Queen Mary Bridal Show - January 2008

Back to the Queen Mary for what would be my best sales effort to date. I arrived later than planned (got on the wrong freeway) but I still had time to set up before patrons entered the show area. I set up all my display and discovered one teeny weeny tiny little problem: no electricity. The photographer two booths down had arrived before me and had re-routed the power lines to his booth. The show head wasn't able to get me power until 11:18 ....by that time 4 or 5 customers has already passed by my darkened set. Even so, I was able to offer them my give-away bags which they happily accepted. So even in the dark, I wasn't striking out.

I spent a whole week planning, designing, cutting, sewing, and shopping for my new display. I also cut together a promo video to play on a loop. (It's on my homepage now) People seemed glad to stop by and learn about what makes me different as a videographer. A song rings in my head these days - wishing and hoping and thinking and praying....for bookings!

I asked one passing bride if she had her video yet and she answered matter-of-factly that she was not getting one. I asked why and she said she didn't need one - pictures were enough. I reminded her that pictures cannot capture the vows and she said she didn't care. I pointed out that a video isn't really for us, it's really for our grand-children and great-grandchildren who would never know us otherwise. She said she'd tell them about it. That's when I realized I was talking to a fool.

Sometimes I feel like a street evangelist - offering people something they seriously need but don't want. Next time I'm going to put together a survey so that when I happen across another such bride (or groom), I'll invite them to give me 5 or 10 reasons why they think pictures are better than video. Perhaps in forming the list in my presence they might realize their prejudices. After all, I've seen a lot of lousy wedding videos too. I just don't make them.

The show runners always ask that vendors not pack up their booths until 4PM - the end of the show - but I noticed that most of them started packing up a good 10 or 20 minutes early. Some were packing up over 30 minutes early. I decided to wait until my watch showed 4:01PM before I even pulled out a box. I'm really glad I did because there were still a few couples wandering around late and one came by and asked for a brochure at about 4:05PM. I was situated near the bathroom too so there was a groom lingering outside waiting for his fiance to come out...watching my video. It pays to wait a few extra minutes people!!

I enjoyed the experience. I've already had an email from a groom asking how to book me so I think the contract is eminent. Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying!