Guest Blog: New Stitches Roadshow - More Growth Ideas
Sunday September 9, 2007 | Filed under:
I just received the below internal e-mail from Matthew Cohn, president of ASI Show!, and wanted to pass it along to you.
We're very excited internally about this announcement, and also by our integration between Stitches magazine and our colleagues at ASI Show!
I think the Stitches Roadshow, in three cities in 2008, will be a great way to bring the power of the magazine alive for readers and advertisers. I'd love to know your reaction to our plans. Please post here, or send your e-mail to me at tim.andrews@asicentral.com.
Best regards,
TA
From Matthew Cohn:
I am excited to announce the launch of the all-new Stitches Roadshow, a traveling show created to bring together embroidery equipment, supplies and wearables vendors with decorators. Taking place in three key markets, St. Louis (March 14), Detroit (April 4), and Denver (April 15), the Stitches Roadshow will help decorators, including embroiderers and screen printers, become more successful in finding new vendors and growing their businesses.
As you know, Stitches magazine is the embroidery industry's voice and vision. It provides its readers with information on how to run their businesses better, including the latest and greatest embroidery and decorating trends and new products, machinery and software. The newly-formed Stitches Roadshow will bring Stitches magazine to life for its readership (23,000 subscribers), by giving decorators the opportunity to meet embroidery supply and service providers face to face, see new wearables vendors, enjoy valuable education and network with others.
Each StitchesRoadshow will be co-located with the ASI Advantages Roadshow, ASI's official traveling show. The Advantages Roadshow has become the number one traveling show in the advertising specialty industry, by bringing together the most suppliers and distributors. Co-locating these events in St. Louis, Detroit and Denver will be a win-win for all.
The co-location with the Advantages Roadshow will give Stitches Roadshow attendees the opportunity to gain new ideas to grow their businesses by selling advertising specialty products, while those exhibitors will be able to reach the crossover of advertising specialty distributors who are growing as embroiderers and decorators. Additionally, with estimates as high as 30% of distributors having some in-house decorating capabilities (2,000 ASI distributor member companies are embroiderers), these co-located shows will allow Advantages Roadshow attendees to benefit from seeing the latest available embroidery equipment, trends and supplies. And, Advantages Roadshow exhibitors will be able to spend time with decorated apparel professionals, many of whom are also selling a variety of ad specialty products.
For additional information on the Stitches Roadshow, please visit www.stitchesroadshow.com or go to www.asishow.com/advroadshow for more details on the 18-week 2008 Advantages Roadshow schedule.
I have also included a FAQ list below with some helpful information
Thank you,
Matthew
FAQ
Q1. Why were St. Louis, Detroit and Denver chosen for these co-located events?
A1. These cities were recommended by the Stitches advisory board, because they are regions with large numbers of quality decorators and are not currently being served by an event. Each of these cities have hundreds of Stitches subscribers within a one hour drive, and have also proven to be great locations for the well-attended Advantages Roadshows.
Q2. How many exhibitors do you expect at these co-located events?
A2. There will be approximately 100 exhibitors total, with about half being decorating equipment, decorator services and software, supplies and apparel vendors. These events are designed to facilitate one-to-one conversations and have good traffic for exhibitors. Thus, the shows will be limited to 100 exhibitors.
Q3. How many attendees do you expect at these co-located events?
A3. There will be approximately 250 attendees in each city, made up of both decorators and ad specialty distributors (50/50). By keeping the events manageable, we can deliver a productive environment for one-to-one conversations.
Q4. What type of companies will be exhibiting at the Stitches Roadshow?
A4. Embroidery equipment companies, supply companies (such as ink and thread suppliers), decorator service companies (such as artwork and digitizing companies), software companies (including business management software and art software) and apparel vendors.In addition, there will be a full range of advertising specialty and promotional products companies exhibiting at the co-located Advantages Roadshow.
Q5.Stitches Roadshow?
A5. Attendees will be made up of decorators, embroidery, digitizing and screen-printing companies, as well as cross-over ad specialty distributors.
Q6. What is the format of the Stitches Roadshow?
A6. These shows will be located in convention hotels with large ballrooms in a tabletop and small booth format. Free education will be held from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m., featuring an expert panel discussion on “How to Take Your Decorating Business to the Next Level.” Exhibits will be open from 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. After exhibits close, Stitches Roadshow attendees and exhibitors are invited to enjoy a networking lunch hosted by Nicole Rollender, editor of Stitches magazine. All decorators can attend the Stitches Roadshow for free and no pre-registration is required.
Q7. Does a supplier have to exhibit at both the Stitches Roadshow and the Advantages Roadshow?
A7. No, in fact, one display will enable suppliers to reach both markets. Both shows are held in the same ballroom, allowing attendees to freely walk the aisles of both shows.
Q8. What is the marketing plan for ensuring strong attendance at these events?
A8. The Stitches Roadshows will be supported by an aggressive advertising and marketing program which includes over 100,000promotions, advertisements in Stitches magazine (reaching over 23,000 professionals), mailings to thousands of decorators in the regions, emails and faxes, individual calls to area decorators and more. This is in addition to over one million promotions that are sent for the Advantages Roadshow — that have made the Advantages Roadshow the best-attended traveling show in the industry.