Well, we had a cold, windy, dusty week down in Laguna Seca Speedway for the year's largest bicycle industry meeting.
At least this year we didn't have any rain to turn the dust into mud.
This is a huge event that attracts 50,000 visitors, 9500 participants and 300 exhibitors.

Our stand (10x20') was located at the entrance to the Food Court and next to all the picnic tables, where everybody is sure to walk by. The first day was the warmest and also the slowest business day, since it's Thursday and most people are still working.
We were surprised to arrive at 07:00 and find no tent had been built for us. We've learned in the past that a normal EZ-up tent doesn't hold up well to the high winds and storms one often experiences in the 'bowl'. Luckily by 13:00 the tent builders showed up to give us some shade, since the sun was intense enough to fry our brains.

Speaking of wind: I'm surprised nobody was injured when whole rows of tents, which were tied together, were pickup and dumped upside down.
Even the large blow-up slide the kids were having fun on was literally picked up and turned on its head. The wind made sure that nothing was left clean. The dust covered everything and made presenting clean, pretty products very difficult. The white socks turned a nice shade of brown. We are still cleaning up our stand deco and supplies for the next show.

The business picked up on Friday, peaking on Saturday. The stands here are very expensive at $2200 just for the space for the weekend, not including trucking, employees, food and hotels. Sales are never enough to cover the expenses, so we made up 800 store coupons with all the brands, which we handed out for people to use later for a discount when shopping online.
We found from past exhibits that the pirate theme brings more people into the stand, so they can see all the other products.
Customers were very tight with their wallets this year. They were having a long thought about even spending $5 on a small gift, which made selling $300 bike cases out of the question. Not a single case was sold, although I trucked several of them down, just in case.

So although this is the world's largest event, it is not the place to make a killing selling items to the public (unless you are the coffee vendor or ice cream).
The entry fees to even race there are $100+, which keeps the field rather elite. If the participant has to put out for high entry, overnight, food and gas, they have very little left for extra shopping. Most participants are team riders, sponsored or experienced amateurs, who already have the equipment they need. Still, if you are not at Sea Otter, you are not in the bike industry. So the stand presence there is required.
Donations are gratefully accepted... paypal to cash@srm-consult.com
Stephen

www.seaotterclassic.com