47 replies to this topic

[3rdGenDist]

If anyone from PPAI reads this, please enforce your own rules about carts on the show floor!

Every year it gets worse. It used to be that the only way you were allowed to have a cart is if you had a note from your doctor or an obvious disability and need it for assistance.

Anymore it has spun out of control. Aisles are getting clogged up and people can't get through many times. In addition, some people leave their cart in the middle of the aisle while they walk into a booth and look around.

By about the end of the first day, I have had enough of the unattended carts in the aisle, so I nicely walk by and take them about three booths down and drop them off.

I know, it's not nice.. But I get so tired of people only thinking of themselves. If we all made an attempt to be considerate of each other, this kind of thing would not need to happen.

Heck, two years ago I saw one guy who had a two wheel cart and a 50 gallon drum strapped to it. It took up 3/4 of the aisle just by itself!

I have seen several people trip over unattended carts and fall.

It is out of control and something needs to be done before someone gets hurt.

[3rdGenDist]

No wonder the hot-dog profits at the Mandalay Bay are through the roof and Oscar Meyer is trying to become a food vendor. :)

[Allan]

Maybe a solution would be to widen the aisles. Or perhaps one should watch where they are walking instead of pushing and shoving. THAT activity chaps me more than the cart issue.

I also think that the floor should be limited to two members of any one company.

[ampro]

The solution is, as suggested, to have folks enforce their own rules and get these carts under control. In the first 30 minutes of one show I attended, I got hit in the legs by a cart then had another pulled over my feet. At the same show, I saw a young couple pushing a baby carriage filled with samples and catalogs! And the baby? Walking beside "Daddy" holding on for dear life and yelling his brains out. Great parenting!

Fuilly agree, both ASI and PPAI need to do something about this mess, it is already out of control! Bill

[Linda]

I vote to keep the carts. I have had few problems with discourteous people, and the weight of the samples and catalogs I pick up )I do ask to have most shipped to me) is enough to keep my chiropractor in business for years to come!! Even my 17 year old assistant (read: daughter) who wouldn't DREAM of taking a rolling backup to college-let alone high school (even with 50 lbs of books on her 115 lb frame) has no problem with the rolling card at the shows.

Linda Mellin
:D

[lmargolis]

Maybe if carts were limited to being only one person wide and each person has to sign a pledge to keep their cart with them at all times. ^^

[Mark@BB-U]

Come on Guys!
Let's hear it from the folks who attend the show to make a living!

PPAI Vegas needs to be a day or 2 longer on the floor. Everyone is rushing from one spot to the next. There is just not enough time to walk the floor and visit with some new suppliers. Yea, it is too crowded - Keep your eyes open and slow down, If there are thoes who need to collect samples, so be it. Perhaps they need to be just a bit more considerate to the folks that do not need to collect. And thoes who don't, ever think of assisting some one else when they are in a tight spot? It's all too easy to criticize than it is to help. How is your driving?


Mark

[RelKey]

3rdGenDist said:

Anymore it has spun out of control. Aisles are getting clogged up and people can't get through many times. In addition, some people leave their cart in the middle of the aisle while they walk into a booth and look around.

I know it's gotten so bad that I just won't shop at Costco any longer....

If the truth be told... I try to ignore those who are collecting so much stuff that they have to have wheels. What chance does any supplier have when our samples and catalogs must compete to be noticed in the 50 gallon black hole with wheels.

I think some of you distributors should have bumper stickers to attach to the offenders hand carts that reads:

CAUTION!!
I don't know what I'm doing so I'm
grabbing everything thats not bolted down.

[3rdGenDist]

Linda said:

I vote to keep the carts. I have had few problems with discourteous people, and the weight of the samples and catalogs I pick up )I do ask to have most shipped to me) is enough to keep my chiropractor in business for years to come!! Even my 17 year old assistant (read: daughter) who wouldn't DREAM of taking a rolling backup to college-let alone high school (even with 50 lbs of books on her 115 lb frame) has no problem with the rolling card at the shows.

Linda Mellin
:D

Linda,

While I understand the weight issue, I can tell you that people have been carrying those bags around the show floor for 50+ years and nobody has died from it.

Yes, it does make you sore.. It makes me sore too. However, if you plan ahead, you can avoid a lot of that extra weight..

For example, if you drive, park in the parking area just off the convention center and make a few runs out to your car during the day. If you fly in, get a hotel room in the Mandalay, Excaliber or Luxor and make a trip back to your room at lunch time and again in the middle of the afternoon, which happens to be what I do. Using the tram between the hotels makes it quick and easy.

Another idea, don't take so much stuff! :o I no longer do catalogs at all. I use the internet and cd's. It save the suppliers money and I don't have to carry around a bunch of bags just to keep up!

Another idea.. Use 3 X 5 cards. Print them as Catalog Request cards. For example..

Catalog Request (at the top)

Please send ____ <---- (blank space for you to write in how many catalogs you want from each particular supplier) catalogs to my office listed below.

Have address at the bottom..

One more idea.. USE the PPAI shipping service and just take your full bag to them and have them ship it for you.

There are so many things you can do if you think about it. I don't mean to be rude or disrespectful to you in saying this but as a country and society we have become so lazy and expect others to cater to our needs. These tradeshows are work for both suppliers and distributors.

25 years ago we didn't have these kinds of tradeshow issues in the industry because people sucked it up and made it happen.

Now if a person has a medical condition and cannot function without this kind of assistance, then by all means.. But for the rest of us we need to suck it up and do a little physical work for a change.;)

[Allan]

3rdGenDist said:

25 years ago we didn't have these kinds of tradeshow issues in the industry because people sucked it up and made it happen.

Were there big tradeshows 25 years ago?

[Linda]

Chris: I appreciate your comments, and I DO everything possible to limit what I take, asking most suppliers to ship, utilizing the shipping service, but STILL I find it difficult to carry.

Perhaps those with UNATTENDED carts, blocking aisles, should have carts confiscated, and pay a fee-given to charity-to retrieve them. HA-HA-then we'd have to have CART POLICE!!

As to your argument that we've had no carts for 50 years- if you follow that philosophy, maybe we could get rid of cell phones, pdas, air conditioning, laptops, etc. Change CAN be for the good-the problem isn't carts, it is RUDENESS-if everyone followed the Golden Rule- "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" we'd have no problems with carts or anything else for that matter :D

[imprint]

As a distributor who has been using a 22" rolling suitcase for a few years, I can tell you it is a life saver. When you are at one end of the show floor & the package mail room is at the other, it can be very difficult.
I, as well as most others, do try and be careful about the rolling case. It is the few jerks that are careless and cause comments like are posted here.

[designitdeb]

I agree - the problem is some people are just plain rude. It's not the carts - it's lack of upbringing.

[Allan]

Tim,

I use a cart and I guess I do not need to stop at your booth. Anyway, I am not a scooper. I dislocated my shoulder and I do not like to carry things in my arms.

Some suppliers need to read the scanned comments. I always ask for 1 (!) catalog to be sent to me or none if I have picked it up at the show. Many times I get 2 and more sent to me anyway.

As someone much nicer than (your own words) said about prejudging people with carts in another post, be careful with the brush that you so broad paint us cart-ers with--some of that paint might fall on a good customer.

RelKey said:

I know it's gotten so bad that I just won't shop at Costco any longer....

If the truth be told... I try to ignore those who are collecting so much stuff that they have to have wheels. What chance does any supplier have when our samples and catalogs must compete to be noticed in the 50 gallon black hole with wheels.

I think some of you distributors should have bumper stickers to attach to the offenders hand carts that reads:

CAUTION!!
I don't know what I'm doing so I'm
grabbing everything thats not bolted down.

[cinner]

I am sure that PPAI announced a couple of years ago that everyone can have carts. It no longer requires a doctor's note. I am guessing this just got too hard to enforce.

My bigger issue is the kids. You don't see employees, sales people, etc. at Fortune 500 companies bringing their kids to their conferences. Why do you think it's okay to bring them to ours? Do you really think I want to walk around with your screaming kid and do you really think the suppliers have those samples on the table to entertain your kids. Uh...No.

[3rdGenDist]

Ok.. ok.. I am as passionate about this topic as the next person but lets not let it get personal.

I think RelKey was just trying to be funny.. I laughed..

Allen, note that he said "some" which leave it up to you to decide if you fit the bill, which I doubt you do.

Linda - You are right.. It's not the cart, it's the owner of the cart.. Same with cars and guns and all that other stuff in our world. The problem is this..

Can PPAI change how people treat others? No..

Can they enforce the cart rule? Yes!

So what do you do?

There are some very nice "experienced" folks in our industry. If one of them trips over your cart or suitcase or 50 gallon drum and breaks a hip, who's gonna get sued? My guess would be PPAI, Mandalay Bay and the person who owned the cart/suitcase/50 gallon drum.

It's going to happen! You watch! They can't go on like this and it not take place at some point.

[Allan]

3rdGenDist said:

Ok.. ok.. I am as passionate about this topic as the next person but lets not let it get personal.

I think RelKey was just trying to be funny.. I laughed..

Allen, note that he said "some" which leave it up to you to decide if you fit the bill, which I doubt you do.

I did laugh as well. I was just making the point that he is painting with a broad brush. And that is just as bad as a PPD saying that "I will never use that supplier!"

I think that a solution would be to limit access to the floor either by appointment or by ticket. My regional does not allow children. Why would I assume that my 10 year old would be allowed? He is very well behaved but he is not a paid employee of my company. Carts are not the issue! People are.

[3rdGenDist]

I agree Allan.. Carts are not the issue.. People are..

So what can they truly do about it? I agree, no kids on the showfloor would be one thing.. But as to the rudeness that is displayed, not much can be done. So limiting the carts would at least help with the congestion.