Report from Tinley

It has been a very long time since Jeff and I were in the same show together but this year, we were both at NARBC in Tinley.

This was the first time I have ever worked a retail booth at a show. When kingsnake.com used to have booths, it was a hour or so of free shirts and we were off to play. After spending a long time convincing kingsnake.com BFF Kerry King to bring his carpets to Chicago, he ended up a little short-handed at times, so I ended up helping all weekend. Of course that was also where our banner was positioned with our free stickers, so it made sense that I stuck around.

I really gained a lot of respect for some of the work our advertisers put into their weekends. It is rough to get up at the crack of dawn and set things up. This, however, is something I am pretty familiar with from my long educational weekends. However, most of my animals that are on display are able to be touched and petted by each and every person who asks. Not knowing the Psychotic Exotic animals well, there was no way I was pulling things out for people to play with.

Thankfully, right around the corner from our booth were two great educational groups, The Chicago Herpetological Society and Windy City Reptiles, with animals to play with. Having them present allowed me to kindly brush off the people wanting to pet their first snake to somewhere more appropriate. And can anyone tell me why it is always the snake with the highest price tag people want to put in their 3-year-old child's hand? Fortuntely, just because someone can't touch doesn't mean they can't learn.

It was nice learning a new aspect of the community. After being with kingsnake for over 10 years, I sometimes think I have done it all. This made me think I should swing by more booths and help out down the road. And quite honestly, I really did learn that if you all need to find me, you will. Thanks to everyone who brought concerns and questions to me.

If you haven't already checked 'em out, Jeff took a ton of photos of the show. To see the full album, click here.

Top photo - Todd and me working the booth. I am checking ks.com emails. :)
Bottom Photo - Team Psychotic kingsnake, the name JeffB gave us.

Kerry pre-occupied meeting fans and signing autographs

Me taking a rare chance to sit and chat with my husband who popped in for a visit.

A sampling of the snakes we were selling.