Starting a Local Show

Thursday night I spoke with Troy @ Galaxy Ball and Vinny @ Off The Ark about needing a show in the Hampton Roads area.

If anyone is interested in helping getting this going here are some of the things that will be of use:

• Finding a building or space that has been for lease for a while, the owner of the building may be willing to allow us to do an event there for some $ if it's been open for a while.
  
  
• Location should be close to interstates or main roads so that people do not get lost/confused trying to find it.
  
  
• Need to find out from that city what we may need as far as permits or other things. I know that you have to get permits in Chesapeake and VA Beach if you want to post signs around town.
  
  
• Find places/people willing to help advertise the show (Pet Stores, Radio Stations and their Facebook Pages, etc)
  
  
• Sponsors and donations to get the show going...
  
  
• Table Rentals

I am sure there are more things that will be needed and anyone that has experience putting on shows, input will be greatly appreciated...

We could have people/breeders from Eastern Shore, Eastern NC, OBX, Hampton Roads and the surrounding cities/areas attend as well... we have a great metro area around here and with help and input we could have our own show in the area and it would give all the local guys in the area a chance to sell and become more known to the herp community

Great idea!! I'm going to be working on a flier for the website this week and I'll make a draft for the show too. Got an ideas on a city and/or name for the show?

I think a late winter show would be perfect. It's too cold to ship, not many sales going on, not conflicting with any other show I've heard of, plenty of time to plan. Once the ducks are in a row, the second would go a lot smoother.

I think Chesapeake, VA Beach, or Norfolk would be a good start... seeing as how they are the gateways to Eastern Shore, NC/OBX, and Hampton/NN/Williamsburg areas... but not SUPER close to the oceanfront unless it's easy to access and has adequate parking... the good thing about the oceanfront though is that in the offseason if we did a winter show I am sure someone would be willing to let us use their building at a lower rate since it's so dead/slow down there... (even the hotels at the oceanfront might have a space that we could use like a conference/meeting room???) there would be a lot of things to consider when finding a location... in Chesapeake, the Battlefield and Greenbrier areas are pretty well known and aren't too confusing.. There are a lot of things to decide... I am not TOO familiar with Norfolk all that much but I know alot of you are so if you know of areas or places that might be good. I think staying away from unsafe areas of each city is an important thing... each city has a few areas that might not be safe for people and their kids or their higher end morphs

Sounds Like a great Idea and Im sure Troy can be a big help Him and Vinny did alot with the Route 10 Expo so far and I really hope to see it grow in the future.

A show around here would be great. I know its been tryed two times I think one time on va beach blvd by the old fle market, that one was a bust, only a hand full of venders and I knew them all exect for the tiger(cat) guy. The other was just off the interstate in a hotel confernce room been a long time but I seem to rember it was better.

Well if anyone is interested in helping out I think we should try to go ahead and get the ball rolling... hopefully we can come together and get it started... it's worth a shot... the worst that can happen is it's a bust but atleast we can say we tried.

i will help anyway i can but sadly i dont know how much help i can be let me know, i have a long construction back ground and not afarid of hard manual labor, ill really but my back into it

I don't know if this would help but I remember going to a Maryland Reptile show at the Shriner Temple/Lodge? out in Greenbrier a couple years ago. It seemed pretty successful from what I saw and they had planned another one but abruptly canceled it. The Shriner place had lots of room, parking, and was close to the interstate.

I heard of that one but also heard that it wasn't successful enough for them to continue it...

this sounds like a great idea. im in the military and dont get to many chances to go to shows, id love to see one a bit closer. im free all day everyday (cause i work nights) if you guys need anything id love to help out, not that i will be able to do a lot but i would still like to participate

would love a local show. would definitely like to be a vendor if i have enough snakes at the time. i can do some leg work too promoting it.