Why Community? Part Two

Reading the comments about reposting the 2019 ‘Community’ article was interesting. It is accurate to write we are spot on with the initial plans and following the foundational ideas. Many lessons were learned during the six years of organising the larger shows. The years at Trowell and Market Rasen taught us the basics and formed the Well Being mould, which is so potent that many people have attempted to follow the brand. I note that one individual has even taken our exclusive branding! Advertising – Well Being – Community and Mind Body and Soul Experience! When this was pointed out to me, my comment was simple “It’s not a LizianEvent, with the Well Being Community.” And truth to tell, poor events using our branding are a sign of inability to think of something exclusive.

Many visitors and exhibiting Community have noticed an absolute exclusivity in the atmosphere of a Well Being Show. Liz hears this regularly while listening to people leaving the shows. And the time people stay indicates the quality of what is offered. Be sure the success of any event has nothing to do with high footfall. It has everything to do with the length of time people stay at the event. And this extended dwell-time is down to the quality of the exhibitors.

It is evident that over the years, the ‘nature’ and ‘attitude’ of The Community have solidified into a rock-solid identity. Anyone who stays with us eventually takes their place in strengthening the overall impact each event has upon attendees. They understand the ethos and structure of a Well Being Show. The evolution has been, at times, hard. As most Community Members know, we made a choice to work with people who understood that moaning and undermining the ethos would not return to the events. Let me be clear; a previous exhibitor emailed me personally asking why they could not make a booking. The blunt reply was, “You have nothing good to say about The Community or our organisation. When you sleight the shows and organisers, you damage people who work hard to make the events successful. Why would we want to allow a wasp into the bee hive?”

Interestingly, more and more people are looking at our shows because of the incredibly competitive stand prices. We are community-driven, and the price structure enables people to come close to or exceed their overheads and show a profit during their early days. And the policy has paid off. Many more new people are working with us. And some established exhibitors have joined the Community after years of doubt. One such member commented after Newark, “I cannot understand why anyone knocks the Well Being Shows – I should have been with you six years ago.” And the Community Member was specific. “This Community is real! And the balance of traders is brilliant. Ok, some of us sell similar items, but there IS space for everyone, and the support is amazing.”

We cannot win every time. However, we will continue to find ways to build and support the communal ethos. Undoubtedly, we are tribal, and new people join us show after show. And many understand the reason we will cap stall numbers in 2023. It is better to have high-quality and brilliant people who understand the objectives. There is no mystery in the Community-centred events. All ideas and ethics are open and without ulterior agendas.

I realise that I’d overestimated the congruent attitude of people in the early years, believing people would understand the difficulties ahead. I also failed to see words are more accessible than actions, believing people would share the message. It is accurate that many people just want to pay the stand fee and let the organiser do everything else. However, the mutual agreement was and still is lower stand fees for self-promotion for every event. It has taken six years to reach a stage where almost every Community Member promotes each event somehow. And this is something which also bonds us; the knowledge we have all played a part and invested time in the success of each show. There is some way to go before 100% hit the share buttons, but we are making headways.

The article’s title is “Why Community”, and the answer is evident to most who stay with us and build their reputation at each show. The central aspect of Community support is during the day and between shows. I know there needs to be a reason to enthuse the weeks between events, which is why we have to post here on LizianEvents News daily. Keeping people in the loop, writing about exhibitors and community members. And there is a tonne of work to make this daily news more exciting and interactive. But we will continue sending messages and informing new people about the shows.

If you are part of the Well Being Brand Shows, you know about quality and uniqueness. Why Community? The answer is discovered in one word “Strenght.”

See You Soon – Ian Timothy