back from NYC

We've returned from the New York International Gift Fair. It wasn't much of a hit from a sales perspective, but I met a lot of people and learned a good bit about the industry, so I still think it was a worthwhile trip. I say this even though I seem to have hurt my back rather seriously. At least I made it home!


Here's the sales summary (1 sale = 1 8-pack of balls):

1. Saturday - 2 sales (no ice cream)
2. Sunday - 1 sale (no ice cream)
   
3. Monday - 5 sales (made ice cream! fed customers and sales reps)
   
4. Tuesday - 5 sales (no ice cream, no Keith)
   
5. Wednesday - 2 sales (maybe more after I left)
   

My theory is that making ice cream on Monday had a big impact. Even though we weren't there on Tuesday, the sales agents were able to plug the ball more sincerely since they'd seen it work the day before.

What else did I learn?

• The reps have a big influence on what their customers buy. If the rep is interested and thinks its a good fit for the customer, that goes a long way.
  
• A reasonable commission is in the 10-15% range. Our commissions are in the right range.
• Lots of places want free freight. Freight cross-country can be as much as $2 per ball for our bulky product, so I understand the problem. However, I decided to turn them down and told them that we were spending our money on a PR campaign instead. Not a popular decision all around but I liked it!
• We need to pay a bit more and get space on the aisle. This was a particular problem because it was so bloody hot in our area. The air conditioning in the Javits center did not reach all areas equally. Strangely, it was about 10 degrees cooler in the aisle than in the booth by our product, even though the two areas were only 8-10 feet apart.
  
• Making ice cream matters, but tiny little spoons allow one batch to go a loooooooong way!
  

My inner toy collector also had a field day. I cruised about 25% of the rest of the show and had a great time checking out all the new toys and gifts. It was like the world's greatest toy store except that you can only buy stuff in packs of 24.

The sales guys from ThinkFun had the space adjacent to us. They are the premier manufacturer of mass-market brainteasers, so I really enjoyed chatting with them and checking out their products. In particular, they have a new item called Gordian's Knot. It's not yet available but I had a great time playing with the prototype. I impressed the main sales guy when I got it apart without using the solution guide. Putting it together again was way beyond my skills but I managed it with the solution guide.

Oh, and my back... Tuesday, after my morning shower, I suddenly had severe mid-back pain (right side). I flopped into the bed (easily accessible from every corner of our hotel room) and ended up spending the day there. I think I must have over-compensated somehow for the pain on the right side because by the next day the extreme pain had moved to the lower left. I've dealt with this before and it has taken anywhere from days to months to go away. The fact that the pain moved (and didn't appear while lifting a sofa) gives me hope that I'll heal up in a few days. In the meantime, I stand crooked.