Blog

Hi there, OKC shoppers and retail enthusiasts! It has been a crazy last few weeks, and the time is right for some good news, eh? Well, last week brought the news that the City Council approved the City's budget for the next fiscal year (its first to top $1 billion, incidentally).

We got all packed up by 10AM today and have dropped off our shipping paperwork at the labor desk. It took 19 pallets and cases to bring all of our materials out here, and 17 to bring it all back (I guess we consolidated). One side benefit of this job is that in addition to learning to build rooms inside larger rooms and attach table legs at lightning speed, I am now a pallet shrinkwrapping machine – and recently I have even learned to use a pallet bander. There are no limits to the types of skills you can accumulate when working in marketing, kids!

Day Three of ICSC means lighter traffic. Most of our meetings were on Monday and Tuesday, and I think the rest of the show kind of runs on that same kind of schedule. One thing is for certain – the massage chairs are VERY popular today. This show really takes it out of you, especially if you have to go to meetings all over the exhibit halls.

Tough to be out here today with everything that happened yesterday and Sunday at home, but we are persevering. Day two of ICSC is upon us, though our delegation has thinned a bit as the Mayor and others rushed home yesterday. Today, people are still dressing up and the monorails are still “fuller than a butcher’s dog,” but I have noticed that the shoes people are wearing are getting decidedly more comfortable-looking. 

Day One is here and ICSC is officially in full swing. You can tell when this show begins because the monorail goes from a few folks in shorts leisurely riding around sipping souvenir half-yards of who-knows-what to absolutely bulging with businesspeople in wool suits and their various satchels and purses. Inside it’s like a Roman bus during rush hour (except with slightly less groping from strangers). Attendees at this show are fully suited and booted in their best professional attire, even given the crowds and Vegas heat. It’s quite a sight.

First of all, thoughts and prayers go out to anyone affected by the weather. Stay safe everyone.

Booth setup is almost over. It took six people most of three days to build our booth, but we’re pretty much set up. We’re basically part of a group that builds a little indoor city in three days, and it’s a pretty incredible sight.

First of all, thanks for reading. We hope to give you a little glimpse of what it is like to work a large trade show with this blog (That’s right, buckle up kids! We’re in for a wild ride!), as well as a little insight on why we’re here trying to recruit retail. If I had one word to describe it though, I’d say “leakage.” That’s right. Tall or small, young or old, if you’re a resident of Oklahoma City, it’s a problem, though you may not even be aware of it. And no, we’re not talking about a continence issue.