Friday, after dropping Xavier off at the kennel, cruising the turnpike, and having some words with my GPS, I found myself gazing out the window of the seventh story of the Hampton Inn - the Meadowlands Expo Center was just in sight! Going through my lists, looking over my class schedule, wondering what kind of fun and wacky experiences I was about to embark on... there was no way I was sleeping easy!
The Meadowlands at night!
The sun rose early on Saturday morning and woke me up before my alarm clock. Even though I was still tired from the drive, my mind began to race. Day one was now in swing! Here we go!
After a short walk, I picked up my badge from the front desk and walked into my first classroom: Pet Profits with none other than Chuck Simons. Together with his friend Mark of DogsClickHere.com, he gave an informative speech about the ways to get your name out there, make yourself known, and have a strategy to retire with comfort. Right before he got started, he asked me how I was doing - all eyes were on me. I couldn't help but think, "Wow, I got public recognition from Chuck!" Hehe!
While in the class, I ran into my friend Sharon from Groom Expo last year. We headed over to the expo center's double doors, now thrown wide open. Frankie Brown sat in his rightful place, near the table of Wahl bags. We each grabbed one, walked in, and let the sensory overload begin! Products, tools, tables, and an array of miscellany as far as the eye could see with the competition ring in the center of it all - now THIS was a slice of heaven, baby!
It didn't take too long before I ran into another familiar face: Dawn Omboy was selling a bathing system! Ellen Ehrlich was a few booths away, and good ol' Jorge was with Forever Stainless. The show had barely begun and already I was catching up with so many friends. I continued to walk around and let myself be overwhelmed with nothing but goodies and pure bliss from every direction, all the while devising how I was going to be bad with my credit card!
My second class was extremely useful: "Other" Sporting Breeds with Anette Quick. Using a Bravura clipper, she put a stunning sporting jacket trim on a rather antsy English Springer Spaniel. In addition to becoming more confident with my pattern lines, I picked up some useful tips to help utilize my thinners to the fullest. Awesome!
Georgia the Springer and Anette
Back on the trade show floor, I discovered a booth that was selling Kenchii shears, including the new Flame series chunkers that I was eyeballing. Upon trying them, however, I decided that they didn't fit my hand just right. No worries - I'd just go to the Oster booth and get some of their chunkers. I was going to weigh the two out at Groom Expo this year anyway, now I'd just have them sooner!
The third class of the day - Geometrics in Canine Design - was full of useful tips, some of which weren't even relevant to the subject. Gotta love when those little gems pop up! Featuring the "Best of the Masters" Pam Lauritzen, Vero DaSylva, and Scott Wasserman, we all learned and laughed as they took little snipes at each other. It's great when you have a teacher with a sense of humor, but three at once was downright hilarious!
At last, the zero hour arrived: five o' clock began a slew of deals from vendors, and free alcohol on the trade show floor! I'm not kidding. At the Show Seasons booth, I ended up with a few extra colognes after being poured two blueberry cocktails. As for how they tasted, in my own words that made all the reps laugh: "This. Is. INCREDIBLE!"
I made a new trade show buddy at the Espree booth; a beautiful standard Poodle. He came right up to me, gave me a huge nuzzle, then tried to follow me! I assured him that I would be back to love on him some more.
At the Jarden/Oster booth, a gorgeous pair of chunkers sat on display, begging to be bought. I knew that I had to have them. Now here's where the twist comes in: it was buy one pair, get another free. I really didn't need another pair of standard shears... until I saw the 10" straights. And on top of that, I got the last pair! I wished I had a Poodle right then and there just to try them out on!
Swinging by the Tropiclean booth, I got some more colognes there too. Looks like I'm stocked up on smelly stuff for years to come, haha! I also ran into Judge Joey, and his wife! I asked him if we could get together sometime and talk dogs for a bit. So many questions needed answers! He said he had some downtime on Monday; I was excited to finally get some much needed information. As we parted ways for the evening, I asked him, holding up all my bags, "Hey, do you think I bought enough shit yet?" Haha!
After a few trips to several other booths, and many swipes of my credit card later (haha), it was already the end of day one. And of course walking back, I got caught in a sudden deluge of rain and wild winds. It's all because someone said, "Hey, the rain let up!" as soon as everyone walked outside. Go figure ;)
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