Vendors Information 2022
2022 YEA GARDEN EXPO– 17th & 18th September 2022
The Yea Garden Expo is on again this Year. Preparations are now under way for the Yea Garden Expo which will be held on the same weekend in September as previously, namely 17th and 18th of September 2022. Having been a regular vendor at our expo we would love to see you again participate and to join us again in continuing to build this wonderful weekend. In that context we also recognize that this last 3 years year due to the COVID outbreak and lockdowns has caused many garden associated businesses to have had a tough time. Consequently, we have not increased the site prices for vendors and have stayed with $150 per site as we believe the long-term success of the Expo will be based on successful profitable vendors which will in turn enable us to get visitors through the gate.
Again, this year we will invite a wide range of gardening vendors to participate in order to provide visitors with a full range of gardening options as well as discovering new ideas and products. The Expo success is obviously becoming well known and I am getting numerous requests from new vendors to be included. However, as a prior supporter we will give you priority and will decline inclusion of new vendors offering similar products to you. In that context I would appreciate you confirming by email to me your participation. My email is yeagardenexpo@optusnet.com.au. My contact number if you want to discuss any aspect is 0438 119 429. There were many aspects which proved to be an outstanding success at our 2019 expo and we are setting out to build on that success and add further enhancements. In 2019 we had just under 2500 visitors to the Expo and we are aiming to exceed that number and see how close we can get to 3000. It was generally commented that our entrance price of $7 for adults and children free was very low consequently we have decided this year to increase the price to $10 which covers both entrance to the expo and parking which is below comparative Expos. We feel it is important to attract a high level of attendance and thereby endeavor to ensure all vendors have a high opportunity of succuss.
The very successful (and welcomed) initiative we introduced of providing several support people to assist vendors by getting a coffee, getting a meal, or looking after the site to enable a toilet break or just to be able to have a break and go and have a look around will be continued. Hence, if you are concerned about being unable to leave your site for a short break we will have people available to help and give assistance. We will also be responding to several vendors’ suggestion of having egg & bacon rolls available at the bar/b/cue to purchase for a breakfast snack after getting up early to setup your site.
The Yea Saleyards precinct as our venue has been an outstanding success with many positive comments from both the visitors and vendors. The flat hard surfaces for the vendors’ sites and for the car parking is a significant advantage. We are also responding to vendors suggestion by changing the opening & closing times to 9am to 3pm. We will again have food vendors on site, professional security for both Friday and Saturday nights and free parking.
During the 2019 Expo we did quite a bit of market research of visitors to understand where they had heard about the expo and where they had travelled from. We will be using this information to further focus our marketing. The Advertising flyer was a major factor and we will again distribute these widely and will send you several when printed. Our marketing will again involve contacting all the garden clubs we have dealt with in the past but with more focus particularly around the idea of attracting group bus loads. We will be placing articles within the Melbourne papers and also the various gardening magazines including the June & September editions of the gardening gazette by the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria. We will be seeking advertising slots on radio, doing radio interviews and seeking some TV tags. Facebook & Twitter will be strongly utilized as well as some telemarketing and our Rotary website. Our Yea Garden Expo website has been a great success and we will be using it to promote the Expo. As we did last year we will feature each vendor on the web site at no cost to you and will happily include whatever words, photo etc. you would like featured.
Jim Osborne. Vendor Coordinator Yea Garden Expo. Rotary Club of Yea
