Random Thoughts on a Soggy Saturday

A soggy day; a day that I wished I didn't have to deal with all of my wet leaves. Then I go out and put together my cleverly designed, yet maddeningly frail outdoor tent. It had flown over in a fierce September gust of wind, now the thing is broken and the gay 10 x 10 tent's legs bow like an old cowboy's. Going to have to replace it for the New York Times and Boston Globe Travel shows where we are exhibiting in February. Drat!

Kate has invited 24, yes 24 tiny tots over to have a Halloween Party. Is it only me that feels very, very already sick of this holiday and wants no part in wearing a costume or greeting kids at the door? Go away!

The cafe always provides a refuge...and isn't it too cool to be able to order a tuna bacon lettuce and tomato and sit in my favorite window and try out another cup of Dave's Blend, the coffee we've just added to the menu. It's from our friend who owns Positronic Design, and holds the best parties Holyoke has ever been treated to. Thanks Dave!

Tossing, Turning, Shivering--But Ready to Rock

Last night I alternated between tossing, turning, shivering and wondering what I should not forget when leave the next morning for New York. It was a difficult night, unsettling, and it reminded me of back when I first opened the cafe and had so many things on my mind. I kept being afraid that I would leave some very important document or something else at home and be at the Javits Center scrambling to make it work.

But as the clear cold light of day dawned, I was tired but excited about today's trip into lower Manhattan, where I'll meet Kent and erect the booth and get ready for Friday at 2 when the trade-0nly crowd streams into the cavernous Javits Center.

Now it's all systems go, and as usual the cafe is in solid steady hands, and the booth will be staffed with enthusiastic members of the GoNOMAD choir. Paul Shoul, Joe O'Rourke, Sony Stark, Liz Bagley, Cindy and of course Kent and Lisa will make up our posse.

We just introduced a fabulous new vacation rentals directory on our site and now we even offer passports for sale. With our new tours directory and many other tweaks, we've never been more ready to show our stuff on the biggest stage in American travel.

It's Our Super Deluxe Booth for the Javits

Here is our newest acquisition...a cool tradeshow booth that fits into the little stand shown in front, that we'll use at the Javits Center for the NY Times Travel Show.

No more borrowing booths, no more fussing over hard to assemble old outdated equipment. It took my friend Dave and I all of fifteen minutes to assemble this 10 x 9 booth, and it was a snap!

Now we'll create a huge vinyl sign to hang in front that will look just like the GoNOMAD front page. And on the sides we'll have large lettering so even if you're 100 feet away, you'll see us!

Advantum Displays are the people who make this product and I must give them serious props for doing a great job and making it all so easy to assemble.

Getting Ready for the Big Show

Now the big PR blitz begins...I mailed out press releases to local newspapers here trumpeting our first appearance as exhibitors at the New York Times Travel Show. Hopefully this will be newsworthy to our local papers and we'll see some coverage. In the release I detail my plans to present a seminar on search engine optimizing in Boston and our Travel Writing Class that we'll hold at the Javits during the event. Kent and I will teach the basics and bring in some ringers we know in the city to add to the fun.

Yesterday Matt called me from the cafe. "Max, come over, there's a big, big package here for you." I hurried over and in the kitchen sat a massive box, with handles showing through the carton. It was our new trade show booth, a massive ten-foot by seven foot wall that fits in the booth we'll have at the Javits Center. For four years we've gotten by by borrowing a booth from our friends at Bolduc's Apparel, now finally, we've got our own and that feels like we've arrived.

Dave Chouinard, the proprietor of Graphics Pro, will come up over the weekend when we assemble this baby in the garage. Then we can measure it all out and make a huge vinyl banner that will mock the look of the GoNOMAD website. Dave has been so valuable to our businesses, coming up with layouts for the show hand-outs, business cards, and designing cool looking websites for our client. It's a great fit and we're happy to be working with reliable, solid, talented and dependable Dave.

Movin' On Up--To the New York Times Travel Show

Once more, GoNOMAD reaches high and scores! We have been exhibiting at a major New York Tradeshow for four years, and every year we have gotten more out of it. While we've loved our January shows at the Adventure Expo, the time has come to move up.

So I'm proud to announce that GoNOMAD will join hundreds of other travel businesses as exhibitors at the New York Times Travel Show at the Javits Convention Center from Feb.29-March 2, 2008.

Aim high, we always say...and this is the premier travel trade show in the country. We can't wait to meet our new friends in high places...and we'll bring the whole gang to the show and make valuable connections and promote our brand.