Red Lips,
Mom Hips
& Coffee Sips

When the opportunity presented itself for me to take over the ownership and organization of the Hanover Home & Garden Show, a trade show featuring local businesses from my town and surrounding area, I jumped in with both feet. My parents ran a very successful Art & Collectible Show, a similar format of the one I would be taking over, and I grew up watching them arrange floor plans, meet with Exhibitors and bring this show to life each and every year for nearly two decades. I looked at this as an opportunity to get to know people in my community and of course I had a keen interest in home renovation and decoration and it just felt like this was a knock at the door that I had to answer.

I had about one year from the time I took over the business until show time. Plenty of time right? Well, not exactly. I had a lot to do and I don't even remember where I began! First things first, I need to secure my location. The Hanover Home & Garden Show has been held primarily at the Hanover P&H Centre, so I booked a meeting to discuss dates and costs. The website that came with the business needed a bit of an overhaul, so I went through it and drove my web designer crazy for a few months while we worked out the kinks. I had a friend that managed the Vistaprint Studio in downtown Toronto and she kindly offered me the services of a graphic designer to help me create a brand new logo for my rebranding. Of course, once I had my snazzy new logo, I needed to get new business cards. I booked all of my print, media and radio advertising and got to voice my commercial! I worked closely with the print shop to have posters made and $2 Off Coupons printed for admission to the show. I hired my first employee and I talked him into being paid in hugs. Of course I am talking about my Dad, George, who was keen to help me out with my new adventure. Having his experience in my corner was a huge help and an absolute no brainer. He taught me about picking up the phone and calling people, rather than rely on the new way of communication by email. I nervously started picking up the phone to talk to potential exhibitors and introduce myself and one by one, exhibitors started booking their booths. We were so close to a full sell out last year! Each and every exhibitor in the 2019 Hanover Home & Garden Show took a chance on me as the new organizer. Wanting to give back to the community, I arranged a meeting with Habitat for Humanity Grey Bruce and partnered with them for a charity silent auction. Exhibitors and local businesses donated the prizes and we raised just over $3000 for this organization.

The weekend of the show last year is a bit of a blur now. I remember not sitting down for three days straight. I remember walking laps around that arena floor and putting out fires before people smelled smoke. Not literally of course, but there was a ton of stuff to do! And I loved each and every minute of it. I had a great group of friends that helped me over the weekend with working the admission table, silent auction, electricity set up and my daughters were given the jobs to hand out snacks and water to exhibitors. The weekend was a success with many people coming through the doors and if exhibitors are seeing people and booking making business connection, they are happy. The attendees were happy to see a wide variety of companies represented. And by the end of it all, I was just happy it was over! And not too long after my first show was over, I started organizing the 2020 Hanover Home & Garden Show....which is coming up very soon and I am working really hard to make it another great one.

You are invited to come check out the show, May 2 and 3, 2020! If you have a business you want to feature as an Exhibitor, the registration is on our website and I would love to have you.

I speak for all of my Exhibitors and myself when I say thank you for reading this and marking your calendar to come visit us at the 2020 Hanover Home & Garden Show.

Brooke