# Multi Day Events... advise please



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

My wife and I have been doing one day events for the past two years and wanted to get into two day and three day events. 

Any advice would be great. 

The thing I am trying to figure out is should we hire a high school kid to help us out? Should my wife and I just take shifts?


----------



## BigDaddyDS (Aug 28, 2007)

Absolutely Chef!

or...

Absolutely not, Chef!


Um... what KIND of multi-day event are we talking about? Multi-day VACATION TO CANCUN? Go for it! Multi-day LASHED TO A POST AND WHIPPED? Pass.

DS


----------



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

Sorry about that!!

I mean to sell honey like craft fairs, markets, etc.


----------



## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Work in shifts. You can talk it up way better than a high school kid. "Duh I don't know...I only work here."


----------



## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

I would rather do a 2 or 3 day show. I always come out better in the end. I agree with the above post about hiring a high school kid. Chef Remember the trouble you had at the restraunte with kids they was hiring. Ah yes now ask yourself would you want him selling your honey


----------



## Bizzybee (Jan 29, 2006)

All kids are not created equal.............


----------



## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

Bizzybee said:


> All kids are not created equal.............


Very true bizz. But It would be hard to find a kid that can help sell honey and be knowlegable enough about bees to answer questions.


----------



## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

We sell most of our honey each year at two separate two-day events. My wife and I handle the booth. I handle the majority of the hours and my wife joins in throughout both days. I agree with the others that no one can sell your honey like you can, but its also true that some people are just born sellers. A good friend of the family stopped by our booth last Fall to talk (he happens to be a big honey lover) and the next thing I know he's promoting the honey to interested people and selling it like crazy. 

I like the two day event because you can avoid the setup and take down hassle. Fortunately for the events that we work they have overnight security so we just leave everything except the cash box.


----------



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

you leave the honey there too?


----------



## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

Chef Isaac said:


> you leave the honey there too?


yes. I take a sheet to cover the table when I go home for the night. Make sure you remember to take your money with you


----------



## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I would think it was important to take your honey with you too.


----------



## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

*yes leave your honey so we can take it*

Chef, the advantage of doing multi day events is setting up and tearing down once instead of multiple times. I did craft fairs for quite a few years and always left everything except the money box and never had a problem. Back then I was making wooden toys,windchimes, and carvings. A few times my daughter helped out be watching the both while I took a break. I was always suprised at how much she sold when I returned. She was a natural, and it probably helped that she is much better looking than I am. 
I do agree that when it comes to honey, people will have lots of questions about beekeeping, so the sales person should know bees. berk


----------



## Otter (Feb 20, 2008)

I do both one- and multi-day (2-3 day, once in a while a 4-day) sales events, not with honey but with our leatherworking. As has been said, there's less work involved in a multi-day event, as we set everything up the first day, and then just cover it up in the evenings. 

The multi-day shows we do fall into two categories. The first are historical reenactment events, where we are camping in the tent we sell from (or in another tent right up against the sales tent), so that we are our own security. The second are shows where we go home at nights, but we know the show organizers are providing security - in the case of the science fiction conventions we do, that means there is a overnight security person sleeping in the room. We take the money home, but that's about it. 

Previously, I would have said that the multi-day events generally have larger attendance than the single-day events, but last year confused that - we had a couple one-day events that beat out good 2-3 day events. You just never know. That said, the multi-day events we do are the type, like the SF conventions, where you have pretty much the same set of attendees every day, not a different group of people each day, like a craft fair. We've only done one craft fair, and the organizer did say that some wares sell better on Saturday, some sell better on Sunday. 

For us, the biggest differentiator between 1- and multi-day events is time commitment, and the extra prep work involved for the multi-day events involving camping. Sometimes its nice to have only Saturday taken out of your weekend, Friday-Sunday can be tiring. OTOH, the multi-day events tend to be a little more relaxed, as the people don't have to cram everything they want to do into one day.


----------



## riverrat (Jun 3, 2006)

Chef Isaac said:


> I would think it was important to take your honey with you too.


to much extra work just make sure your one of the last to leave and one of the first to arrive


----------

