What makes a great show?

[Rich Klein]

I'll be adding to this as I think about this

Space is a double edged sword -- I like to provide space for the dealers and customers yet,, if the aisles or the tables appear crowded then there is a sense of urgency and people want to see what you have for sale. Back in the day when I worked for Beckett, there was at least one nice local dealer who knew me and would chat with me even when we had our restrictions on what we could buy

His reasoning was if I was in front of his table then there was a reason for that and he would usually sell a ton of stuff whilst I was there.

As a promoter, I like to have a big enough space where people have room but not bowling alley lanes on both sides

I agree with the "freebies" for the dealers and while I don't do that every show we do that at our synagogue show with bagels and cream cheese for the dealers and I bring or have bagels brought 3-4 times a year at the monthly show I do. Pizza can be trickier because you do have to ensure that if there happens to be a vegetarian among those you order either a cheese or a veggie pizza

I charge $1 admission and that is really for 2 reasons, one to let people feel they have some skin in the game and the 2nd is for a head count. However, we did last year and probably will this year -- do our December show as free admission as a thank you to our customers.

Our synagogue show is a bit different but our regular monthly show has either auto guests or an hourly door prize. There always needs to be something to bring in customers.