Well the AMFAM craft fair came and went. Financially it was a huge bust. I sold just enough to cover my entry fee and pay for the paper I used to print. :(
For the hobby I would say it was a big success! Well I think anyway... I suppose time will tell. I spent the entire day talking with people and explaining the the hobby. There was very little interest in buying the built up kits and marginal interest in buying the pre-printed kits. However the built up kits generated a lot of traffic and questions about the hobby. I gave out about 350 biz cards and 40 or so flyers - thanks John and Mauri!. Here are a few select stories from the day. Crappy pics to follow due to backlight and my flash didnt go off for some reason.....
Story one:
I was getting everything brought in with my dads help and working on setting up. A gentleman walked up to me and was watching me get setup. He was retired air force from korea and noticed the planes I was putting out. He was talking about the ones he flew and such. I put out an specific sabre jet and just looked at it and started to cry - turned out it was similar to the one that was dedicated to his dad here in sun prairie. He told me where it was so I will go and try to snap some pics. He said it wasnt an f-86 but the conversation was a bit muddled at that point but I am going to see what I can do about making one up for him (I know who he was there with) after I go get some pics
Story two:
We were about halfway through the day and this guy walks up with a big honking camera and asks to take my pic holding up a couple of the models. I see that the lanyard he is wearing says EAA on it. He introduces himself as Wink from Wisconsin Aviation. He has never heard of paper models before (big surprise eh?) However he LOVES them and asked me if I could come give a talk about the hobby, models and history of some models. He also told me they have been looking for a new display at the Madison airport and thinks paper models might fit their needs nicely. In addition he belongs to a couple EAA clubs and will ask them if they would like me to come give a talk about the hobby
Story three:
the day was starting to wrap up and I was packing up little by little. A little boy came over (about 8 years old) and they asked me about the models. I gave the run down of paper etc etc etc (I think the people with tables next to me can give a good speech on it now....) the boy picked up a bunch looking at them and the father said its time to go and they left. About 5 minutes later they came back with mom and the boy proceeded to explain to his mom everything I just told him a few minutes ago
He did a good job! SO I of course gave him a model for being such a good helper explaining the hobby to him mom. His face just lit up and he got so happy! This is about when the show wrapped up and as I was taking the first load back to the car the little boy held the door for me and thanked me again
All in all it was a good time and got to tell lots of people about the hobby who never heard of it before
The guy in the shadows is my dad!
Thanks!
Chris