Setting up for a Motorcycle Rally

Well, today was setup day for the Milledgeville Thunder Rally. We got up early, and arrived at the venue a little after 9 am in anticipation of a possible gaggle of vendors arriving for setup. Setting up for a motorcycle rally is not for the faint of heart. More times than not, even when the promoter recommends that you show up by a certain time, there will be many vendors who would have cued up the night before.

It seems that you can never accurately anticipate what set up will be like at a rally unless you have attended it in prior years. Even then, knowledge of how a rally was run in prior years does not necessarily mean it will be OK this year. All the same, Milledgeville Thunder Rally is a new rally for us, so we had no idea what we were going to encounter when we arrived at the staging area.

What we found was a beautiful open field with electrical boxes scattered around and three vendors already set up. Seeing other vendors set up sometimes makes me feel like I missed the memo stating we needed to arrive a day earlier... The good news was that it was only three vendors, not three dozen already set up. Even better news was that the promoter had already confirmed we had a space, so our anxiety was somewhat reduced. The promote arrived shortly after we did and we were able to get the motor home placed, our electric set up and identify where our booth was to be set all by noon.

Setting up for a Motorcycle Rally can be a stressful experience especially if this is either the first time you have ever been a vendor at this type of event, or if this is a new event for you. The best way to prepare for a Motorcycle Rally, or any other weekend event is to do as much homework as you can in advance of the event. You can look on the Internet for pictures of prior years' events, you can talk to the promoter (more on that later) and you can contact other vendors who attended the event in years past. Even if you do all of the above, there is no guarantee that this particular event will be good for you. Keep that information in mind if you plan on participating as a vendor at events. Even if the event went very well last year, there is no guarantee that it will again go well this year. People change, economic conditions change and the weather can be a huge factor.

Assuming you have done your homework prior to an event and still decide to attend, the best thing to do is to be sure you arrive no later than on time. That shows the promoter you respect their time and their event. It also usually allows you enough time to set up before people come around to purchase what you are offering. We love to come as early as possible so that we can not only be set up, but can take the extra time to walk around and talk to the other vendors at the motorcycle rally. Talking to other vendors is a great way to network, usually, if they are already set up, they are more than willing to spend a few minutes chatting with you about the event, their products, the attendees of the event and possibly other events that are coming up.

The information you can obtain from other vendors can be absolutely invaluable. We have received excellent leads regarding upcoming motorcycle rallies, who to talk to, and where to avoid. We have also found vendors selling items that we had personally been looking for. What also comes out of chatting with others is that they will ask you what you are offering. Again, this is an excellent opportunity to network and promote yourself. Even if the other vendor is not personally interested in your products or services, they will have in the back of their mind what you do, so if a customer wanders up and asks them about a certain product or service, there is a very good chance that they will point that customer to you if you are the one who can provide the product or service. Networking with other vendors is almost like creating a local directory of products and services for that motorcycle rally. you would be amazed once a rally starts, how many people will be in attendance. Many times the customers are looking for a particular product or service, but due to the crowds and possibly the layout of the motorcycle rally, the customers are not able to locate you. If other vendors are aware of who you are, where you are and what you have to offer, they will point the customers in your direction.

Good luck setting up for a motorcycle rally or any other weekend event. Motorcycle rallies and weekend flea markets are relatively similar events, so what I have suggested here can apply to flea markets, craft shows, etc. If you have specific questions regarding setting up for a motorcycle rally or other event, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. If you are interested in starting up a home-based business and need ideas, please check out our website at http://www.hawgwash.net/.

Until tomorrow...