We realized a couple months ago that 2 reptile shows were on our schedule for the same day- Madison Wisc (
WIRE) and the
All Animal show in Wheaton, IL. Our solution- Send Nanette and Tim (youngest son) to Madison and Jordan (middle son) and I to Chicago. Two teams?!? Is this Big Time! I don't think so, I think it's NUTS.
We spent about an hour separating our supplies into two piles (well, Nanette did all the work and I said Madison or Wheaton) then got up at 5am to catch 2 groups of animals. Off to the Madison show Team 1 went and to Wheaton team 2 went.
Once quick note- Team 1 (Nanette and Tim) had a friendly bet with Team 2 (Wally and Jordan)- the team that sold the most MRP (crested gecko diet) had the buy the other team Ice Cream later that night. See Below for the results.
Madison Show Review- By Nanette
Team 2 arrived at the show around 9:10 this morning with plenty of time to setup. Madison's show had a new location and it was very easy to find. Tim and I unloaded my truck (after I woke him up again). The hall we were in was very nice and had good space for the vendors. Thanks Jim for all the work you did to have the show here. We were set up early and going through the lists to make sure we hadn't missed something. A quick call to the "Boss" (only in the gecko world) to verify a few prices and we were ready to go.
Tim hasn't been to a show in awhile so I brought him up to speed with some little tips. 1. Smile and at least pretend you are excited about spending the day at a reptile show with Mom 2. Talk to the customers 3. Tell your girlfriend you are working and no more texting! 4. Reminder, if we sell more MRP than Dad and Jordan they have to buy us ice cream tonight! See below for the results.
The show started out pretty good. There was a constant flow of people coming in until just before the Packer game started. We had interest in several geckos and Tim was selling his baby hedgehogs. Tim had to fill our candy bowl multiple times due to a vendor (Aaron) who ate all the pull apart licorice(we now know what kind of candy to not bring to the show - just kidding!) Several customers came to see Wally today - sorry he was at the Wheaton show. It was great to talk to Molly and Adam this morning. I also ran into Eric, who I had worked with at a pet store many years ago. He was quite surprised to see me working with the geckos, since years earlier I wouldn't even step foot in the reptile department at the store. I did remind him that I still avoid snakes as much as possible.
Tim had several customers interested in the cute little hedgehogs. He did sell one of them and was very excited. Later there was some interest at our table with a certain gargoyle as to what sex it was. Aaron " the expert" came over to check for the customer. However, he was quickly reminded how to hold the animal for the sexing process. After a quick nip from the animal and no sympathy from me (have another piece of candy and get over it) he was able to tell the customer what he wanted to hear. Yes, it's a male.
The rest of the afternoon moved a little slower due to a slow down in customers, most likely because of the game and weather. It was time to start to pack up and Tim disappeared. Low and behold he appeared at Mike's table and was talking to him ( avoiding helping me). He did come back when it was time to go to the car. We left for home and within 10 minutes my co-pilot (who had worked soooo hard - NOT!) was asleep.
Wally and I pulled into our driveway within 2 minutes of each other this afternoon with much excitement to see how each team had done.
Wheaton Review- By Wally
We arrived at 9:00, perfect time to setup before the 10 AM open doors. The boxes came out of the car- yes I took the car and Nanette got her truck as she was taking the sign (more on the sign in just a sec). I pulled a few boxes from the car, found our table, and started setting up. Jordan brought in all the other boxes. Yes, I know Jordan did all the hard work, so call child labor agency!
Supplies and animals were all in place around 10 to Doors Open and we had a little time to walk around. Even had a chance to talk to Scott which, due to his schedule before the show, is a rarity. We could have taken more than 10 minutes as once the show opened, the crowd was a bit light to start with. This was such a nice day, and football Sunday so everyone was probably just taking it a bit slow this day.
The crowds picked up a bit as the day moved forward. We had many, many questions about the geckos. The hit of our table was certainly the A.P.T.O.R. (NFS unfortunately).
Jordan and I had a debate as he wanted to hold one crested gecko back that was firing up- I think he wanted to name the new morph Choco Mocha Latte Grande or something like that. The gecko stayed on the table but if it fires up like that again before the next show, I might reconsider. We met some great people, saw some long term customers. Thank you Jenny for introducing me to Christie, I hope her new beardie brings her much pleasure. Nice to see Chris and his family again (new chameleon owner). Steve, it was nice to see you at the show with your better half :) I am forgetting so many! Had some time inbetween to talk to some vendors and before we knew it, it was time to go. We did well at the show with some sales of everything but not a lot of any one thing.
Well, the results are in and thanks to Mike P's big order at Madison, Team Nanette is enjoying there Culver's ice cream. Well, we are all enjoying a treat but Team Wally had to pay :)
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