that wasn't necessary.
The final decision was that we would not get our skid sent to DC, (we only need about 1/3 of what is on it) and to incur shipping expenses for only 1/3 seemed silly. Great! one big decision made!
New problem, what kind of booth decor would we use and how could we get it done quickly and inexpensively without our usual booth stuff on hand?
We could do the Ikea run; pick up new Strippa shelves (at $4 each we can afford to leave the others in the NY area and just buy more). NEWS FLASH! Ikea no longer makes Strippa shelves! F#%K!
To make a very long story a little shorter, this type of situation just seemed to keep happening, we would get 3 steps in and then BOOM, it wouldn't work.
Here's what did work. Utrecht Art Supplies worked! May I just say, "Utrecht, I love you!", the customer service is amazing and they always seem to come through when no one else does!
Conveniently, they have a store just blocks from the DC Convention Center (YES!), I called about foamboard and that was absolutely NO problem. When I asked if they could deliver, they told me not to worry, a couple of guys will help out or walk it over to the convention center, it won't be a problem!
Cool, walls taken care of.
Then came the flooring issue. We usually use this relatively inexpensive, (very heavy), white coated masonite that comes in 4'x8' sheets at Home Depot. We get it cut into squares to fit nicely over the floor of our booth (we tape it together with white tape) and it also fits into the car to transport to the convention center, (usually 3'x3' pieces or so).

As mentioned, we are not renting a car, so there goes that idea, but what to do to get the sleek, glossy white backdrop of a booth that BlueDogz Design products look so great on?...
Once again, our fabulous friends at Utrecht saved the day. I explained the issue and what we were looking for and they had a bunch of great, disposable, inexpensive ideas to get the look we are after, we have decided on shiny white mounting board. We are quite sure it will hold up for 2 days of traffic, it is sweepable, so we can keep it clean and it is the look we are after. YAY!
Now what about those shelves?
My usual shelving process with foamboard is, may I say, absolutely ingenius! (Yes, I said it. I wouldn't normally brag, but this process is pretty darn brilliant, see photo just above). I am constantly asked how I get the shelves to stay up on foamboard, I should write a book on it (hmmm) I will share, promise, stay tuned.

Well, this is where a sudden new design was born! Xnay on the shelves for this show, we are going bold, graphic and new....(and heck, it will eliminate the whole power tool, wood and shelving process...take note, I just let some secrets slip out). The entire back wall, 8 ft high, by 10 ft wide (which will look like a sleek white wall, thanks to the foamboard) will have fabulous BlueDogz Design clipboards hanging all over it, on little clear adhesive hooks. We will be able to get approx 10 across in approx 6-8 rows, trust me, it is going to look stunning! In the middle of the wall, we will have our new sign (I love it! you?)

In terms of booth furniture, to display all of our, displays and products, we have decided to simple rent 2 large ugly trade show tables from the venue (one 4 ft long and the other 6 ft long) and do something special to them (once again, stay tuned, I will show you step by step how to transform ugliness to utter fabulousness!) ...I will also share info on how you won't need a phone line (for $400) to process credit cards, how you won't need the convention center's $99/day wifi, to get on the internet (hopefully) and how you don't even need to buy an aircard to get unlimited WIFI service for less than $10 a day with no contracts.
Damn, I am starting to sound like an infomercial. 
Fine, but if you do shows, you are going to thank me for doing all your ground work for you!