Here We Go Again...Brideshows

I love tradeshows.  Any kind.  Car, electronic, entertainment, video games, travel, hospitality, construction, and even teacher shows.  So, it's no surprise that I love bridal shows.  Everything about them is fun to me.  Meeting people, seeing all the cool displays, getting new ideas and most of all entering the contests and picking up all the free stuff.  (I guess this is how I end up with a lot of pens, pads, etc. )

I've gone to a number of shows over the last few months including many of the larger cookie cutter ones and a few of the smaller boutique ones and I have to say that in the last two weeks, I've gone to the worst bridal show:  The Wedding Salon (http://www.weddingsalon.com/events.cfm?id=92) and the best bridal show: Unveiled: Bridal Event  (http://www.unveiledevent.com/what.html). 

Granted, I've been to a few shows where it was just a cattle call and despite being a bride, I may not have been the target demographic but my last two events truly defined what a good event vs a bad event should be.

Here's how I evaluate a good bridal show and what Unveiled had:
- variety of vendors
- unique vendors
- vendors that want to talk to you and staffed with enough people that you can find somebody to speak with.
- decent venue and setup
- enough room to walk around
- decent free giveaways- whole cupcakes (thanks Wolfgang Puck!), mini pies (thanks Simple Things!)
- fantastic samples (lobster salads)
- decent contests (not required but definitely pushes a tradeshow over the top)
- deliver what they promise

Despite going to a number of shows, this one had vendors I've never met before who were all friendly and helpful.  The caterers provided some wonderful tasting food and the drinks were filled to the brim!  Samples were generous.  And, last but not least it wasn't super crowded and the venue and weather were perfect...Well worth the money that I paid to attend. 

Here's how I evaluate a bad bridal show and what The Wedding Salon had:
- overcrowded venue
- standard vendors
- no variety in vendors (i.e. having too many of the same type of vendor)
- bad giveaways; bad contests
- total disregard for the patrons
- expensive
- not delivering what they promised
- spamming you with tons of email before the show
- providing "free" stuff but then charging you for them

I can go on and on about how horrible the Wedding Salon event was.  Like, they give you a free ticket but then make you pay for a gift bag.  Pay?  for a free bag of stuff from a vendor??  Really?  Or, they promise great food and wine tasting and all they give you is a little cheese on a cracker and a sample of prosecco.  It was just way over hyped and delivered too little.  It also seemed like a a underhanded, poor marketing way to make a quick buck.  I talked to a vendor that was at both events and they were appalled to hear that we were charged for the gift bags. 

But, I want to leave this blog post on a good note.  I met some really great vendors at the event tonight and I hope I can work with them.  These include:

Simple Things Sandwich & Pie Shop (http://www.simplethingsrestaurant.com/)
2 Hearts B 1 (www.2heartsb1.com)
Flite Design (http://www.yelp.com/biz/flite-design-pasadena)

- MW