This Monday we got the old skool garage CDs ready and packed a little picnic for a road trip up the M1/M6 to the Printwear and Promotion Show at the NEC in Birmingham.
We attended our first ever P&P show last year and we were like lost little puppies not really sure what the hell was going on! Who do we talk too? What questions should we be asking? What the fuck does DTG mean?!?!? Oh my God information overload, senses overwhelmed and slightly intimidated by all these people who seem to know exactly what they are doing. Can we go home now this is all rather intimidating!? We obviously had a word with ourselves and pulled up our big girl thongs because we did have a great day once we realised you fake it until you make it!
It's funny how different we were this year. We had grown in confidence and actually knew what we were talking about. No waffling here! We knew exactly who we HAD to talk to and what we wanted to say. Unfortunately there were always going to be things that we had forgotten. Despite having a planner, a diary, a calendar and a note book, things still slipped through the brain matter. Seriously a new trend at Nipa Threads headquarters should be brain exercises for 20 minutes before we start working! I can pretty much sing every word to LL Cool Js 'Doin It' as you may have seen on our stories, but find it difficult to remember something I have thought about that very morning!
Last year we had indentations on our shoulders from carrying so many bags of freebies - yes we could have said no thank you, but come on who says no to free stuff? This year we remembered to bring a small pull along suitcase to put all our goodies in! As novices we were not ready for the sheer volume of brochures and marketing material that is handed out and we obviously NEED all the shiny new brochures full of colour, not want, need!
We thought we would be able to wizz round as we had a game plan but we ended up having rather in depth conversations with the people on our, lets hit em up, list. With knowledge certainly comes power which in turn leads to ALOT of talking!! It was all interesting and helpful mind you but did mean it took us longer than anticipated! It also used quite a lot of brain power which dwindles as the day goes on at the best of times.
We got very excited to feel new products, and see the new colours that are being launched. The colour swatch cards are great but nothing beats seeing an item in all its glory. Feeling it, touching it, rubbing it on your face!!! We have come up with some ideas for a new range and will be adding some new exciting garment choices to our current ranges.
Watch this space for that.
A highlight of the day had to be the free Prosecco courtesy of Pencarrie, who are our wholesaler. It was very welcome and certainly helped to get through the rest of the day! Gutted to be driving to be honest. Oh and the crab cakes were divine too. Easily pleased us!!
Now we can process what we have taken away from the P&P show and get on with putting all our ideas into practise. We can't wait to get our teeth stuck in.
Paula & Nina x