I think everyone in Chicago that rides a motorcycle had a bad bad case of cabin fever because they all showed up to the show this weekend at the Stephens Center. I've not seen crowds like this at any of the IMS shows this year. Everyone was excited and getting geared up for this coming riding season. I don't think any vendor went home unhappy this weekend nor did the folks that showed up for the show.
This show makes me excited about the upcoming riding season and especially about Daytona Bike Week coming up. We'll be setting up at the race track where all the action happens. The races, the demo rides, the vendors, and just the Daytona Experience itself is packed in to ten days of "let's kick off the riding season" at Daytona Bikeweek.
Despite all the "sky is falling" economy reports, folks are still getting ready to ride and gearing up to do it right. It looks like 2010 is going to be another good year for motorcyclists and their motorcycles.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Minneapolis Cycle World Show
We've always wanted to go give the Minneapolis show a try but because of the threat of bad weather and fear of pulling our trailer through snow and ice, we've not went. This year the conditions were right and after we tore down in Cleveland and checked the weather, we decided to go on up and give her a try.
Instead of camping and freezing to death in 8 degree temps, we stayed in a downtown hotel close by the convention center. If you were savy enough, you could walk the skywalk to and from the convention center. Of course, I wasn't savy enough and for most of the time there, was lost in the maze like skywalk. They seriously need some SIGNAGE in that place...Then we finally figured it out and they closed the dang thing on the weekend when we needed it most. We just gave up and got cabs after that. By the way, we stayed in the downtown Raddison which was very nice if anyone ever needs accomodations in Minneapolis.
Having never been we weren't sure we had a good product mix. It generally takes doing a show to figure out what goes good and what doesn't. We ended up selling a little bit of everything and not much of any one thing.
The crowds were slow on Friday and Sunday but really really busy on Saturday. We might have sold more had we had more help but who knows. We took a smaller booth this time and because of that, we didn't have our regular retail floor set. I think that hurt us a bit but again, not ever having done this show we're not sure.
Advanstar did a good job marketing and selling the show. All season, they really have got the "butts in the seats". It's just been one of them seasons where you can almost bank on half of what you did last year. Sales ain't bad unless you know you did double that amount last year lol.
We got one more Cycle World Show to go and it's in Chicago. We'll be going back up there in the freezing cold and snow. It's always a great show though so we're looking forward to it.
Instead of camping and freezing to death in 8 degree temps, we stayed in a downtown hotel close by the convention center. If you were savy enough, you could walk the skywalk to and from the convention center. Of course, I wasn't savy enough and for most of the time there, was lost in the maze like skywalk. They seriously need some SIGNAGE in that place...Then we finally figured it out and they closed the dang thing on the weekend when we needed it most. We just gave up and got cabs after that. By the way, we stayed in the downtown Raddison which was very nice if anyone ever needs accomodations in Minneapolis.
Having never been we weren't sure we had a good product mix. It generally takes doing a show to figure out what goes good and what doesn't. We ended up selling a little bit of everything and not much of any one thing.
The crowds were slow on Friday and Sunday but really really busy on Saturday. We might have sold more had we had more help but who knows. We took a smaller booth this time and because of that, we didn't have our regular retail floor set. I think that hurt us a bit but again, not ever having done this show we're not sure.
Advanstar did a good job marketing and selling the show. All season, they really have got the "butts in the seats". It's just been one of them seasons where you can almost bank on half of what you did last year. Sales ain't bad unless you know you did double that amount last year lol.
We got one more Cycle World Show to go and it's in Chicago. We'll be going back up there in the freezing cold and snow. It's always a great show though so we're looking forward to it.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Cleveland International Motorcycle Show by Cycle World
Those folks in Cleveland don't let a little snow, ice, and cold keep them away. The crowds were out and shopping at this years show. The IX Center is a great place to hold this event and there is plenty of parking and easy access.
We were glad to see folks looking forward to this coming riding season and they were sure gearing up for it. We're looking forward to it ourselves as working in this cold ain't alot of fun.
We didn't sell alot of any one thing but sold enough of everything to make it worth the drive. The show had an indoor stunt show that folks enjoyed and plenty of vendors on hand with everything you could want to make your ride more enjoyable and fun.
We'll be looking forward to coming back next year. We're headed to Minneapolis now for the next stop on the show tour.
We were glad to see folks looking forward to this coming riding season and they were sure gearing up for it. We're looking forward to it ourselves as working in this cold ain't alot of fun.
We didn't sell alot of any one thing but sold enough of everything to make it worth the drive. The show had an indoor stunt show that folks enjoyed and plenty of vendors on hand with everything you could want to make your ride more enjoyable and fun.
We'll be looking forward to coming back next year. We're headed to Minneapolis now for the next stop on the show tour.
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