Naturally Exotic Reptile Show and Sale

[josephelliott]

Well the time has come to make the announcement.
There will be another Alberta show this summer. This one will be in Bonnyville.

The venue is booked July 16 and 17 at the Bonnyville Centennial Center. An indoor sport field (200x85 feet), there is room for 150+ tables.

The show will be open to the public on Saturday from 10am to 6 pm and on Sunday from 10am to 4 pm.

Bonnyville is a small community approximately 2.5 hours north east of Edmonton. Home to 6400 people, the surrounding communities (within approximately an hour’s drive) bring the population to 56,000.

Bonnyville has never seen a pet expo let alone a reptile show and I am advertising across 5 radio stations, 5 local newspapers, a billboard, community events calendars, and as many places as I can place posters in order to ensure as high a public turn out as possible. These ads will start one month before the show.

Venue and Advertising are already booked.

Tables are set at $60 each until June 15, after June 15 tables will be $80 each. Tables are 6 feet long.

Admission is $5.00 per person.

Address for the Centennial Center is
4313 50 Avenue
Bonnyville, AB

Feel free to ask any questions.

I am in the process of creating a website, feel free to share any ideas you might have to make it better.
www.naturallyexotic.ca

[leviticus]

How viable do you think this show is in terms of public turnout? Considering that Alberta already will be having multiple summer shows and when I went to the MRBE this summer and fall, the public turnout was not so great, I would not have wanted to be a vendor there and winnipeg alone has a population close to 500K

[josephelliott]

Naturally I think its very viable but we wont find out until it happens.

[saskatchewanexotic]

Awesome work Joe!

You know, I got the same question for the Sask show...I didn`t know if it would work out or not. I just kept my head up and moved forward even though a surprising amount of Sask ppl weren`t ready to participate because they thought it wouldn`t be worth it. In the end it worked out surprisingly well for the first show ever in Sask and it got a lot of ppl excited about reptiles and excited about the next show.
Some people feel like we have a few too many shows out west as it is, but I love shows. It is a great way to network, check out some cool shit, and perhaps bring home something new!

I am obviously running a business but the business runs from a passion. Clearly I would like to make a buck at the shows, but for me that isn`t the driving force that gets me out there. Anyone in this hobby knows that a side from forums you don`t have a lot of day to day contact with many people with the same interest that you may have in this type of hobby. Being at a show allows you to geek out about reptiles with other people who are just as excited as you and it allows you to pick other breeders minds.
Shows are also a great way to advertise. I didn`t sell a whole lot of animals at the Sask show, mostly just supplies, but the conversations I had with people at the show brought me a lot of customers in the following couple months. Some times people need to do their research, set up things and even take time to make a family decision on what is right for them.

Anyways, I am getting a little long winded here. My point is "yay another show - and I can`t wait to see you all there!!"

Joe, if you need any help let me know and you can count me in for sure

[josephelliott]

Thanks The way I see it I am bringing this to a community that is too busy to make it to the Edmonton shows. The oil patch is so hectake that the average person won't go to edmonton to spend the day at a show, especially if they or their partner has a phobia. Having it here will allow alot of people to explore reptiles without incurring a large cost or extra time on their side.

[crazycolubrids]

Cant wait. It should be a good show.

[leviticus]

Sorry I don't mean to be pessimistic I was just trying to see what the response has been. I would love to come as well as I agree that shows are fantastic. Honeslty I would be at shows once a month if I could. However for me I know that I will probably only be able to make it to two to three shows during the summer months and I need to prioritize which ones have the most opportunity. It sounds bad but it is true.

[josephelliott]

Thats understandable, hope to see you there.

[leviticus]

Jan 11, 2011 12:46:31 GMT -5 josephelliott said:

Thats understandable, hope to see you there.

I also hope to make it myself. It would be great, my son is so young now which is why it is difficult for me to get away, once he is older I would take him with me to all the shows which will be great.