By Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
It’s been a tough year and the organizers of this year’s Realtor Builder Trade Show hope to give you exactly what you’ve been waiting for – a party.
There will be music, food and (they hope) plenty of fun at the show, this year on Oct. 30 at the Osborn Center. The venue has changed: it has been at the stadium in recent years.
“The theme this year is carnivále which is a big street fair,” said Andie Patton of Ryland Homes, co-chair of the event. “The idea of the carnivále is the feast after the famine. We have been having a famine, so it’s time for a feast or a party. It’s the Realtor Builder Trade Show. We dropped luncheon completely, but you’ll still get fed and tickets are only $10.”
The Trade Show will be co-chaired by Patton and Jason Rue of Prudential Network Realty.
Patton is in charge of food, entertainment and decorating while Rue is in charge of outreach, getting sponsors and overseeing ticket sales.
“This year we’ve gone further than we’ve ever gone before,” said Patton. “Last year we had five different buffet lines with five different themes. It was neat and thematic and cool, but the market is tough on everybody. This year we are making affordable for everyone.”
Patton said the biggest complaint she had about the trade show last year was the price of the ticket. Tickets used to be $38; of that, $27 went for food. Not this year.
“We are not having a separate room with a separate lunch,” she said. “Ten of our booths are going to be restaurants and catering companies that will give away appetizer portions of their food and it’s perfect. It’s the Trade Show, not the Trade Show and Luncheon.”
Patton said the motivation behind that decision is that in the past many who attended didn’t have time to eat or were requesting separate price tickets for lunch or without lunch and that just wasn’t feasible.
“I think for the market right now, this is the best way of getting Realtors to come to the show,” said Patton. “That’s always been our thing, to get the Realtors to come to see what the builders are doing. I think this may be our best way to do it.”
Restaurants and music at the event will be based on the three different types of carniváles: the Brazilian, Italian and Mardi Gras.
“The neat thing is with the food going all throughout, we will have tables and chairs scattered throughout the entire show, so you can stop and rest and figure out where you are going next,” said Patton. “We have invited two different car dealerships to bring in cars to fill in those middle areas between the booths.
“Last year, people didn’t think we had as many people as we did because there was so much room, but I know we had over 1,000 people. We got so used to being so crammed in over at the stadium. The tables and chairs will be in between the cars and at the ends of the cars and then scattered around the edges. Everyone will get better exposure this year.”
There will also be a hospitality room with water and coffee available the entire time.
Patton said music for the event will be Brazilian music, Italian music or even steel drum bands. They’ve talked to Mystic Dino, Pili Pili, Still Green and a few other bands, but nothing is set up yet.
“The bands will be in the back corners, so we can get the music without it being overpowering,” she said.
Possible food vendors include Kilwin’s, Harry’s Seafood, Biscotti’s, Panera Bread, Heirlooms, Honey Baked Ham, TidBits, Bonefish Grill, Roy’s, Copeland’s and Café Express.
Patton said this should be a win-win situation for everyone.
“NEFAR and NEFBA are paying for those 10 restaurants to have a booth in exchange for them bringing appetizer portions for at least 1,000 people,” said Patton. “The neat thing is for companies like Heirlooms who does open houses and Realtor events all of the time, this is their target market. I know when I was a Realtor, when I was having a luncheon, you identified the caterer was because sometimes that was the difference between a decent turnout and ‘We’ll drive across town to you.’”
Another thing Patton would like to see at the event is an opportunity for the Realtors to learn something.
She is considering having a few breakout booths where she will have some successful Realtors speak about what they are doing in differently this market to get business or give other tips on how to succeed and do well in this type of market.
Since the event is so close to Halloween, Patton said there is no excuse not to dress up.
“It should make it easier if they want to dress up for their booth,” she said. “No excuses, wear a mask.”
Booths sale are being handled by Amanda Randolph, the Northeast Florida Builders Association Sales and Marketing Council director, and ticket sales are handled by Celeta McClamma, Systems and Accounting Manager at the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.
“It really is a joint venture between NEFAR and NEFBA and it makes us all some money,” said Patton. “I love this show and have for years and years. I’ve always said it was trick or treat for Realtors and now we are doing it the day before Halloween.”