Transworld Business

tim goldstein
2009-12-03 10:11:23 | 885 views | 11 Comments SHARE

This January, the owners of Focus Skate Magazine along with Vú Skateshop bring you The Focus Trade Show, a skateboard trade show put on by skateboarders in the skateboard loving city of Philadelphia. Their mission is to provide the North East skate community with a highly productive, centrally located, all skateboarding trade show. I asked Justin Heister and Mike Mazur from Focus Skate Mag what this show is all about and what we can expect from The Focus Show this January.

So, first off, what is the Focus Show all about?

Justin Heister

In short, The Focus Show is all about bringing the East Coast (more specifically the North East) skateboarding community together. First – and most importantly - for business, and second for networking and a great time!

We designed this show to maximize sales and convenience, minimize expenses and headaches, and do it all under one exciting roof.

Who was involved in getting this started?

Myself and Mike Mazur, co-owners of Focus Skate Mag, teamed up with Chris Donmoyer, co-owner of Vu Skate Shop, to get the ball rolling on this project.

Chris Donmoyer from Vu Skateshop

Since our initial push, we’ve been lucky enough to gain a great deal of support from shops, brands, skaters, and other media outlets to help spread the word about The Focus Show.

What were some of the factors in putting this trade show together?

Mike Mazur

Hosting a trade show in Philadelphia has been something Mazur and I had been speaking of doing for several years now. We didn’t really pursue it due to lack of time and the large amount of work that goes into organizing something like this. However, after going through the economic decline over this past year, we started asking ourselves, as well as shops and companies, “What can we do to help breathe life into our skateboarding community and stimulate its’ economic status?”

That’s when we started focusing our efforts in throwing a local all-skateboarding trade show, something that has never been done here before.

There’s a great concentration of shops in this region, there’s also large amount of smaller brands. Couple that with the fact that it’s expensive and time consuming for companies and reps to hit the road each season to reach these shops and show their lines. So, we decided to try and help the situation by organizing The Focus Show.

Now, with all the brands available in a single, central location, we need to help bring shops and consumers into the mix to make the show a success. We’ve used Focus as a vehicle for advertising, sent direct mailers to shops as well as made phone calls to each shop along with email blasts.

To ensure we are doing all we can to bring out the shops and consumers, we’ve also decided to add several events and incentives into the mix. On the shop side, we are hosting an on-site mini ramp contest for shop riders. In addition to the riders winning prize money and a custom Sk8lamp trophy from Victor Perez (Sk8lamps.com), they can win their shop $700 of wholesale merch - $500+ to spend with vendors at the show courtesy of Focus, along with a $200 voucher from South Shore Distribution!

Other events include a ramp jam, a high-ollie contest with cash prizes and custom Sk8lamp trophy, an Adidas sponsored party at The North Bowl, and the premiere screening of the newest Focus video, “Stay Focused.”

When is it going down?

The Focus Show is taking place January 4th & 5th, 2010. We chose these dates to help make the show as convenient and as inexpensive as possible for both shops and vendors to attend.

The timing is great for shops because it’s after the holiday madness and during the week when shops are generally a little slower. It’s great for exhibitors because it falls before all the major trade shows and before spring deadlines. For anyone attending, it’s good because travel and overnight expenses are lower because it’s during the week and after the holidays. The timing also works great for us because it’s right after the newest issue of Focus ships, so we don’t have the stress of deadline looming while we’re presenting the show.

What parts of the U.S. will it cater to mostly?

The Focus Show will cater to the North East skateboarding community. Not only is Philadelphia a major skateboarding destination, and reason enough for any skater to come through, but it is also a centrally located city in terms of bringing the North East together.

The majority of reps, shops, and brands will be coming from PA, NY, NJ, MD & DE. California and Florida exhibitors aside, the show is also bringing in shops, exhibitors, and attendees from all areas from as far north as MA/ME, south as NC/SC, and west from as far as IL/TN.

How many brands are involved?

There are more than 40 brands being represented at The Focus Show, so far. The booth space is limited, with only a handful of spots still available. If you are reading this and interested in being an exhibitor, please reach out quickly! As an incentive for exhibitors, any company with a booth is automatically entered into a drawing, winning a 100 percent refund on their booth as a prize!

What is the cost of exhibiting?

Being a show mainly tailored for sales reps and regional brands, our goal is to make this show extremely inexpensive to be a part of, thus contributing to making it as valuable and profitable as possible for the exhibitors attending. With that in mind, we offer two pricing structures: an 8X8 space for $400, or a 10X10 for $525. These prices are much more affordable than the larger shows and also include a table, chairs, electricity, internet, and parking. Although not confirmed, we are also shooting for this to include lunch, as well.

What is the overall look and feel of the space?

Since this is our first show, we can’t really describe the look of the show. However we can tell you that the venue is about 12,000 sq. ft. of show space, and includes two upstairs balconies that overlook the floor. The balcony above the main entrance overlooks the mini ramp, and will be host to free alcoholic beverages (for those of age) provided by Berentzen, as well as a video-feed and online content provided live from the show courtesy of Jonathan Finnegan (Haveboard.com).

Where can retailers and brands get more info?

All the info for the show can be found at www.PhillySkateShow.com. There, you can find a list of the exhibitors, a breakdown for the daily schedule, contact information, info for booking your discounted hotel room (if needed), a list of our after parties and special events, along with anything else you might need.

There are also two pages dedicated to registration (for Shop and General Public registration). Registration and attending The Focus Show is 100% free, and any shop that registers can also sign up two shop riders to compete in our Red Bull mini-ramp contest. Top finishers win cash prizes, and the over-all winner wins their shop $700 worth of wholesale merch - $500 to spend with vendors at the show courtesy of Focus along with a $200 voucher from South Shore Distribution.

And most importantly, will there be a cheesesteak vendor inside?

I’m sorry to say, there will be no cheesesteak vendors inside. However, once at the show, you are only about a mile from the world-famous Pat’s and Geno’s Cheesesteaks. Just be sure to know what you want to order first and have cash on hand or, “NO SOUP STEAK FOR YOU!”

Tags: philadelphia, skateboarding trade show, the focus show

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 4:45 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.