Why I love trade shows…

By Erin Madson, Co-Owner of Amber Products

A lot of people ask “Why do you love to go to trade shows?”  They ask a very relevant question;  Trade shows are long days on your feet, constantly keeping people interested and happy while they wait in lines to pay, answering a lot of questions, a day of constant public relations and marketing amongst your competition, being away from my children and my husband and traveling across the country for only 2 days of selling.  Except for being away for my family, this is exactly why I love trade shows.

Trade shows are long days; whether you are exhibiting or attending.  There is so much information, product, flyers, crowds, demonstration, loud music, parking is a bear, but if you are lucky, the VitaMix people are there so you can sample one of their delicious concoctions for a little boost!  Innovation always amazes and intrigues me.  As I walk the aisles and watch how companies have evolved over the years, how the new ones are presenting their goods and how many new products are on the market, I can’t help but put a little skip into my step and pat myself on the back. 

Amber Products has been doing trade shows since the conception of the company in the early 70’s.  In fact, that is how Amber started out in the beauty industry.  An innovative couple, Martha and Larry Madson, drove from Pittsburgh to New York to deliver Estee Lauder (at their request) the first stand alone depilatory heater and a new formulation of wax to exhibit at the New York Beauty Show, only to find out that Estee Lauder killed the project.  Martha Madson, reading the New Yorker magazine on the drive upstate, read an article about the “wax queen of New York”.  She so keenly suggested that Larry find a pay phone (remember it’s the 70’s) and call the Wax Queen to see if she would be interested in working for them at the trade show.  Sure enough, the Wax Queen heard about the stand alone heater and the new wax and made her way straight to the trade show.  Larry was able to commandeer a table to sit outside the entrance door to the show, set up the heater and the wax , and Ursula, the Wax Queen, was sold!  The only problem was, they didn’t have a name for the company or the product.  They thought for a few moments, and Martha, again so keenly, suggested that the color of the wax is a beautiful shade of amber.  How about Amber Products?   Perfect!  And so it began.  Ursula was a hit at the show, they took several orders for heaters and wax and Ursula worked with Amber Products for years to come.

That is exactly the inspiration I find at trade shows.  When you are amidst your peers, talking to new and old customers and working with the products displayed around you, inspiration and innovation crashes in.  It’s like a new wind in your sails.  There is no desk to sit at all day, there is no phone between you and the customer, you are face to face so that you can help them find their needs AND you can identify your own needs.  Listening to feedback is extremely useful.  Sometimes the feedback is not so good.  But, sometimes, when you speak to a person that is excited about what your are doing with the company and are able to swap ideas and explain concepts and show them in person the product they are interested in…that is what puts a skip into my step.

Mark and I, over the last two years, decided to rebrand, repackage, redesign, add product, and add solutions to the industry that no one else can offer.  Over the last 10 years, since our last rehashing of the company, we have seen major differences in the spa industry.  We want to bring the “spa” back to the Spas.  Adding the special touch or the special product in the treatment room, can keep clients coming back.  Everyone is in a hurry these days, which is why we created the Smart Bar system…fast and organized treatments that still provide the human touch that so many services these days are lacking.

Displaying what our company has accomplished over these last few years and the fact that we are STILL doing trade shows makes me so proud.  It feels so energizing to see people come by the booth and admire the Smart Bars and the Pods, our new skin care line, our new waxes, people who still love our original wax even after 40 years!  I even enjoy hearing people’s opinions that don’t match mine.  Maybe they have a point.  It’s something to consider.  There is always something to consider at a trade show.

It also gives me an opportunity to spend time with our education team.  Since they are located in different areas of the country, we are able to catch up on people’s lives, see how their business is doing and hear their opinions about Amber since most of them have used our products for years and continue to use them on a daily basis.  Connecting with people who use our products on their clients everyday is information that I lock away and always consider when making decisions.

One of my favorite memories of being at a trade show was couple of years ago.  Our oldest daughter accompanied me to the show, which was a great experience for both of us.  While in line at the exhibitor desk, we struck up a conversation with a savvy young woman who had just started her own line of beauty products for the body and was displaying for one of the first times.  Toward the end of our conversation, she learned that I was Co-Owner of Amber Products.  Tears came to her eyes, she gave me a big hug and said, “I can’t believe you own Amber Products!  I LOVE Amber Products!”

And that is why I do trade shows.