Seminar and Expo Q/A Place!

[Kalamazoo Doula]

Okay, lay it on me (or anyone else who had info), ask away! I have personal experience with teaching small seminars at Babies R Us, putting together local doula get togethers, and Pregnancy/Baby expo that had 40+ booths (and we are gonna start planning the 2nd pretty soon!)

So pick my brain! (and whoever else's, lol)

[fearlessbirth]

Ok, the first question I have is how many clients or referrals have you gotten from doing these? I am all about going out into the community, etc. but don't want to keep putting in time, effort and money for nothin'!

[AussieDoula]

You know I have a billion questions LOL! I have been putting off asking because I wanted to wait for a "right" time for you.
I'm off to the gym right now, but stay tuned!
Expooooooooooooooo!

[Kalamazoo Doula]

Let me see.....I think maybe about 2-3. But my area is a very conservative, mid-west area, and it has taken some time to get the whole doula idea out there! When I started to promote myself as a doula, there were really no others around. And if they were, they were hidden, or just on the homebirth wave. But now I don't get as many weird looks from people when I explain what I do! LOL The way that I look at it is, I (and the other doulas in my area) are trail blazers! We are the ones who have to put in the time to make a difference! I'm not sure how well know doulas are in your area, but this might be a slower process if not as well known! But just keep at it, and sooner or later, you'll notice a difference! I just suggest getting as much advertisements as possible for the event that you are planning!

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[Kalamazoo Doula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AussieDoula You know I have a billion questions LOL! I have been putting off asking because I wanted to wait for a "right" time for you. I'm off to the gym right now, but stay tuned! Expooooooooooooooo!

Oh, my I might be in trouble! LOL I can't wait to hear your questions! I hope that I can help!

[AussieDoula]

Alrighty.. for starters...

• How many people were on the expo planning committee (or was there one at all)?
• How long did it take you to organise and be ready for the expo?
• What were the costs involved, and did you have to foot them upfront (and a breakdown of those fees)?
• Did you get sponsering (and how did you secure it)?
• Where do you start? What do you do first? Who do you contact?
• How many people actually attended after all your hard work?
• What things worked best for you that you will be using again for the 2nd expo, and what things would you change/drop altogether?

Ok, I have a lot more questions that I will save for now.
Since I am wanting to plan my own expo not too far in the future, your tried and true input would be fantastic!

[AussieDoula]

On second thoughts, scrap those and what about this: I know it will be a huge pain in the buttox and probably very time consuming, but - pretty please with sugar and cherries on top - it would be absolutely wonderful if you could share a step-by-step "how to hold an expo" with your Doula sisters, LOL!
I know planning an expo takes a LOT of work, so I am quite certain it would be crazy trying to explain to us what goes into it, what works/what doesn't work, the order you should plan things in, how to get press (did you write up press releases and can you share a sample of them or any other letters or correspondence you used?), how much it costs, how long it takes, who you need on your team, how to get people to fill booths, how to get sponsership, who you need to contact, and everything else... BUT we would all be soooo thankful and I for one would be deliriously happy that my own brain didn't have to do all the legwork for once LOL!
So... How 'bout it? LMAO!

[Kalamazoo Doula]

Whoa!....I just knew that I was in trouble! LOL

Let me sleep on this one, and I'll be back tomorrow! LOL

Hey, maybe we should take this one step farther and do it is the chat room! LOL

See ya tomorrow!

[aliciacray]

I like the step by step idea myself

[AussieDoula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kalamazoo Doula Whoa!....I just knew that I was in trouble! LOL Let me sleep on this one, and I'll be back tomorrow! LOL Hey, maybe we should take this one step farther and do it is the chat room! LOL See ya tomorrow!

Oooooooo, we could have a mini-seminar with our own resident Expo/Seminar Queen!
Yes yes yes yes yes!

[Kalamazoo Doula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AussieDoula How many people were on the expo planning committee (or was there one at all)? How long did it take you to organise and be ready for the expo? What were the costs involved, and did you have to foot them upfront (and a breakdown of those fees)? Did you get sponsering (and how did you secure it)? Where do you start? What do you do first? Who do you contact? How many people actually attended after all your hard work? What things worked best for you that you will be using again for the 2nd expo, and what things would you change/drop altogether?

1)Well, besides the gal from Babies R Us, it was only little ol me. But the promotions manager from BRU was awesome! She did a lot! This expo was her's and my baby!

2) I suggest a good year for planning! Especially the first one! The first step is to look at different venus, and set a date! Then I would go through the yellow pages, internet to find your potential vendors. Make up a contact list of all the Midwives/OB offices, CBE, doulas, hospitals/birthcenters, photographers, health food stores, LLL, March of Dimes, Insurance brokers, Fire/Home saftey reps, Chiropractors, massage therapists, spas, adoption agencies, car seat saftey rep, car insurance reps, Home Based Sales consultants, such as Pampered Chef/Discovery Toys/Bath and Body Shop/Mary Kay/ Stampin Up (scrapbooking and announcments) etc...etc.. I feel like I'm leaving out people....mom's groups, consignment stores, cloth diaper companies, slings, birthNETWORK chapter, we even had the closest ICAN chapter there! And they traveled 1 1/2 hours for us! Any one you can think that would impact the lives of expectant and new families should be invited. Oh yeah! I invited a company from out city that does nothing but delivered home cooked meals to your door! I thought that they would be great for parents to have their info, so they don't have to worry about cooking for the first few days! Or even a gift idea for their showers! I could go on and on, but I'll move on! Oh yeah, one more....party supply stores! Oh, yeah, I almost forgot...there is a gal in town that rents out those six foot storks with baby's stats, and they put in you front yard for a week!

3)Money can be tricky! It really depends on the venue's policy for payment. Luckly the place where we had it, did not require a down payment. They did however, charge for the rental of the room, and a seperate charge for each booth space, which was part of the charge for the vendors. It really helps to have a sponsor, or even a few of them. I suggest offering them a free booth for exchange of them taking care of...printing, or advertising, for example. I just used the vendors payments to pay for the whole thing! But BRU paid for all the printing and postage.

4) The first and only company I asked for sponsoring was BRU! They were soooooo excited, and were so helpful! I was in there for one of their baby fests that they have every few months, and I just came up to the promotions manager, and asked her if she would be interested! And she jumped and the opprotunity!

5)This is addressed in the above answers! LOL Put, I'll give you the cliff's notes version....1st~ Look for local and set a tenative date! 2nd~ get sponsor(s) 3rd~ compile vendor invite list 4th~ set final date and times 5th~ Make price list, and then make up the invite package to send out to the possible vendors. 6th~ wait for their response and plan the the little things, like decorations, make a volenteer list, and plan seminars (if you are doing seminars). Here is a heads up.... be prepared to be on the phone... a lot!

6) We had about 100 pregnant/new moms come to the event! And with our limited advertising (flyers) I consider that a huge success!

7) We are going to change up the seminars, the way we do it, etc. I'm going to keep the venue, at least, I think I will! LOL I still may change my mind on that one! Since there is payed parking down town on Saturdays! Ummm... I'm going to get more volenteers to help. Maybe a MC to help with announcments of the door prizes and other events. And I'm going to change the price list for the vendors and especially the non-profit scale. We really got screwed when a HUGE local hospital played their non-profit card on us! And then they wanted an extra table to boot! Not again! I'm actually planning on having one more sponsor, besides BRU, to help pay for comercial spots on the radio, and just for the power of their name! I'm going to keep the door prize and goodie bags the same! Oh, yeah, side note...contact Preggy Pops, Medela, Motherwear, Luna Bars, Luna Pads, and I'll think of others later, for samples to put in your goodie bags that you give for the public to put all the info from the vendor's tables in. Medela actually sent me a crap load of stuff! Magnets with info on milk storage, expo bags, sani-bags, b/f info booklets, clean wipes, breast pads, and some other stuff too, but the kicker was...they sent me a Pump and Style!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I raffled it off and gave to proceeds to March of Dimes!

Okay, here is some stuff to chew on for awhile, lol! I would love to do a Q/A session in the chat room, if that is something that you ladies would like! If not, keep the questions coming!

[MothertheMother]

I noticed you said BRU paid for printing and postage...what did you mail and to whom? Did you get a mailing list etc???

[MamaAshley]

Thank you for answering here b/c I can't get into the chat room so I wouldn't have been able to see anything!

[Kalamazoo Doula]

BRU paid for the postage and printing of the registration packets that we sent for vendors. We also had other printings done, like flyers for the event and door prize entry slips.

[heathenmamaof5]

Hi Ladies, I could have sworn that Erin made a poster board display of some sort but I can't find the post. Has anyone made a poster board display for an expo?