Dueling Shows: My current dilemma
What happens when you have to be a NO SHOW at your favorite show? This was my dilemma last week when I had to decide between NENA and Maryland. So I need to vent. Here goes:
Two shows in the same weekend -- what were they thinking? There's the New England Needlearts Show (NENA) in Sturbridge Mass every May and also Maryland Sheep and Wool the first weekend in May. Sometimes these shows are a week apart, which can be a logistical problem if you show at both of them, but this year they were the same weekend, which became my worst nightmare.
Here's my gripe: Why can't these show makers get together? Too many times they pick the same weekend and the result is poor attendance as everyone has to decide which festivities they will forego. I do not care that one show is retail and one show is wholesale. I am a yarnaholic and I want to go to both shows!
We love walking around the Maryland Show and shopping and visiting old friends. We love NENA especially the new exhibitors room and shopping and visiting old friends. Don't make us choose! Making us decide between these two shows results in NO SHOWS both on the retail and wholesale side. This year I went to NENA with some of my employees and my husband went to Maryland (lucky dog) to help out the yarngirls from DBNY who took our old booth this year.
At NENA we sold out of all sock yarn within the first hour and we had to hire someone to break in through a window at our warehouse in VT and drive the rest of the sock yarn down to Massachusetts. The lines were so long that we had to apologize to everyone for the wait. At Maryland my husband said that the main hall was so packed you couldn't move and all of the mill ends we sent down sold out in minutes.
I was so glad, but mad I couldn't go. Now we get to wait another year to find out: can we see both shows?









