A Tale of Two Shows: The Craft and Hobby Association's SuperShow
by Terri Wells
The Craft and Hobby Association's show, held in Orlando at the end of July and beginning of August, drew hundreds of vendors and thousands of attendees. Many who attended may not have realized that it was two shows in one: on Tuesday through Thursday, it was the CHA trade show, strictly an industry show for vendors and buyers. On Friday and Saturday it was the CHA SuperShow, open to the public. For those able to attend both, it felt very much like going to two different shows.
“So what's the difference?” you may ask. The basic difference lies in the purpose. At a craft trade show, the people walking the floor looking for things to buy aren't crafters trying to get something interesting for their next project (though there may be some of that); they own stores, big and small, and they're looking for products that will interest their customers. At this time of year, they're getting ready for all the crafting that will be done in preparation for the holidays, and they want to be stocked. The public show, on the other hand, was filled with crafters – the customers who purchase the products introduced at the trade show from their local craft shops. It's this simple difference that set the whole feel.
If you went to the public CHA SuperShow, you saw huge booths run by A.C. Moore, Michaels, Jo Anne. Would you be surprised to hear that none of these major vendors had booths at the trade show? You can believe that they made their presence felt, however; there's little doubt that their buyers were roaming the floor, looking for the the next great hit. We're going to review our favorite hot products in a future feature on neatinformation.com.
And what a floor it was! If you thought the public show was big, the trade show covered over twice as much floor space and seemed to have twice as many vendors. But the public show had far greater attendance; about 9,000 tickets were sold vs. about 5,000 for the trade show. At the trade show, there were far fewer make-and-take projects, but with a smaller crowd it was somewhat easier to get into one. And it was much easier to talk to people about what they had for sale, although there was no actual “selling” on the floor; since it was a trade show, vendors on the floor took orders, or in some cases gave out samples.
As with the public show, the trade show featured excellent presentations, but of course they were geared to a different audience. I attended two lectures on how to use the Internet - “Advanced Social Networking: Putting Twitter, Facebook, Skype (and more!) to Work to Grow Your Business” by Dirk Knemeyer and “Designers: How to Build a Dynamic Web Presence” by Kathy Cano-Murillo. The first was aimed at businesses, the later aimed at artists. The public show included a presentation given by DIY Bangles, where the presenter described the product and ran a “bangle toss” where she gave out gift certificates and wooden bangle bracelets for decorating. That had a rather different aim (pun not intended).
The biggest contrast between the two shows was the attendees. The trade show was primarily professional buyers, both male and female. In contrast, the public show was primarily women, and many brought along their spouses and children (there was a play area for children which would have been totally out of place at the trade show). The mood was also different – at the trade show, professionals quietly did their work, while at the public show, many booth organizers encouraged the crowds to cheer to increase the energy of their presentations.
Both shows had paid classes at which the attendees could work on projects. It seemed as if the public show had more of these, and again, they seemed to be geared to a different crowd. I was able to attend at least part of two classes. At the trade show, I learned how to make a steampunk bracelet; at the public show, I sat in on a class on making crocheted flowers. Even here, I thought I sensed a difference. In the first class, I got the sense that the presenter was promoting the product for purchase by store owners. In the second class, however, it was more like she was teaching a new hobby so the students would buy yarn (okay, I'm probably being a little cynical here; my own yarn stash is nothing to sneeze at, after all).
A number of vendors with booths at the trade show did not have booths at the public show. Some did go to both, however; they often had booths in different locations, and of different sizes. For example, I saw one vendor at the trade show with a product that let you make colorful-looking cabochons (faux jewels with flat backs for mounting within pendants). His booth at the public show was twice the size of his trade show booth, the better to encourage people to do make-and-take projects. Vendors at the public show were highly encouraged to include make-and-take projects in their booths.
There was far more of a local presence at the public show, which you'd expect since those vendors could show off their products to the local crafters. I discovered some small shops that I hadn't known about before, such as the Sewing Studio of Maitland Florida. ArtCalendar, an Orlando-based national publication geared to artists who sell and exhibit their work, was at both shows, with copies of their slick magazine. But locals weren't the only ones there; the trade show featured exhibitors from 49 different states and Puerto Rico, as well as vendors from countries across South America, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and South Africa.
There were certain events exclusive to the trade show. I attended a VIP reception by Gypsy where I received a goodie bag that included a book I could get signed by the author, who was also at the reception. I later saw the same book at Borders, which I thought was pretty cool; it was almost like getting an advance copy, because I didn't remember seeing it before the show. There was also a designer showcase, with leading professional crafters showing off their wares. These people were not at the public show; I really enjoyed this , in part because I found another crafter who makes paper bead jewelry (we still seem to be a rarity, though that's changing).
There were also some excellent events at the public show that didn't happen at the trade show. There were few, if any, drawings for prizes at the trade show, while they abounded at the public show. The competition for “America's Next Top Crafter” took place only at the public show. These are just two obvious examples; I could list many more.
One display at both the trade and public shows was a 103 square foot portrait of President Barrack Obama. The mosaic, assembled by fourth graders in all 50 states, was made out of 350,000 hollow plastic beads. The sponsors sent it to the White House for the president's 48th birthday celebration.
This was the first year that CHA featured a show open to the public, so there were a few snags. As I understand it, the switchover from trade show to public show was complicated by a lack of air conditioning (ouch!). And despite being heavily promoted on the radio, billboards, and at the local large craft shops, I got the sense that many of the vendors and those running the show didn't quite anticipate the tremendous size of the crowds. However, for their first year as a public show, it seemed to go well overall.
You can only go to the CHA trade show if you're a member of the Craft and Hobby Association, and that means you're a manufacturer, a buyer for major craft stores, or a professional crafter who has sold thousands of dollars of your products. But anybody who can pay for a ticket can go to the CHA SuperShow.
So, if CHA holds the public SuperShow again next year, would I go? Absolutely. If you're a crafter, especially a scrapbooker, and you get the chance, you won't want to miss it. Take my advice though: do a little planning. Visit the CHA website before the show to prioritize vendors, projects, and classes (some charged a fee and required you to register in advance). Bring along some address labels so you won't have to keep writing it out for all the drawings. Try to get there as early as possible so you can check out the floor before it gets too crowded. And if you're hoping to do a make-and-take, be patient; practically all of them had lines. Above all, be prepared to have fun.
Links
The Craft and Hobby Association.
DIY Bangles's website.
Crafty Chica's website.
Dirk Knemeyer's information at Involution Solutions.
About the author
Terri Wells has been a crafter for most of her life and a writer for nearly as long.
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