Weekly Mileage #260 and the SC Homeschool Convention

Monday River got his braces on, then I did some of the grocery shopping, sewed buckets, and went to Scouts with Sunshine. She passed her Board of Review and is now a Life Scout! Next stop: working on her Eagle project.

Tuesday we went to music lessons, I sewed buckets, we went to karate, and I got stuff organized and packed up (though not taken to the car). I never did get the new display put together to try out how to organize it. I hope it goes well.

Wednesday morning I loaded up the car and headed to SC with Sunshine. Since she’s got her permit, she got to help drive. I drove for 2 hrs, she drove for 1.5 hrs, and I drove the last 2.5 hrs. We made good time, though the last chunk was in the rain, mostly pouring rain. It was a good thing Sunshine wasn’t driving then. At least I didn’t have a problem staying alert- driving in the rain takes too much concentration.

*the t-shirts I added to my product lineup*

We really liked our hotel room. It was a suite with two queen beds with the bedroom was separate from the sitting area, plus a small kitchenette with a full size fridge. So much nicer than the hotel in Cincinnati last August, and less expensive, to boot.

After we settled in, I worked on the computer, updating stuff on the course sales page.

Thursday morning I finished updating the course sales page, which included making sure everything linked properly, updating the offers section to reflect the convention discount, adding details to each lesson reflecting some changes I made to the course, and so on. All the random computer stuff I’ve been putting off for way too long. Once that was all done, I stitched some bucket handles while Sunshine punched holes in tags, put string on them, and packaged up stickers.

Around 2pm we headed over to the convention center, where we unloaded the car and set up the booth. The new display went together better than I’d feared, and I like the versatility of the hooks and baskets that can be moved around.

The convention center room that was used for the vendor hall had horrible acoustics and the background noise was super loud. From 5:30-8:30 I made a couple sales, but mostly people were looking over everything so they could decide what to go back to. I took advantage of the time to stitch the rest of the bucket handles.

Friday I was worried that a full day (9:30am-7:30pm) of noise would be super awful, but I actually did ok. The tired didn’t hit till the last couple hours, by which time I’d also run out of campfire mug sleeves to sew (I did ~ 3 dozen). I should have brought more stuff to work on, but thought I had plenty. Oops.

Someone suggested an adjustable mug sleeve so it would fit a variety of cups. I’ve been noodling ideas around in my head and plan on trying out some ideas when we get home.

I made more sales and by the end of the day had earned more than I did in Cincinnati in August.

Saturday we were there from 9:30-5:30, then we took down the booth and loaded everything back in the car.

I had nothing to work on, so alternated reading on my phone and catching up on journaling here. I was definitely more tired on Saturday, but that could be partially attributed to the quality of my sleep. I should have brought the Biomat to lay on each evening. I did when we went to Cincinnati, but didn’t think about it this time.

I didn’t bother trying to squeeze into the loading dock (which wasn’t actually a dock, just a short row of parking spaces) and we hauled everything out to the car in the parking lot in two trips using the collapsible dolly I bought before the first convention I attended. It worked well, other than trying to control the 6′ tall wire grid panels laid on top of a stack of bins. The panels slid around more than either Sunshine or I felt comfortable with. However, I thought of something on the way home that should be a better, more secure transport method.

I made more sales than I did in Cincinnati, but I don’t think I got as many emails. My lower priced items (shirts and campfire mugs) sold some, but not as many as I’d hoped, and I’m not sure why. I think it’s partly the audience. I need to try to show at the next Wild+Free conference. A lot of those moms have money to spend and there’s a good emphasis on outdoors and interest-led learning. Location and booth fee are the main drawbacks, though if I can finally really find my audience for my products (high end handmade), it would be worth it to attend regardless of the higher booth fee. I’ve thought about reaching out to 1000 Hours Outside, but based on their shop offerings I don’t know that their audience would be willing to pay $50 a pop for one my items.

I also need to figure out how to better market my course at the homeschool conventions. I feel like it’s almost an after thought when compared to all my handmade products. Do I need better signage? A better display of the course materials? Though I really can’t think how else to display it- I need to be able to show people what they’re getting. The signage could definitely be improved though.

Sunday we drove home, with Sunshine driving an hour in the middle while I managed to drive the rest. It’s a 6 hour drive, so doable, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it was longer. The drive to Cincinnati is 8 hours, so we’ll have to split it up differently.

After we got home we unloaded everything and I laid on the Biomat. I was so sore from all the sitting in the car and sitting on crappy chairs that left me with tight hips and a sore back.

On the way home I finally decided that I need to get on a couple podcasts and speak at a session during next year’s conventions. The topic will be on getting outside and exploring with kids despite chronic illness and/or ADHD. I jotted down a bunch of notes while driving home, but I’ll need to flesh things out a bit more and do a lot of practicing. I feel like this can be a good way to reach out and find my audience a bit better. Being a guest on podcasts is advice I’ve heard for some time, I just didn’t think I had anything to talk about.

People watching at the convention is always interesting. There were couples on a date weekend (holding hands). Dads carrying young babies. Moms carrying young babies. Very pregnant ladies. Dads with a passel of kids while mom attends a seminar. A surprising number of grandparents walking around with their kids and grandkids. Families of all sizes. The largest I counted had 9 kids, and the oldest looked to be about 13 while the youngest was an infant. That particular family was a little rambunctious, but not loud about it. I feel like my siblings were always loud when we went out- though that may not be accurate, that could just be the impression my cringe-filled teenage self had.

I was also able to pick out a few neuro-divergent kiddos that came to my booth. Ocean has opened my eyes to certain behaviors and what they mean. I was also really glad the boys didn’t come. River would have done ok, but ultimately he’d get bored and whine a bit. Ocean would just want to run and talk to everyone and make all the noise. The musical instrument table at the end of the aisle we were on would have been an irresistible draw (as it was to many). Friday- all day- we were serenaded (not really) by the clinky sounds of those colored metal hand bells (we have a set, but I hid it a long time ago) being tried out. Ocean wouldn’t have been able to stay away.

This week also marks two years into the pandemic. Other parts of the world (China, especially) are experiencing surges, but the US is loosening a lot of restrictions. 99.5% of the people at the convention didn’t wear masks, there were only a few holdouts still wearing them.