Well, the ScrapbookBIZ show bit the dust. It doesn't surprise me. It was supposed to be held LAST April but they postponed it, as they said, because CHA was so close in Atlanta and they felt like one show in the area was enough (is Atlanta really that close to Ohio?). Anyway, their business name is close enough to mine (something that has bugged me from day one) that I got about half a dozen angry emails this time last year. I guess when you ponied up a bunch of money for a booth for a show that didn't happen, your anger fuzzles your brain so you don't check the email address closely before hitting SEND. If I remember correctly, they postponed it like a month out. I bet some people already had their plane tix. Anyway, I got a bunch of refund demands at that time. I just forwarded them on.
So, now, we are a month or so out from what was supposed to be the show and they cancel it completely. I can't wait for the emails to start rolling in... FYI - It's SCRAPBOOKBIZ.COM, people, not SCRAPBIZ.COM.
Their email was sort of snarky - it basically blamed the show's demise on the lack of industry support. Wow, blame the customer - that's always the smart thing to do. It's like the direct sales companies who blame their tough times on their consultants - "If you would just BUY MORE, then we wouldn't be bouncing checks..." Honestly, the minute this show appeared on my radar screen, I knew it was not going to be well-received. I am not sure who the organizers talked to when they determined that a FOURTH industry show in Ohio would be a good idea. I have spoken to many vendors about it and found no one who was excited about it. Now, store owners in the area might have thought it was a FABULOUS idea, but that's not who "pays the rent", so to speak. Of course, who WOULDN'T like a trade show in your own back yard? But, that doesn't mean it's a good idea.
And, the show "jumped the shark" (google it if you don't know what that means) when they postponed it. That was just a bad idea to begin with. It said to me that it was already having trouble getting people on board with it.
So, I'm sorry it didn't work for them, but, if they had asked me, I could have saved them a couple of years of work - LOL! There are enough shows. I go to 2 a year and get all the "show" I need. If I worked in CHA summer, I would be sick of shows. I can't imagine trying to fit in another. The organizers are located in the Las Vegas area. Perhaps they got romanced by the success of Memory Trends and though they could get a piece of that pie.
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