Stepping Out to the SL Shoe Fair

I’ve been mulling over events, since this weekend I went to the SL shoe fair. Shoe Fair, you say? Never heard of it! And I nearly didn’t as well. I happened to be on when two group members of Vain were asking for an LM, and joined the clamor for one, despite one Vainer’s remark that she had heard it was “pretty lame”—a foot, but not shoe-related pun, let me point out. I bristled with indignation—well, I don’t have an animation for that, but did so internally—why put something down if you haven’t seen it yourself?—and hopped right over when the LM arrived (because Vainers have EVERYTHING in their capacious inventories and memories).

Well, she was right. Having visited the Hair Fair for an earlier issue, one difference was clear—there were only a handful of avis there Saturday evening. I stopped by again the next morning—I was alone. No buzz was being generated, that was clear—or, as one friend suggested, they may have crowded the place on Thursday and Friday.

Also missing was a sense of theme or fun. The event took place on a sim that acts like a virtual convention center, and everyone’s booth was a uniform size and type, elegant as booths go, but much of a muchness. A sharp contrast to Hair Fair’s Candyland theme, which was both a navigation system (with its path), a chuckle-inducer (I still have my low-lag meringue wig), and a way to let the vendors express a sense of personality.

Most heavy hitters weren’t there. No Moody, no Minx. Relatively few of the new prim toe models I’m eager to make without sufficient HUD knowledge. And not a single men’s shoe that I could see, except unisex sneakers—that just seems wrong! (I was in male form, having just shot some vendor signs for Cacao, and did a rare sneak-out without changing back into myself, so that may have magnified my indignation). It did introduce me to a few unknown stores whose products interested me, like Enkythings, Diva's and Bax.

There were more boots than shoes, and several fetish shoes that made me think SL’s large dom/sub population might find a trip worthwhile. Some of the vinyl and gleaming leather textures throughout the booths were really quite impressive, as if some virtual shoeshine booth had been hard at work.

Shoe Fair was actually very small, with only 18 booths acting as shoe boxes. Many empty booths remained in the convention center, suggesting the entrance fee was either high, the merchant contact rate was low, or some other factor mitigated against participation—again, a far cry from the full sim of Hair Fair. Perhaps it had to do with prim count? Displays were ads, rather than actual footwear—though that has never stopped me from buying.

Perhaps charitable endeavors helped boost Hair Fair? One or more or all of most vendors’ booths had a “Locks for Life” item, with profits donated to the charity. Or perhaps it was simply too short, being an extended weekend affair, rather than Hair Fair’s full week and a little extension due to some SL glitches.

I’m thinking of having two kinds of events in the early fall, and though I have no illusions that it will draw thousands, I’d like to reach respectable numbers. Groups are a great way to reach people, depending on the kind of event, but I haven’t heard much good about SL publicists—and I have no idea how to interest the Lindens into posting an event at sign-in time, though I imagine big-time charity involvement or intriguing CSI-like publicity are key. There’s an SL forum for discussion of promotion, so I’d better start reading.

But I’m feeling for Shoe Fair and its worn-down sole. What happened? Somebody did some hard work trying to organize and their efforts were kicked to the curb. That shoes—one of SL’s biggest sellers!—couldn’t draw visitors is a thought to sober the most enthusiastic event promoter. Write and tell me about your event triumphs and horrors, please!