The Board Chronicles is an ongoing series of articles about the adventures of Mrs M’s Handmade as a vendor at community festivals & craft fairs. Mrs M’s subsidiary, Mr M’s Woodshop, has been approved to create this chronicle for the good of vendorkind.
Do gooders. We need more of’em.
The Sylmar Women’s Club hosts a couple of luncheons a year, and invites vendors to help with their fund raising. The purpose of the event is to raise money for scholarships offered to Sylmar High seniors to go to college.
I’m a fan.
Add that to the idea that the President is a good friend, and I’m all in.
We’re always busy on the weekends of the events, though, so we’ve never been able to do one of these luncheons. The calendar fell right this time. Time to see what all of the fuss is about.
New Ideas
- It’s a one day event, and a table top event. They provide an 8′ table. I’m breaking rules here: this will be the only one of these I do this year.
Observations
- This is event # 5 of 10 in our 4th Annual Spring Fling.
- I’m solo: Mrs M stayed home. Plus, the promoter only allows one table per vendor to accentuate product diversity in a limited space.
- Setup was cake. I rolled the product in on the cart, and put it on the table. I could get used to doing easy events like this.
- The event hours were 10 – 3. Pretty much nothing happened while the ladies were at lunch, so there was shopping 10 – 12, and a bit more on the exit at 2:45.
- Lots of vendor friends at this event. Love that.
- The ladies were very engaged as they strolled around the room, looking at raffle prizes & the vendor tables. I gave away a lot of business cards, which is always a good thing.
- This event has only a limited number of vendors, so it’s often not easy to get in. I was fortunate that they had a table when I had a free date on the calendar.
The Food
- Best Meal: Chicken Marsala was served for lunch. I must be living right.
The Facts
- Total miles driven: 38
- Booth cost: $35
- Food cost: $35
- Travel cost: $20
- Total sales: $73 + 2 special orders still in process
- Net Revenue (does not include product cost): TBD
- # of people we met during the event from the producer: 2
- Visits in our booth by a promoter’s representative: many
- Saturday alarm: nope
- # transactions: 2 + ?
- # soap & lotion vendors: none
- # woodworking vendors: just me
- Edge grain vs. end grain: 4:0
- Returning next year? Doubtful, as the calendar rarely cooperates
Boards sold: 4
4x Trivets
I’m glad you were able to be there. I’m certain the special orders will make it worth your while.