NYIGF 2010

Hi Everyone! I just got back late last night from NYC (oh how I hate 95 in NY/CT....) and I've had a good night's sleep and I'm ready to share a few pics with you all. As I've mentioned, this was my first time walking the Gift Fair, and also exhibiting there as well, since this is the first time the organizers of the show have included a Licensing Gallery, of which I'm a part of, and it was a great experience. The show itself its ENORMOUS, much bigger than the National Stationery Show, and the types of exhibitors are all over the board. There were a few paper-related booths (greeting cards, stationery), but I didn't see any scrapbooking. What I did see was everything else you could think of, plus a whole lot more. Bedding, rugs, pillows, candles, fragrances, jewelry, trinkets, signs, clocks, frames, baby clothes, kitchen items, handbags... the list goes on and on. Companies range from big designer names that we all recognize (ie: Jonathan Adler) to tiny mom & pop businesses. I saw one famous person - the Barefoot Contessa! She was at the Stonewall Kitchen booth, signing autographs - the line was pretty long so I didn't get one, but I did say hello to the worker bees at the booth, since Stonewall Kitchen itself is just across the river from me in Maine, and when you meet someone from your home area when traveling, you have that instant connection, so of course I had to say "I live in Portsmouth!". The BC herself looks just like she does on tv. And she was very smiley to all the people surrounding her.

My corner of the booth. There were 4 of us who do licensing that Kolea represents, and we share the booth. The first 3 panels are my work, with my mockups at the bottom.

This is the backside of the little wall - I've got another panel here as well.



The Licensing Gallery itself was very small - maybe around 8 or 10 booths, most of which I recognized from Surtex, but the traffic seemed to be really great. I only walked the whole show on Sunday, the first day of the Licensing Gallery, and Kolea was very happy with the amount of people stopping by. I don't hang out too long at my own booth during these shows, since Kolea is usually very busy with potential clients. What I spend most of my time doing is walking the show, and handing out samples of my work to the companies that say they use licensed art and look like they'd be a good fit with me, and collect their business cards in return. I met a lot of people and companies I never would have without this tradeshow, so hopefully some things come out of this. I try to get 2 business cards from them all (one for me, one for Kolea), though K walks the show herself, doing the same thing.

Here's my handout:

The Gift Fair ends tomorrow, so if you're in the NY area, come on by to the Javit's center, booth 7775, Artists of Kolea, and see all of my work.

Now its back to reality, and hopefully a little relaxation :)