The ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas was a completely new thing for me. For one, I'd never been to Las Vegas. And while I've been to major conventions before, they were "guy" shows - guns and cars.
The woman-to-man ratio was completely reversed from my previous convention experience (a fact about which I do not complain). Of course, the wares at a juvenile industry expo are geared for safety, but the conventioneers are far more deadly than their gun show counterparts.
For gun and car shows, booths are usually manned by guys in their mid-40s to 50s, graying, hairy, with beer guts covered in black shirts. They eye everyone suspiciously and will get their crack-back butts out of their disintegrating foldout lawn chairs only if they're certain you're going to buy. Every stall has a TV and they're usually tuned to something akin to Walker, Texas Ranger.
At ABC, it was a bit different. I've been a lot of places, seen a few things. I've been to the rodeo a time or two. And I've never been surrounded by so many attractive women. And they were sharks. You could not walk an aisle without someone darn near dragging you into her booth and turning you into a Kool Aid-drinking believer.
That's makes for a difficult time when you're working the show and can't spend time with everyone who tries to catch your attention. It got to a point where I would, at times, either show a tunnel vision intensity, or pretend to peruse, well, something in order to assure my assailants I could not be disturbed.
ABC conventioneers really were fantastic. The booths were, nearly by rule, pretty and inviting. These folks have their routine down and they do it very well. There were several times that I was snagged by someone when I really didn't want to stop and, upon taking a look at their get up, acquiesced and was surprised by how well they could sell - and often surprised by how some products sold themselves.
Case in point: Bruz Wear. These folks have put together something so obvious, it's amazing no one's ever done it before. And maybe they have; I just haven't seen it.
Bruz Wear, conceived because one of the creators' kids has a blood disorder that prevents clotting, is kids' clothing designed with padding in the areas kids most often hurt themselves when playing, especially the knees. The protective threads are also cute and, I suppose, fashionable - the padding look like patches.
When the Bruz Wear rep asked me to come check them out, I wasn't expecting much. I was so impressed with their line, though, I encouraged Babytv.com to do an editorial piece on them. You can find that video in the media player here.
I might not have been so easily persuaded were it not for the fact Maddie's legs tend to look as if her Mom and I have been beating her with ratan. It's almost as if jumping on her knees and shins makes her feel good. I cringe everytime she wears shorts and dresses and practically beg her to stop, well, whatever it is she's doing. She gets a kick out of it all.