Sitting here at the Rosemont Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, exhibiting at a trade show. Trade shows are amazing displays of human interaction and dynamics - if you have ever been to one, you know what I mean. If not, trust me when I tell you that it's almost like entering a twilight zone...professional sales people, working the aisles, trying to draw attendees into their booth space - "Come see my wares..." - it's kind of like spending all day at the mall, except there are no real stores - just rows and rows of the annoying kiosk people that you try not to make eye contact with.
Most people come to these shows with a plan - who they want to see, when they will see them...but this doesn't stop the exhibitors from pulling out all the stops to get you into their booth. Shiny bowls of free candy, pens, trinkets, there is no shame in their game!
There are never any windows...you are purposely cut off from the outside world - it's the casino mentality - keep them shut off from distractions so they spend as much time as possible on the show floor.
I know of what I speak because this is not my first time at the rodeo, as they say. I am exhibiting at the CHA Show - Craft & Hobby Association, an organization that I worked for from 1992-2005...yes, I used to be the one running around with a walkie-talkie, supervising operations and logistics for this show. I left CHA in 2005 after the birth of my second son to take advantage of a work-from-home opportunity that would allow me to spend more time with him. I went back to work in late 2006 at a new company, only to leave 9 months later when we entered the Wonderful World Of Autism when Luke was 20 months old...
Cut to 2012 - out of work at this point for almost 5 years, I get a call from a former co-worker about an opportunity to go BACK to work for my old boss from CHA - she now has her own company, as she left CHA about a year before I did...and back to work I go!
They say the world works in mysterious ways...if you had told me that I would EVER be exhibiting at a show that I put 14 years of blood, sweat and tears into, I would have called you certifiable! The ultimate irony are these full circle moments in life where you get the opportunity to ask yourself "How did I get here?" and you realize that you don't really know the answer...you just keep moving forward, hoping that someone out there knows what they are doing and is nudging you along the right path.
I ran into a lot of "old friends" this week - people that knew me when...and after speaking with several of them, I can attest that I am not the same Candi that I was back then. Things that seemed important no longer rate...things that may have bothered me now roll off my back...and never again will a company get my blood, sweat and tears. Only my family will get that...call it maturity, call it prioritization, call it life experience...whatever you call it, it is a realization that many people do not make until it is too late. One of my all-time fave quotes is "No one ever said on their death bed that they wished they had spent more time at the office..." - true story!
No comments:
Post a Comment