Alway's interested in VE traffick and success........can anybody give a report?
Vision Expo..................
Alway's interested in VE traffick and success........can anybody give a report?
By my estimations VEE traffic was the best I seen in the last 4 yrs of VEE or VVW.
Spent plenty of money, and it looked like others were too.
Robert was nice enough to introduce me to Pete, Darryl and Laurie from the board.
Didn't get a chance to talk shop with Laurie much, which is probably a good thing considering the effort it took trying to keeping up with Pete, Darryl, and Roberts knowledge, (kinda felt like I brought a knife to a gun fight). A special thanks to Darryl, at one point he was nice enough to dumb it down for me. I believe it was his reference to a potato chips shape that brought me to the point of understanding a new curvature of some sort.
I had a good time and it was nice meeting some of the opti boarders.
James
PS I did get some juicy info on 1-800-contact I'll share later.
It Was Huge!
One of my cusomers said traffic was up 25%.
Fri and Sat was jammed and Sunday was OK!
We were up 10% in sales over last year and would have been up more if we had more desks.
Originally Posted by James Herman
I heard someone Kicked over their sign at the show! No matter what people think of them that just not nice!:finger:
It was very nice meeting you too Allen!
QUOTE=James Herman]By my estimations VEE traffic was the best I seen in the last 4 yrs of VEE or VVW.
Spent plenty of money, and it looked like others were too.
Robert was nice enough to introduce me to Pete, Darryl and Laurie from the board.
Didn't get a chance to talk shop with Laurie much, which is probably a good thing considering the effort it took trying to keeping up with Pete, Darryl, and Roberts knowledge, (kinda felt like I brought a knife to a gun fight). A special thanks to Darryl, at one point he was nice enough to dumb it down for me. I believe it was his reference to a potato chips shape that brought me to the point of understanding a new curvature of some sort.
I had a good time and it was nice meeting some of the opti boarders.
James
PS I did get some juicy info on 1-800-contact I'll share later.[/QUOTE]
Last edited by jherman; 04-03-2006 at 03:31 PM.
I was looking for Pete, but never found him. I didn't think the others you mentioned would be there. :hammer:
I tried to pick out rep from the army of Luxottica reps. I have an idea which one he was...
I went Saturday, usually I go on Sunday. Saturday was better - I saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in a long time, and met some new folks. I was looking for, but never did find the Polycarbonate Council and Titmus.
Rep was not even there.
I tried to pick out rep from the army of Luxottica reps. I have an idea which one he was
For the first time since 1999, I didn't attend.
Rep
Did anyone besides me notice the crowds at Jai Kudo? It must be true that a British accent sells more.
The crowds on Friday were pretty thick. I saw quite a few sales being made.
I noticed the crowd from Jai Kudo. The thing was, we looked at the frames, and except for the British accents, they were very "me too". I have to admit though, everytime we walked by, they were packed. Good for them!
The 2 guys sitting at the 800 contacts booth looked like 2 fish out of water. They were busily punching the keys on their laptops, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. I thought maybe they were taking orders, but I didn't see any headsets.
Donald Trump didn't look as goofy as I thought he would. I didn't stand in line, but saw him as we walked by.
We were part of the crowd at kai Judo, probably due to a brilliant marketing move. Five weeks before vision expo one of our registered staff members received a surprise free frame and catalog. Frame looked great on her.
The table next to us was also a first time order, also reeled in because of that frame.
Overall the show seemed busy to me.
Harry
Early Friday morning!
Before it got busy!
Last edited by Mikef; 04-03-2006 at 08:45 PM.
Poor Chris, he wont be able to write anything negative this time about VEE, anyway, yes i was there all three days and it was definitely crowded. Hai Kudo was probably the big surprise. They had 12 tables that i saw writing orders for 2 days solid. I did not look sunday.
Finally got to meet Darryl and good god , he even looks younger then the picture he posted here on the board, i thought it was some teenager standing there at first until i saw the name badge.
hung around with roger hill and phernell walker, went to all the parties, had a bunch of pictures taken at the revolution booth, Stacy keibler sure looks good.
One of the big surprises was the underground that had all the exclusives and high end frames, They were all busy, so busy that somne of them were impossible to get into, managed a few and saw the Buggati line, going to buy one of those, there neat.
I would like to thank Sola and Transitions for the great party they had at the cocacabana, wow, talk about a lot of good food and drink, they had it all, great job. Essilor also did a great job in getting there party together in one day after the intended night club was unavailable.
To top off all of it we had this beautiful 70m degree weather for three days, times square was so crowded you could hardly walk through it
Yes, it was nice to finally a meet a few of you -- including Harry, Lenny, James, and David. (Harry, David Wilson showed up an hour after you left, so I guess he made it after all!) And, of course, it was great to see Robert, Pete, Laurie, and a few of the other regulars again.
Darryl J. Meister, ABOM
Darryl, i sure wished you had called me on that one, did david mention how long he would be around and will he be in vegas
Yeah, I left my cell phone in my hotel room, and it didn't even occur to me to borrow someone else's. I mentioned to him that you stopped by and asked about him though. He seemed like he was heading off to an event with the rest of the International Opticians Association.Darryl, i sure wished you had called me on that one, did david mention how long he would be around and will he be in vegas
Darryl J. Meister, ABOM
Poor Chris, he wont be able............................
Poor Chris is glad that you all had a good time and have the feeling it was a good show. That might give me the kick of maybe thinking of going back again and give it another shot after having done 16 shows and cutting out the last few years.
For an exhibitor there are also other factors to take into consideration like the service you get from show management and the unions which had always been frustrating.
Chris,
I talked to quite a few smaller vendors about the economics of displaying at the show, and was surprised by the answers. I had expected to hear "It's overpriced, not worth it, increasing to rappidly in price, etc..."
What I heard instead that in relation to smaller shows, it's not a bad value. For instance, one of the safety frame vendors said he paid $6,500 for his space (including the overpriced chairs & waste can) and was having such success he grabbed the spot for next year as well. Granted, he had a "4 table " size booth, not a Marchon/Lux/Safilo size, but he made himself known to a ton of folks he'd otherwise never have the opportunity to meet.
I hope to see you there next year. You can buy a round for the rest of us!
was having such success he grabbed the spot for next year
Most vendors and sales reps never admit that business has not been that good today............this week.................or this month. In my expirience they are not the perfect business thermometer or barometer.
When a customer tells me that business has never been that good...............but he pays his bills in 60 day's instead the 30 he used to pay for years I start to doubt that type of statement.
I have done well at most VE specially in making contacts with overseas customers that subsequently turned into some real business. These days with optical shows in every corner of the world there must be less visitors from these areas.
And then I am weighing the fact that I get an average of 600 to 630 visitors average a day on my website who looked at 57,656 pages last month. The people that go on my website are looking for something I have to offer.
At a large exhibition hundreds of people walk up and the isles without turning their head to the right or the left. Very few browse from one booth to the next but usually have a plan to go and see x y z.
If VE could provide me with the same daily amount of visitors during the show I'd probably go back blindfolded.
This might be old news; however while looking at some accessories I over heard an exec from 800 contacts describe a new direction the company is taking.
Looks like they're going the direction of online optical. Frames, suns, accessories, and what not. Guess it was just a matter of time.
James
Chris,
It is safe to assume that 3 years ago, when all the vendors were moaning about the lack of sales, that they were lying then also?
No, that's not a perfect barometer. My business barometer is the balance in my checkbook.
[QUOTE=Chris Ryser]
And then I am weighing the fact that I get an average of 600 to 630 visitors average a day on my website who looked at 57,656 pages last month. The people that go on my website are looking for something I have to offer.
At a large exhibition hundreds of people walk up and the isles without turning their head to the right or the left. Very few browse from one booth to the next but usually have a plan to go and see x y z.
QUOTE]
Chris.
I've been to your site many times, but I'm not a customer. Had you been at the show, I would have made it a point to see you, because as wonderful as your website is, it doesn't answer every question, nor does it have the ability to close the sale like a face to face meeting can.
A good example is the Uni Clip. booth. As often as I've seen the advertising, I never considered buying them. I was blown away by the product, and will be putting them in to supplement our other clip lines.
You see 600 to 630 visitors a day on your site, and they all come to buy ? And most of them buy ? You'd be crazy to go to VEE !
Did you take a close look at these frames.......<wholesale prices removed> for very average frames from CHINA.
Thank you. I get so tired of saying it. But hey, they gave a free $hina frame and then you got to the show and were able to order the same ($) frames for $$$. I applaud them. When I say "Good for them!", I am serious.
PT Barnum would be proud!
I love the Jai Kudo line. How many times have we discussed how many manufacturers are having their product made in china, but able to stamp it as Italy or whereever because it was assembled there?
It has great style at a decent price point. Customer service is top notch and they have a 2 year warranty, and no parts... they replace the whole frame.
I have had them call me to let me know the 1 (only 1!) time that they didn't have something I wanted available for immediate shipment. I had placed the order via email, and the person called from London with in 30 mins to let me know that frame wasn't available in the color I wanted, but they could offer me a different color or similar style. Other times I ordered and asked for frames to be sent to the lab, and they confirmed shipment within an hour.
They also won some Vision Choice Awards.
The pricing to me seems very reasonable. Considering most of the lines I see here that don't have the same level of quality run the same or more (like their titanium styles are cheaper than any of Charmants, Safilo, Lux, Marcolin).
Maybe we are sheltered here in Indiana, but I haven't been exposed to a similarly designed line for anywhere near the price point they have them offered at.
Cassandra
"Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate. But I believe that happiness is something we create."-Something More by Sugarland
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