Starting A Pipe Show

First, good luck!

For a first show, I would not try to do any events. Get your feet wet with something simple. You will have enough to do with just the show itself. Once you have done a run with just a simple show, then you can think about doing other things.

Obviously you are going to list it here, in the proper forums. Do you have time to get a listing in Pipes and Tobacco magazine? Does the club have a website? Does your sponsor have a website? Does the venue have a website? You are mostly going to be attracting local folks, I would think, until you get a bit of a reputation.

I've marked it on my calendar, and will be looking for updates. Chattanooga is a little to far to attend the Pipe Club, but a show would be an excellent day trip. Good luck!!

Wow, I hope you get this rolling. I would start by contacting every pipemaker and retailer in the region. It will be a tough sell for guys that fly in from the other side of the country for an unsure thing. I'd say you're sort of stuck in the middle. Can't get customers to show if there wont be pipemakers/sellers, and you won't get sellers to come if you can't convince them there will be buyers. It will take a lot of selling on your part to make it happen !

If it was me, the first thing I do is get a feel for how big you are able to make it. Can you get 3 retailers and 3 known pipemakers to commit ? Then can you call two dozen more and tell them "Hey, we have so and so that will be there already". If dealers know who is already on board they may be more willing to take a chance.

Then comes the other side of the coin, buyers. If you can advertise even 3 or 4 well known names it could make all the difference. And advertising the event will be the key for sure.

Then there is the question of financing the show. Who will pay for the up front costs ? How will revenue be generated to pay for the show ? Will the sellers pay for it with table fees? Will the buyers pay entrance fees ?

A lot of planning involved.

Good luck !

Todd Johnson, Grant Batson, Bruce Weaver, maybe Adam Remington too ? Rad Davis is in Alabama. Thats the first names that come to mind.

DP:
A couple of ideas for you:
1.Uptowns in Nashville put on a pipe show for years. Might be worth a call to see what they can advise.
2.You are between Knoxville and Atlanta. There are a couple of pipe shops that I recall in Atlanta: Edwards and Tobacco Super Market http://www.tobaccomkt.com/x/home.php. Don’t know Super Market is still owned and operated by Joyce White. If she is still around, she is a wealth of information and can help with the Atlanta Pipe Club, a very old club. The pipe shop in Knoxville is Smokys http://smokystobacco.com/ Dave is owner and is good guy. I’d contact him.
3.The Knoxville Area Pipe Smokers club was around for years. It has folded but another pipe club has formed in Smokeys. Don’t know who is president, but Dave will know.
If I can think of anything else, I'll send it on to you.

Keep us informed here as well, A weekend excursion from the wilds of West Tn. would be fun.
Tom

Might suggest you get the mailing lists from the tobacco shops and do a mailing to the lists, USPS can have pretty decent pricing around advertising events depending on the size. You could also look to use personalized URL's to help keep the conversation going and tie in with mailings or social media. You may have to spend some money advertising the first year and then if successful likely spend less and focus more on word of mouth. There's some really neat advertising tricks out there that don't cost a lot of money. Don't completely pass on the mail idea, a mail piece can get stuck on a fridge door for weeks or months to remind people of an upcoming event.
Edit: DP I'm in Canada but if you're interested I can give you some good tips on advertising through direct channels and where to go to find help in the US. PM me if you're interested.

Sounds like quite a challenge in getting everything ready but it seems like your doing all that nneds to be done way ahead of time. Good luck & hope you have a very successful show.