POOL Tradeshow (part of MAGIC) Feb 12-14, Las Vegas Convention Center
I had the best helpers anyone could ever dream of having - we thoroughly rocked the work hard play hard work ethic. ;) Thankfully for the first time in my life, I had the forethought to ask some people to help with the booth that I knew I'd get along well with in potentially stressful situations. I owe them the world for keeping me very happy and very sane. It's no secret that I'm a Type A from hell; I've attempted to do much smaller-scale shows alone and it was all kinds of not fun. I finally feel as if I'm attempting to learn from experiences and not make the same, stupid mistakes 12 times. For those ever thinking of doing something like this, a tradeshow threesome is the minimum way to go, otherwise you're left standing around or running around like the proverbial chicken sans head. Load in and tear-down are some of the most vile, fast-paced/race against the clock events, but with the right amount of hands, it can almost be fun.
Backstory on the BFF co-conspirators - Amalia is my old college roommate from Boston University who is a published Mayan archaeologist currently based in New Mexico - since it wasn't all that far of a plane trip, it seemed like a great time to actually see each other, which sadly is something we never get to do. WTF does Mayan archaeology have to do with menswear? Who cares! She has this uncanny ability to get away with just about anything, so I knew we had a great asset. Speaking of assets, she's also fiercely hot and has an IQ of about 612. Hot and smart do good booth help make!
David is a fellow photographer/electro musician/curator/consumer of all things most rad also based in Detroit. He is involved in about eleventy billion art and music projects. Mr. Blunk has been the face of the TieLab along with Mike in Sweatshop Boys Published in the "POOL Art + Fashion Volume 4" - which was given out to all buyers at the show. Of course the book was displayed prominently at our table and tapemeasure strangulation pantomime was de riguer. Also see aforementioned fiercely hot and IQ of about 612.
Intros complete - we crammed more work and play into 5 days than I ever thought possible.
Day 1: Arrival at the Las Vegas Hilton from McCarran Airport. Fear and Loathing style sunglasses...check! Travel was pretty uneventful - flight wasn't too too late and we scored an exit row seat.
Before fetching all of our 8 boxes from the business center we decided to head down to Quark's Bar - the Star Trek Experience is located inside the Hilton. Amalia got a little fresh with some aliens:
Tribbles were also procured.
First night and not a moment too soon to start having fun, we bounced over to the Palms Hotel and went up to Ghostbar. Located on the 55th floor, the views are beyond amazing. The music wasn't, which was to be expected, unfortunately, but it was still totally worth seeing. Amalia scored free drinks, because, well, it is Amalia.
We headed back down to the main level and got an incredible sushi snack at Little Buddha and then went to the other 55 story tower - the Playboy Club - for the 944 Magazine party.
It was vile...truly truly vile, but we left nose and face prints on the glass and made fun of all the orange-tanned top-heavy things and booty danced to some atrocious music. Then we found *another* club on top of that one, Moon, and continued the absurdity. It was what it was - glaringly tacky and gross, but for the first night, I think we did well.
Day 2: Arrival at the convention center, we walked around in circles. A lot. With all our stuff. "Is this where we register?" Yep, right here. (wait in line for 45 minutes) "Nope, not here...you have to go ALLLLL THE WAY OVER THERE. (get "there") No, not here...you have to go.... this game went on for a long, long time but we finally got it all sorted out. Damned virginal tradeshow experiences.
Finally arrived at the right place and our lovely David got right to hanging wallpaper - we'd have been wicked screwed had we not someone who could reach over 8 feet up! Ladders = union labor = no.
We were all tired and probably a little cranky so no carousing before the first night of the show - we did get amazing tapas at a little place off-strip called Firefly. Trip advisor steered us very well.
Day 3: (Day 1 of POOL show) Our booth! The S(eco)nd part of the show was great, and I felt very fortunate to have been considered. The bamboo flooring was not only aesthetically pleasing and didn't necessitate stupid carpet rental, but it seemed friendly to stand on for long hours. It was so refreshing to see other brands that embraced all facets of socially responsible and environmentally friendly practices, not just a bevy of American Apparel organic cotton t-shirts.
Detail of neckties in specimin jars - I really wanted to do the display this way, but for future reference, traveling across the country with antique glass is a bad, bad idea.
It was a long day for everyone - and they even had SUMO Fatboys for catnapping, of which Amalia took full advantage.
At this point we were sorely in need of some good music, my only complaint thus far was the music inside POOL - the bank of speakers for the entire convention all was strategically placed right over my booth - normally that would be grounds for wooting but with the R&B tripe that was being played at +11 all day, I was less than amused. We heard there was a POOL party at the Hard Rock Hotel - we feared more orange bimbos and P Diddy or Puffy or whatever the hell that hiphop crap was, but we were proven wrong in the best of ways. It was the VICE Magazine party, and I still don't know who the dj was (Huffer?) and it was like 5 hours of Dethlab. It couldn't have been better. The club itself was dark and opulent in the best of ways.
David also got shot as a Vice do.
We just had SO MUCH FUN. Whatever triggered me to be a stressed-out pain in the ass got broken, we all danced like complete idiots and everything was fan-effing-tastic from then on. Something got purged, maybe it was all the good music (?) and the rest of the show, although still craploads of work, seemed painless.
Day 4: (POOL day 2) David and Amalia giggling at pictures from the night before.
I met a lot of new buyers and connected with many previously only encountered over email, it was wonderful to finally put all the names with real faces. Press contacts were made and all in all it was a very positive experience.
More captions soon....also in need of more photos, especially day 4 Why did I forget to take photos? (Sushi dinner, Amalia to airport (SAD!!!) Aoki at Prive, K:rave (gaybar) MGM...)
Day 5: (POOL day 3) Booth teardown...so sad! Many, many, MANY thanks to Amalia's local-ish friend Louis who hooked us up and helped us out in immeasurable ways. (Louis is seen throwing goat.) Show was over at 5, this was lights out at 6. (!!!) Those convention center guys run a tight ship.
A quick disco nap was had...no sleeping and staying in (although tempting) during the last night in Vegas. That would have been laaaaaaaaame.
Wandering about the strip after teardown...headed into the Bellagio for a quick dinner before more dancing - ended up at FIX by total accident, I have a terrible habit of just stumbling upon 5 star restaurants. Ooops!. ;) FIX was designed by the Graftlab, also of the Pink Project in New Orleans.
Lobster tacos! Holy crap was the food good there - yellowtail sashimi, lobster tacos and Blue Point oysters. Perfect pre-dancing snack.
We went to Prive for the second time - Diplo played. We were well taken care of by the folks that work there. Many thanks! :) Their sound is incredible, I haven't had my guts rattled like that since the Control Party in Detroit.
After closing down Prive, we wandered back around Paris and the Bellagio, because they are so ridiculous they rule beyond words. Liberace vomit. I played a table game for the first time, blackjack and I get along famously. I won a little bit and ran. :)
All good band names, dj names and fashion lines are conceived on Sharpie and napkin.
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