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From the SU website - it looks like opportunity night is going to be a fun night with some "free stamps, and fun "projects" to get to know more about Stampin Up...
I spent $15 in gas to get to the Salt Palace, in AWFUL traffic because there was a UTAH JAZZ game 2 blocks away at the same time. $7 for parking at the convention center. Got in line to get my name tag - but wasn't on the registration list... My demonstrator registered everybody in her "group" and only one person ended up being on the registered list. So after being in one line for 10 minutes, ended up in another line for 20 minutes - missing most of the "opportunity" presentation. About 20 people received a set of stamps in a "drawing" and we each made ONE card - which took about 60 seconds to complete. They gave away 2 huge giftbaskets to the demonstrators that had the largest group - 10 people (it was a tie). Well, My demonstrator also had 10 people in her group, but didn't get a gift basket.
Our demonstrator appologized profusely at the end, because SU had made it out to be some big event, and sadly - it pretty much was the most LAME thing they've come up with. At the end people were leaving- they made an announcement "PLEASE DON'T TAKE THE PRODUCTS FROM YOUR TABLES ( Scissors, SNAIL, stamps, ink) ". I guess others felt like they wanted to get something for their time and money too...
SU donates "leftover" product to the school districts around here... It sure would have been nice to get something more out of this event (any leftover product would have been nice). They're promoting opportunity night like it's going to be fun with lots to do. I could have gone to my demonstrators house and made nicer cards, had more fun, and learned just as much about becoming a demonstrator. This "Opportunity" SU provided just made me mad!!!
All that said, did anyone else go? Anyone registered for Virginia Beach???
Though I suspect SU reads this board carefully, I encourage you to send an email to SU and share your concerns and make specific suggestions on how to improve the event. I'm sure SU has no interest in annoying customers on purpose!
__________________ Dear Paperlicious is my blog...with a series on how I'm learning to improve my cardmaking by studying others.
Wow, SU must have been pretty brutally honest about the event on their website if they described it as being as unpleasant an experience as the OP had. I see in the OP that project_s_ were going to be made; what were the other projects aside from the single card? Did you miss them from having to stand in line because of the administrative schmozzle? Sorry to hear you had such a bad time.
There was a single card to make. I got an email from them inviting me to have fun with "make and takes" , free stamps, etc. I asked if there were additional make and takes, and they said it was only the one card, but we could get "ideas" from the project boards that were posted around the event...(Probably about 20 boards). Also, the video presentation showed how to make a second project - but we didn't get to make it. It's a great idea - to have an opportunity night - but they could have done a better job with it. I'm a former demonstrator (of 8 years) and have seriously been thinking about signing up again. I was SO unimpressed with how they marketed such a fun evening vs. how it was actually turned out. The nice part was that I did get to see some friends that I'd not seen in many months and had a good time catching up. I felt like I invested time and money for this event and SU did very little to make it worthwhile. Hopefully they'll learn from their mistakes!
It sounds like one of those Mary Kay opportunity nights.... you are told a big hype but it's really all about getting you to sign up. You had to pay for this? Unbelievable!
Art is intended to provoke an emotion from a total stranger. If you�ve succeeded in this, consider yourself an artist. Paper Shanks Blog. Love me or hate me, you are still talking about me
It sounds like one of those Mary Kay opportunity nights.... you are told a big hype but it's really all about getting you to sign up. You had to pay for this? Unbelievable!
The event was free - but parking and gas to get there costs $$
It's too bad it wasn't that great of an experience - hopefully the rest of the ones they do get MUCH better as they work the kinks out!!!
Wow, SU must have been pretty brutally honest about the event on their website if they described it as being as unpleasant an experience as the OP had. I see in the OP that project_s_ were going to be made; what were the other projects aside from the single card? Did you miss them from having to stand in line because of the administrative schmozzle? Sorry to hear you had such a bad time.
I didn't see anything about advertising it as a unpleasant experience~ in Fact this is how they advertised it~
Opportunity Night offers guests the fun of stamping while learning about Stampin' Up!'s rewarding business model. Guests will discover how to run a successful home-based business as they enjoy a wonderful hobby.
Start spreading the word to your hostesses, customers, friends, and neighbors living in the Virginia Beach areas--anyone who wants to learn more about the Stampin' Up! opportunity. Perks for Participants
Have fun!
Stamp a beautiful hand-made card to take home.
Have chances to win amazing door prizes and giveaways.
Learn about the business opportunities of being a demonstrator.
That was cut & pasted from the website.
To the op~ Sorry it turned out to be so hectic! Maybe it's like sunshinemama said....they can learn from their mistakes, next one will be different.
I definitely agree with Joan. The only way that SU will know how to learn from their mistakes and make the next Opportunity night a great one will be if people from this event write them an email and share their experiences from the events, good and bad.
It's kind of like working in a restaurant. Someone comes in, orders their food, doesn't like the wait staff, the food, the selection, the atmosphere, etc. They leave and never voice their dissatisfaction.
Nothing ever gets fixed. The person tells other people about their bad experience and word of mouth travels. Other people don't go to the restaurant based on what the original person's experience was.
Unless you tell the restaurant what the problems were, there's no way they know how to fix the problems and improve.
Write SU an email and tell them how you felt about it. It will DEFINITELY be of benefit to them as they can make sure to learn from their mistakes and improve on future events like this.
__________________ Erika Martin * Vermont * SU! Demo * My blog: Stampin' Mama
Though I suspect SU reads this board carefully, I encourage you to send an email to SU and share your concerns and make specific suggestions on how to improve the event. I'm sure SU has no interest in annoying customers on purpose!
Agreed!
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
This wasn't the email I received!!! Demonstrators might have got this from the website, but this isn't ANYWHERE on the SU site that I've seen!!! My demonstrator was expecting A LOT more too. She said had she known it was only one make and take, she wouldn't have had us drive an hour each way. The biggest frustration was that so many registered people weren't on any of the lists. It wasn't just people in my group. There were TONS. Hopefully it gets worked out A.S.A.P.
Opportunity Night offers guests the fun of stamping while learning about Stampin' Up!'s rewarding business model. Guests will discover how to run a successful home-based business as they enjoy a wonderful hobby.
Start spreading the word to your hostesses, customers, friends, and neighbors living in the Virginia Beach areas--anyone who wants to learn more about the Stampin' Up! opportunity. Perks for Participants
Have fun!
Stamp a beautiful hand-made card to take home.
Have chances to win amazing door prizes and giveaways.
Learn about the business opportunities of being a demonstrator.
I can't speak on SU's behalf, but I am an independant consultant for another home based business that has "opportunity nights".
I think the key thing we need to realize is that these events are geared towards recruiting more than crafting. They are a fantastic way for anyone who is interested in the business to get a better idea of how things work before they get involved. That being said, it also needs to be a profitable event for the people hosting the event. Someone had to front the costs for everything from the space rented, to the materials provided for the cards made. I have learned from attending other companies (not SU) opportunity nights that the most prizes generally go to people who are ready to sign up that night. It can be disapointing to anyone else in attendance, but the ultimate goal is really to recruit new consultants.
It is too bad about the administrative snafu's, because these meetings can be very informative if you are looking for a home based business opportunity.
I went. It was free to attend, but $7 to park. My sister went also and parked 4 blocks away to get free parking.
There were 2 catalogs and some minis on the table. Cookies if you wanted them. And tiny paper cups of water you could get if you wanted.
They did 2 drawings for stamps. That was fun. One about 10 minutes into it and then another 30 minutes into it so the people trying to register could do it to.
They played the DVD that comes with the starter kit and then a clip about conference. This energetic lady did a great job showing how to do a tag book. It was cute. I wish they would have had a handout on how to do it, because now I can't remember the steps.
Then we did a make and take sharing tools with the table - about 6 people. It wasn't my style, but they used versamark and chalked the image. That was a new technique for me and I am glad I went for that.
Then it was - If you want to join sign up now. The paper work is at the table and you have 1/2 an hour to complete it.
It was kind of a let down, but still nice to get out of the house. It just felt thrown together and the staff looked tired. Maybe bottled water, handouts of make and take shown, go over benefits of joining - anwser questions about commissions, returns, opportunities....
Well, from these posts, nobody is talking about how they presented the "opportunity". Did they not go over the great benefits of being a demo?
__________________ Just my two stamps worth, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* * * Sue * * * In quaint, quiet, quirky little Darmstadt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They played the DVD that comes with the starter kit
That's it?
Nothing about all the ops to earn free stuff? Or about all the previews, and preorders? Or about all the super samples posted daily for inspiration? Or the monthly mag we get?
That's too bad....I agree with the ladies above. I would email SU and let them hear your thoughts, maybe they can improve the next one.
I got the email for the Virginia one, but its 5 hours away from us. I would go if close by like within a 30 minute drive. Sorry to hear it didnt go so well. I think they could have had free parking, thats crazy. How many people went to that event?
My guess would be 500-800 people were there. After showing the opportunity video from the starter kit, they did the make and take and showed a video of another project. They did show the new (extra) stamps sets you could receive if you sign up before May 31st, but that was it. They played a brief clip from last convention and commented that the next would be in denver. The music they played with the clip was extremely loud making it hard to watch (people got up and left...)
They did say if you didn't HAVE a demo, they could find one for you. If you knew of a Demo that you wanted to sign up under, you would have to get their signature (forms were provided on each table) before becomming a demo.
SU Opportunity Night a HUGE dissapointment
