The Morinville and District Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Trade Show opened Friday night for three days of business and entertainment. – Stephen Dafoe Photos
Morinville – The Morinville & District Chamber of Commerce Trade Show came to a successful end Sunday afternoon. Trade Show Committee Chair Paula Hittinger said she was pleased with how the event went.
“It was an awesome weekend,” Hittinger said at the conclusion of the three-day business expo. “It was well attended. We figure about 1,600 people through the doors over the entire weekend. It went well. It went really well.”
This year’s visitor tally exceeded last year’s event by more than 200 attendees, an impressive accomplishment given the competition from other municipality’s trade shows, other events in the community, and a weekend of summer-like weather.
Hittinger said many exhibitors commented that visitors to this year’s trade show were interested in what they had to offer and that many sales and connections had been made. “They’ve been very happy with how the show was put together, attendance and the interest of people coming to talk to them at their booths.”
John Bosman with 97.3 The Range said he was pleased with the response to the radio station’s booth. “We were really happy to be able to come down here and showcase the station, talk to people and engage the local community,” Bosman said, “It was a great opportunity for us. Our station is seven and a half months old and still growing strong.”
Kelli Allen with Morinville Tiny Tots Preschool said having a booth at the Trade Show helped them with their fundraising raffle. “Our location was awesome,” she said. “We had plenty of walk by traffic. We sold more tickets than we did last year.” Allen said they sold 261 raffle tickets at their booth, giving people an opportunity to win the first prize of $5,000. The preschool is looking to raise $25,000 towards a new school.
Kareen Tucci of KT Admin was also pleased with the response to her booth. “I thought the exposure was excellent,” she said. “[It was] a positive turnout of people interested in what I had to offer and what I had to say. I”m really happy I came out.”
Plenty of Entertainment
But while the hockey arena and curling rink were full of exhibitors and visitors over the three days, there was more to this year’s show than products and services. The Chamber made sure there was plenty of culture and entertainment to fill the weekend.
Friday night had a variety of dancers from Dance Connections taking to the stage to demonstrate their skills. Saturday’s entertainment gave visitors something to cheer about. The Edmonton Eskimos Cheerleaders were joined by cheer teams from École Georges P. Vanier School and Goerges H. Primeau School. Sunday combined a session from the Yellowrock Square Dancers and the always popular Baby Crawl.
The Trade Show was a fantastic event and great networking opportunity. Thank you so much to all the volunteers for their hours of work and dedication to making this event such a success. In addition to seeing lots of exhibitors from other years, it was wonderful to see so many new exhibitors. We’ll definitely be taking part again next year.