I just got back from the TNNA Summer Trade Show in Indianapolis this past weekend; I'm guessing a lot of my readers are on the consumer side of things and will probably never attend this type of trade show, so I thought I'd give you an inside look on today's blog post. As my friend Liz said in this amazing photo (right) she posted of the show floor over the weekend, this is where your LYS goes to shop!The Summer show is usually in June, so this year's show was about 6 weeks earlier than usual...in terms of planning and preparation, that's pretty significant! There was also a venue change from the Columbus Convention Center (and the beloved North Market/Jeni's Ice Cream).
Despite all of these issues, the show turned out well. While I definitely missed some of my favorite places from Columbus, it was nice to explore someplace new and Indianapolis is actually quicte nice. There was even a really cool coffee shop across the street from the convention center called Bee Coffee Roasters, and I found several local beers to sample, too. It's all about priorities, I guess!
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| Zealana yarns at the "What's New" table. |
I usually try to walk through the entire show floor and spend at least a few minutes in each booth, but that just didn't happen this year. The size is pretty daunting - think of a convention like Stitches, but perhaps a bit bigger. Between scheduled meetings and running into folks on the show floor and networking, networking, networking, it can be quite a challenge to walk down just one aisle without interruption. It's pretty similar to being at your wedding reception: everywhere you go, there is someone to talk to or something to distract you!
There is a lot more to TNNA than the show floor, however: there are classes on topics ranging from business and marketing to technique-based courses; there is a "What's New" table where you can check out the latest products which will be hitting the market soon; plus there are lot of events and parties in addition to popular events such as the Fashion Show and SampleIt!
SampleIt! is the only part of the show that is cash and carry, meaning you cannot buy any of the products on the show floor and take it home with you. I've heard it's a pretty wild event, but since it's open only the buyers (i.e. shop owners), I've never gotten to attend until this year - I was able to sneak in during the last five minutes! I didn't end up buying anything, however; in fact, most people were completely sold out of their SampleIt! kits by the time I made it in.
Despite the lack of cash and carry, it's inevitable to walk home with a bunch of goodies. Many of the pretties pictured below will be blogged about in more detail at a later date, since that is the reason why those folks were kind enough to send me home with yarn or fiber.
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| The TNNA booty... |
I also attended a meetup for Spinzilla team captains, and there will be a lot of exciting news to share with you on that front once the team registrations open. For now, I can tell you that that they have taken everyone's feedback from last year's event into account as they plan Spinzilla 2.0 - it will be even bigger and better than last year! If you're thinking of participating, I'd like to invite you to join our informal Spinning Spring Training event which is happening right now over on Ravelry (there are prizes!).
You can see more photos from TNNA here on my instagram feed; if you have any questions about what the show is like, feel free to ask them here!
Thanks for stopping by, I'll return to my regularly-scheduled blogging this Friday!
Sounds like you had an awesome time! Looking forward to hearing about your loot and the spinzilla events.
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