Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 – Trade Show

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to get to participate in the Fall 2016 Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 trade show in Red Deer, Alberta.  The Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 trade show is a collective of vendors that all specialize in some amazing options for pregnancy and the littles ranging from amazing wraps and clothing to vendors to help with different specializations such as surrogacy and egg donation business’.  It is a great show filled with a ton of different vendors who can literally satisfy every need you may have in the Central Alberta area if you are pregnant.

I was asked by my good friend Christine Catherall from Central Alberta Doulas several months ago if being at the Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 trade show would appeal to me.  I did think long and hard about it because over the last six months newborns have been a focal point for my business and I thought it would be a great idea.  I had a brand new collection of newborn and baby trade show images that hadn’t really been seen yet so I decided to sign up and also offer on location portraits for a $20 fee – which was a pretty awesome deal.  I signed up and got prepared for the big day.

The Rock the Bump Red Deer 2016 Opportunity

When I agreed to do on location portraits I jumped at the chance and purchased a very beautiful backdrop from my good friends at Drop It Modern and provided photography services to many attendees that day.  I photographed couples, friends, newborns, babies and children and we had SO MUCH FUN!  For a lot of people the decision to get an on location portrait was a spur of the moment decision – much like many trade show purchases (at least the ones I have made in the past).  What Suzanne Taylor Photography was offering was a small sample of the imagery that I do and to meet me – the photographer and owner of a small business in the Red Deer area.  Social media is such an important way that we meet and connect through, we rarely meet anyone face to face anymore the first or second time we meet.  We don’t talk on the phone much anymore either in lieu of emails, messages and texts.  The Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 trade show was a treat for me to get to know some of my followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and I never take for granted those face to face interactions.

What is an On Location Portrait?

On location portraits should always considered a memento of an event and not a substitute for an actual photoshoot – kind of like years ago when photobooths were in malls and movie theaters and you would put some coins in and get four pictures on a strip of photographic paper.   That paper was usually pretty crappy and would fade and yellow with age losing the appeal of the moment years later.  What Suzanne Taylor Photography was offering was a chance at a quick image that would capture a ‘moment’ and would hopefully be loved by the customer that purchased it from me of their loved ones.  What this location lacked was natural light, space to move and lack of preparation – because it was a trade show booth which were all conditions out of my control.  Regular paid photoshoots come with a LOT more information, set up, design and don’t typically combat terrible hotel lighting and carpet.  They were a wild success and many people left with a beautiful momento from the day to adore and love forever.

What to Expect for Future Trade Shows with Suzanne Taylor Photography

After the show I looked at the set up and spoke with the wonderful Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 organizers and they invited me back for next year – which made feel pretty stoked.  I immediately said yes and also started looking at ways to improve my booth for next year, because let’s face it – this was the first year that I have ever participated and ran a photography booth at the Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 trade show.

We decided that next year I will definitely need more space as it was a very tight set up with my display, light, photographic equipment, etc.  I had a 10×10 booth, but it was still restrictive so next year we are going to make sure we have a bit more space so that everyone can get the image that they are hoping for.  The images will still only be a few exposures to select the best from so I am not open at the moment to offering mini sessions right at the event.  The environment is just not optimal to try and do actual sessions at the event how I am set up now, considering the space restrictions for equiptment.  Once we understand how the space next year will better serve my company I may open this up for the following years to come.

I also received some feedback that the backdrop I used was too “feminine” for boys to have their image taken against.  While I disagree wholeheartedly, what I did hear is that something more gender neutral would have perhaps enticed more mom’s to get images of their little boys.  That being said, I took more pictures of little boys at the event then little girls so that was very interesting to note.  The spring 2017 Rock Your Bump show will showcase a new backdrop that is more gender neutral as well as possibly more themed options for images to be captured with.  I am not into ‘photobooth’ style with a ton of crazy props, but perhaps a theme like “wind’ could be chosen and then by using different methods to generate “wind” we could create some pretty awesome photography.

Lastly I would STRONGLY recommend that you get images taken at trade shows to really be no more than what they say they are.  I had one customer communicate to me that she was disappointed in her image because it wasn’t what she hoped it would be.  I rarely get negative feedback, but I feel it’s important to honor feedback regardless of it being good or bad, its part of transparency and the fact that none of us are perfect.  Her disappointment came from her image not looking like the regular work that I post and have grown my fan base from.

So what was different?

The work I post regularly ALWAYS has the conditions in my favor in order to produce award winning work – why would anyone put work that wasn’t their best to advertize their products?  Any service you receive on the spot at trade shows or pop up locations will never be the “full meal deal” if it is normally a much larger production.  Service specials like these are meant to be a sample only and in this case Suzanne Taylor Photography provided a beautiful momento from the day.  It makes me super sad that a customer walked away feeling upset about their image, but because they had really high expectations for an image that didn’t fit into the normal work that I have done.  I provided a genuine moment between this couple and while it wasn’t what they expected hopefully in years to come they can see the beauty I did when I not only took it but processed it.  The lesson taken away from this experience is that if you want a full session outcome, book a full sessi to ensure that the style of images that you are looking for is what you will get and not just hope to get.

Thank You!

I really wanted to create a post celebrating all the beautiful images I took at the Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 show this past October.  It was a wonderful gathering of a lot of talent, product and delicious treats for everyone to enjoy and I was so glad to be part of it.  I will see you all in the Spring of 2017 ready to rock a new location at the show and provide the opportunity to create some photographic magic for everyone to walk away from feeling stoked and totally excited about their image.

Thank you to all those customers that came to say hello at the Rock Your Bump Red Deer 2016 show and all the new and wonderful customers I made that day!  Your commitment to small business is deeply appreciated and I look forward to working with you in the future!

All the best,
Suzie
XO

Suzanne Taylor Photography
PO Box 21, Bentley, AB T0C0J0
403-550-9965
www.suzannetaylorphotography.com
hello@suzannetaylorphotography.com

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