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canyonwalkerNapa Trade Show blog #3
At the hotel - Tue, 9 Sep 2025, 6:45am.
There are two things I often say about working at trade shows. One, trade shows are a marathon, not a sprint. They're multiple days, generally multiple long days, so you've got to pace yourself. And two, you especially have got to avoid hitting it too hard on the first day. Or in cases like this, the first night. That's after the team arrives in town, everyone's spirits are high, and none of the tiredness of long days on the show floor has set in yet.
After I arrived on Monday afternoon things seemed set for a reasonable evening on Day 0 of the show. I mean, even my need to rush out to buy missing hardware for my tuxedo was resolved with a minimum of fuss... and $50.
I got back from my emergency shopping trip in time to catch the second half of the late-afternoon reception and hob-nob with my colleagues over a few glasses of wine. I would've hob-nobbed with customers and prospects but, frankly, there were barely any present today. In fact the reception was about 80% employees of the host company, identifiable by their green shirts with a cheeky slogan on the back.
After the reception my colleagues and I went into town for a fancy dinner. Regional VP Alan is back on the crew for this show (he'd tagged out over a health problem then tagged back in when he recovered much faster than expected) so you know we went out to a good steak-and-wine restaurant. That's Alan's way. And the steak house was just 2 doors down from the suit shop I'd been at 90 minutes earlier. "If anyone needs an emergency bow tie," I said loudly to the group, "There's a shop right next door!" 🤣
Over the course of dinner I was careful not to hit it too hard. For example, I stuck to drinking wine, no cocktails. And I alternated glasses of wine with glasses of water. I still enjoyed it all, of course. The point was when we went home I had a light buzz going instead of a drunken stagger. But something I ate or drank (or both) disagreed with me. I'll spare the unpleasant details and skip to the result: I was awake, in discomfort, until 2am.
Even worse than being unable to fall asleep until 2am, my morning alarm was at 6:15. 😖 I've got a sales forecast meeting with my boss at 7. Then after that, a full day at the show. Yeah, I'll catch a break of about 2 hours after lunch. But then it's showtime again through this evening's reception ending at 7pm.
I expect tonight is going to be an early night. We'll see if my stomach problems stay gone. I'm not 100% sure because right now I'm not sure I'm back to 100% yer.
At the hotel - Tue, 9 Sep 2025, 6:45am.
There are two things I often say about working at trade shows. One, trade shows are a marathon, not a sprint. They're multiple days, generally multiple long days, so you've got to pace yourself. And two, you especially have got to avoid hitting it too hard on the first day. Or in cases like this, the first night. That's after the team arrives in town, everyone's spirits are high, and none of the tiredness of long days on the show floor has set in yet.
After I arrived on Monday afternoon things seemed set for a reasonable evening on Day 0 of the show. I mean, even my need to rush out to buy missing hardware for my tuxedo was resolved with a minimum of fuss... and $50.
I got back from my emergency shopping trip in time to catch the second half of the late-afternoon reception and hob-nob with my colleagues over a few glasses of wine. I would've hob-nobbed with customers and prospects but, frankly, there were barely any present today. In fact the reception was about 80% employees of the host company, identifiable by their green shirts with a cheeky slogan on the back.
After the reception my colleagues and I went into town for a fancy dinner. Regional VP Alan is back on the crew for this show (he'd tagged out over a health problem then tagged back in when he recovered much faster than expected) so you know we went out to a good steak-and-wine restaurant. That's Alan's way. And the steak house was just 2 doors down from the suit shop I'd been at 90 minutes earlier. "If anyone needs an emergency bow tie," I said loudly to the group, "There's a shop right next door!" 🤣
Over the course of dinner I was careful not to hit it too hard. For example, I stuck to drinking wine, no cocktails. And I alternated glasses of wine with glasses of water. I still enjoyed it all, of course. The point was when we went home I had a light buzz going instead of a drunken stagger. But something I ate or drank (or both) disagreed with me. I'll spare the unpleasant details and skip to the result: I was awake, in discomfort, until 2am.
Even worse than being unable to fall asleep until 2am, my morning alarm was at 6:15. 😖 I've got a sales forecast meeting with my boss at 7. Then after that, a full day at the show. Yeah, I'll catch a break of about 2 hours after lunch. But then it's showtime again through this evening's reception ending at 7pm.
I expect tonight is going to be an early night. We'll see if my stomach problems stay gone. I'm not 100% sure because right now I'm not sure I'm back to 100% yer.
