After the long and prosperous weekend at The Staffordshire Well Being Show and yesterday’s short gratitude article, the event needs to be reviewed and its future assessed.
The first point to note is we have two dates booked for 2022:
16 + 17 April
13 + 14 August
The events are four months apart, and this seems to be a perfect time-space for Stafford. We will begin the promotions for the April event in December.
Visitor Numbers:
Remember, we do not count people who attend on both days of an event. Therefore the figures are for the defined number of attendees.
Saturday – 208
Sunday – 323
Total – 531
For a new event, this provides excellent possibilities for the future. And as the Visitor feedback was so impressive, the only conclusion is that there will be substantial growth during 2022. We doubt anyone would question this statement: the potential here is nothing short of brilliant.
Trade:
As always, we have mixed feedback on individual trading. Although the majority of the Community reported good trade and a high degree of interest from Visitors. There will always be some who have better weekends than others. However, we have already received substantial interest in rebooking for 2022. And we have eight (Yes! Eight) firm bookings from new Community Members for 2022. All the new exhibitors were Visitors from last weekend. This is an excellent guide to how they saw the event.
Talks:
The talks were, as always, a hit. Although to be fair, the numbers in the talk rooms were not as great as one would prefer! However, the live streams have already seen substantial numbers of watchers. As of noon Monday 13th September, the total number of views exceeded 1300. Remember, the streams are not only phenomenal conduits of promotion for the presenters: the whole Community benefits from the worldwide exposure. As previously mentioned, there will be extensive improvements made to the live stream facilities and equipment. We are determined to pursue the incredible promotional benefits of this fantastic opportunity.
The Presidents Pavilion Venue:
No one could possibly question the facilities of this beautiful venue. The talk rooms and the main room fulfil every criterion of the Well Being Brand. We accept there is a significant financial implication of making such an outstanding commitment to superb facilities. But the long-term consequences of Visitor appreciation of this aspect are worth choosing to go for exquisite venues. We will never compromise this aspect of the Well Being Brand.
Gamble:
Every Community Member who made this event happen knew they were taking a chance with the show’s outcome. And not everyone came away a winner. Although, all agreed the long term potential for success is exceptional. All regular readers know my feelings about the use of phones during events. If the choice is made to sit with one’s back to the Visitors and have long conversations or extended text sessions with friends and family, the end result is inevitable. The commitment during any event must be 101%. Those who understand sales know ‘If there is no interest shown in the customer, the customer will have little interest in one sale’.
We all accept a major gamble was taken during the weekend of 11 + 12th September 2021 at the Staffordshire Well Being Show, and those who held fast to the objective came away happy with the result. One Community Member made little trade, but she was over the moon with the contacts made and long-term interest in her venture. With this fantastic attitude, she is bound to succeed in the future.
Feedback:
This paragraph is short. Visitor feedback is nothing short of phenomenal. The enthusiasm for the show and its future is undoubted. From past experience, we know, the 531 Visitors who attended this event will return with friends and family. People came from Manchester, Birmingham, Wales and of course the surrounding area. We even saw old friends from the Newark show. All gave the event resounding compliments. Nothing more to add.
Any Issues?
Nothing of consequence. People did say we should have signposted the approach roads to the venue! Well, The answer is: the Staffordshire Show Ground is already well signposted. And we are not prepared to risk a fine for simple road signage. We cannot afford the thousands needed to pay for AA signage. This is a situation out of our control.
So there is the appraisal of the first Staffordshire Well Being Show. Any comments or additional contributions are very welcome. Use the email button at the end of the article.
Thank you to everyone who made the event happen. You are starring in the Heaven of Well Beings.
See You Soon
This Show as a stall holder and part of the community was one of my favourite so far. The venue was perfect and the customers were lovely. The community as a whole really did put on a show. The Visitors wanted to know everything one women told me they had been there since 11 and only just got to my stall for 3pm. They didn’t know what to expect but enjoyed talking to every stand and gaining more knowledge about different things. This only goes to show how much this show was needed in this area. Well Done Liz, Ian and Jon for all your hard work
And Not forgetting your incredible input Angela xx
I feel energised by the success of the Stafford show.
I sense opportunity, I also sense danger, the danger of complacency.
The success of the next show starts here. Not only do we want to ensure that everyone who came last time come next time, we want to ensure that everyone who comes next time brings a friend. That alone would take numbers to over 1000. We want to ensure that there are twenty new local stallholders, and that each new stall holder brings five friends, that’s another 100 people. We want representation from Stafford University. A course year group is typically 100, over three years, that’s three hundred people. One stand demonstrating fashion/ design etc. Visitors do not just happen, they are drawn. We have had the “first time curious” crowd. There are Spiritualist churches in Burslem, Fenton, Longton, Swadlincote, Burton, Milton Walsall, Sutton, Brownhills, and Stafford , if each brought ten from heir congregation that woud be another 100. Next time we will have to work still harder. It will no longer have the benefit of being simply new. But with hard work, the horizon is stretching into the distance full with potential.
What are we going to do to make the prospect of visiting the show irresistible? How can existing stall holders improve their proposition? What new stands could be created? Is that from existing exhibitors with new ideas, or new stands entirely?
We have the chance to make Stafford the best show in the Lizian stable, by so doing the existing shows can be reenergised and reinvigorated too.
Should we have a book stand selling all the Community’s books? Should we have a “readers quarter”, a section of the floor given over to readers with centralised booking? Should there be a spot at the start of the day in the reading rooms where each reader introduces themselves for three minutes? Should each stall holder record a three minute video promo before the day to promote their business for LEN? Should controversial speakers be invited to boost numbers?
Th opportunities are extraordinary.
Totaly agree Gary – Watch this space! We are working on two of your suggestions at this moment! You will see subtle changes to LEN over the next two weeks – The biggest task at the moment is removing the old and dead wood which is within the archives of the site! Once complete the site will improve and we can add the extra pages needed to expand the reach. My feeling is the Community Profiles need video and podcast interviews: One point to note: the separated reader rooms or areas have been used a few times and do not seem to work as well as they should: Still, great input as always Gary 🙂 Many thanks – Ian