The Continuing Saga...

The first day of the two day show is behind us and the second day is just beginning. Yesterday was a busy day with a number of visitors, the highlight of the day being a visit from Santa. Santa entertained everyone with his embracing personality and set the tone for a very happy holiday season to come.

This year we extended the hours this year to give those who work an opportunity to attend and I would like to sincerely thank all the venders who supported me in this experiment and kept me company until closing. Those who remained enjoyed the experience and felt that it had been well worth their time.

And this year's photographer is...

I am thrilled to announce that Christie from lynphotos has agreed to do the Santa photos this year. Christie has always had a keen interest in photography, taking numerous day courses, travelling extensively, and taking pictures wherever she went in hopes that someday she could share them with more than just her family and friends!

Most of her professional experience as a photographer came from her employment for the well-established and respected photography studio, ACS Photography, in Lincolnshire, England. Christie worked as a wedding photographer with them throughout Cambridgeshire & Lincolnshire, photographing over a dozen weddings. Also on behalf of ACS Photography, Christie worked as an off-site portrait photographer, taking pictures of guests at (company & charity) social functions.

We are very fortunate to have Christie as the photographer and I am looking forward to experiencing this year’s market through her lens.

lynphotos

A touch of sweet...

Now those who know me...know I have a bit of a sweet tooth... and occasionally enjoy the sweet taste of chocolate mint fudge...

In my other life, when I’m not organizing Christmas Markets, I like to attend dog shows. During one of my conversations with Dale last year, I may have mentioned my interest in dog shows once or twice. To my surprise...at the next show, there were the fudge guys.

When showing dogs, we arrive at the exhibition grounds at the crack of dawn and often don’t leave until dark. Vendors have started setting up at the shows, and have discovered a captive audience. After running around a ring a few dozen times...a bit of sugar is often what is needed to get through the rest of the day. I have started looking forward to sampling the fudge and sharing a conversation or two with Dale. Win or lose...fudge always makes things better.

Every year, vendors come and vendors go but the ones who enjoy the show often become its strongest supporter. The Fudge Guys seem to enjoy the opportunity to attend and are very enthusiastic about future shows. I am thrilled that they will be joining us again this year and looking forward to a piece of chocolate mint fudge.

Meet the vendors...

The most important ingredient to a successful Christmas market is the vendors or small business owners and this market has benefited from having some of the best. One of my favourite small business owners who participate every year is Earl. The first time I met Earl, was also my first time for organizing the market and I had actually refused his participation.

My main concern is that everyone who participates does well at the show and I would hate for anyone to not make their table fee. So when I asked him what his business was and he told me...well I thought...he’d never make any money selling that and I didn’t want to take advantage of him as he seemed like such a nice man! Well didn’t he ask to book a table for the next year; I agreed but figured that he would forget by the time the next show... if I ever did another anyway.

The next year Earl showed up at my desk with his deposit to hold his table. I tried to talk him out of it... again thinking he wouldn’t make any money... but he was determined. So I took his money and pushed down my twinges of guilt. He set up his table of Cranberries and Christmas Wreaths (who knew he also did wreaths?) and sold out almost within the first two hours! Who knew that everyone loves freshly picked cranberries?

He now books his table a year in advance and I think he sells out every time. His wreaths are incredible and I always have to ask him to reserve me two to make sure that I get ones for my family (I think that I would be banned from the Christmas Festivities if I did not produce one of his wreaths) His cranberries are always freshly picked and make fantastic cranberry sauce to go with the Christmas Turkey. I think that something would be missing for me without his participation each year so thank you Earl for proving me wrong and persevering through my ignorance.

Social experiment...

I went to a seminar on using the social media for marketing purposes. I found the seminar interesting and figured that this event would be a great opportunity to do my own research on the effectiveness in using various social media for advertising upcoming events.

I mentioned in my last blog that I had started a face book group but I also placed an ad on facebook as well. It is an interesting way to advertise because you can target the ad for the ones that would bring about the best results. You only have to pay for the number of clicks and you specify a spending limit. So far the facebook group has 24 members and the ad has had 14 clicks, all since Friday afternoon. It will be interesting to see what the numbers will be like after one week. The Blog has received over 39 hits and a KIJJI ad has been viewed over 67 times.

It would be interesting to see how other marketing venues would compare. The part that I enjoy is that I am able to monitor all the numbers but with a newspaper ad...I can find out the circulation but that doesn't tell me how many actually viewed the ad. I also mentioned the blog in a twitter posting so I can't wait to see if that will drive up the number of hits. The final phase of this social media marketing experiment will be to see if the numbers of visitors to the market has increased from other years. It will also be interesting to find out how they found out about the market....the old style marketing or the new social media (I expect that it will be the same as ususal...word of mouth).

So this new Blog is a further social media marketing experiment...lets see what travels faster...word of mouth or the written word by way of a Blog!

Getting organized...

Preparations are nearly done for the 6th Annual Christmas at the Windsor Mall. I don't think that this event would happen without all the dedicated people who keep asking/reminding me that it is once again time.

The focus this week has been making sure that all the plans are in place for marketing this event. The face book group has been updated for people to be kept updated and to post comments. This blog has been freshened and an ad placed on Kiiji as well as with every radio station.  Not to mention all the flyers Sandra has distributed around town.
Even without any major advertising, all of the tables have been booked and I will update you on some of the participates.

It looks like it is going to be another year that my wallet will get a little lighter...

The best news is that Santa Claus has agreed to put in an appearance, so make sure to have your Christmas list ready. I wonder if he could fit a new house in that bag for me?

The West Hants Chamber of Commerce & the Hants Regional Development Authority are pleased to present…the 5th Annual Christmas at the Windsor Mall on November 25 & 26 from 9 am to 4:30 pm.

Come and explore at the two day Christmas sale with handmade crafts, stained glass, wreaths, jewellery, baked goods and soaps & lotions.

Have your picture taken with Santa just in time to mail with Christmas cards. Visits with Santa will take place both days from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm & 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm.