Vendor Space and Pricing

[j2garnett]

What do you guys think is a reasonable cost for vendor space/advertising at the conference?

2 days, with approx. 6-8 hours of pure table time plus networking and the option to be a speaker or hold a class?

[bugsandbows]

A similar conference for Eastern Star is $400 per space. I think bigger vendors (rabom) will not hesitate to pay that for a bow conference. You might consider offering two types of vendor space. 10x5 & 10x10!

[jakey1028]

so what are we talking about here? people who sell supplies or those who sell bows? Im still not sure exactly what a bow confrence is for. Do we go to shop and see supplies, buy bows, make bows or what LOL Is it going to be open to the general public or just invite only (ie hip girls)

[RachL]

I didn't vote on the poll because I'm curious to know what kind of vendors you're referring to as well.

Also, what kind of 'venue' are you thinking of reserving? I think what can be challenging, is that this will be our 'first' conference, and some really established companies won't want to come unless they have a good price, and feel that there will be a high attendance. (I mean, those are things we consider before doing being a vendor at a 'show'). I also noticed that on the last poll, the 'budget' for most people coming was between $100-200. If that includes hotel stay, food, etc, I can't imagine HOW we could stay anywhere decent that would allow for a 'conference'.

I'm sure you guys have it all figured out, but my suggestion would be to find the venue first. I'm assuming a hotel since the 'budget' thread included that (with food, etc). You could probably work out a deal with the hotel on the conference room price if you can guarentee a certain amount of rooms to be booked. Once you know the price of the 'conference room', then you can figure out how much to charge to the vendors. You can always go a little 'high' on the bid for the vendors, so you have room to negotiate if needed. If you have 'extra' left over from vendors, you can always put that towards food (catered by the hotel - even if its just muffins and coffee).

Personally, I think the biggest hurdle is overcoming that it's our 'first' conference. We don't even have a way to guarentee how many people will actually come, let alone spend money. So coming off as 'professional' as possible will be key. Maybe even sending inquiry letters to vendors on a 'HipGirl' letterhead would be nice. (think Vista Print) If it gets hard to find enough 'big' vendors to cover the cost of the 'venue', then maybe the locals to the area can put out 'feelers' to people they know who do direct marketing businesses (purse parties, pampered chef, skin care lines). They could have a 'cheaper' fee.

Obviously I have NO idea what's already in the works, or what is being planned, but those are just some of my thoughts or 'concerns'. I think this conference thing is a GREAT idea and I'd love to see it become an annual event.

[kaneohegirl]

I think it would be better to find out how much it is going to be to get a conference room for the days that you want THEN figure out what you are going to charge vendors and attendees.

when you come right down to it its needs to based on size of space and what kinds of advertising you are doing, as well as what its costing, to do anything else is going to put the brunt of the expense on the attendees.

I could be wrong and not know your thinking so try not to get mad at me ...

[j2garnett]

Everything sort of depends all on another in terms of planning - that's why I'm trying to see where people stand so that when I have to make a decision, I can get as close as possible to what everyone wants.

[ldelzer]

I would find out how much is going to cost to rent the venue. You will probably have to have event insurance, which can be very expensive. I pay around 500 for 4 days for my children's consignment sale. OUCH! Most places will not rent a room without proof of insurance first.

Renting space will (probably) not be cheap. I would not be surprised to find out it will cost you 1000-1500 to rent some space. (or more). Last Spring, I rented around 4,000 square feet (which is not that much!) and it cost me 3,000 for 4 days.

They may charge you to drop extra power strips down. It costs me 50 bucks per extra drop. I may end up having to pay 300 just to have extra power sources for my kid's sale.

Most places are going to charge for chairs and table rental. They may also charge for "after hours" usage. i.e. anything outside of the typical rental agreement.

To be perfectly honest, I think that this is a first time run and we need to be as frugal as possible. I would see if we can have a block of rooms, accompanied with some "work space" where we can spread out and do our thing. I would try very hard to not have to rent space. I would invite vendors FREE of charge. They will spend a good chunk of change to even come down there. They will feel ripped off if they come down and there are 15 attendees. If you don't have to rent space, this may save the event insurance.

I would also be frugal because, whether it's nice to say it or not, people have a way of backing out. You may have 100 say that they will for sure come. When it comes to crunch time, 1/2 of those are going to not show up.

Sorry to ramble. It's a huge undertaking to do something like this. It's bigger than most folks would think.

[luvsfordpower]

I think it depends on the venue and how many customers will be there. The better the venue and foot traffic, the more you could charge.