I Went To The International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago!

Holy cow, it’s been a long time since I posted!  I have a good reason though, I’ve been out of town having quite an adventure!  Last Saturday morning, I packed up and drove 4 hours to Oak Lawn, Illinois, where my friend Lisa lives. The next morning, we drove together into Chicago to attend the International Home + Housewares Show at McCormick Place downtown.

We spent eight hours Sunday walking up and down the aisles of one and a half buildings, visiting probably 300 vendors displaying everything from cleaning products to coffeemakers.  When our feet couldn’t take another step, we went back to her house to collapse, then got up Monday morning and went back! After another half a day of walking, networking, shaking hands, passing out business cards, accepting free samples, and pitching my services as a review blogger, I got back in my car and drove the four hours home.

And left my laptop in Lisa’s living room. Oh yes I did.  Try to imagine the panic I felt last night in the few minutes between realizing I didn’t know where it was and waiting for Lisa to get back to her house so she could call me and tell me if it was there or not. The good news? It was there, and she’s overnighting it to me today.

So, anyway, I got to visit my friend and her family AND attend an absolutely fabulous event! Imagine a building the size of the average Wal-Mart, except there are SIX HUNDRED individual booths to visit. And now multiply that by THREE buildings.  I didn’t visit all the  exhibitors, but I walked past probably two-thirds of all the booths.  I would guesstimate that I talked to somewhere around 300 individuals and handed out close to 150 business cards (most booths had more than one person).  I brought home two huge bags full of literature and samples, plus shipped home a small box!

Who did I see that you might be familiar with? Well, how about MR. CLEAN?

I’ve got more photos up on Flickr, and I”ll keep adding them as I go through them. It was an amazing experience, and I’m so grateful to Jay Kelly from the media relations team for the show for inviting me! He and his team did an incredible job putting everything together. I plan to attend next year for sure!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 10:57 am and is filed under Born to Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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10 Responses to “I Went To The International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago!”

1. Laura
   Twitter: soleflormom
   says:

   March 16, 2010 at 11:17 am

   I can see by your face that you had a great time!
   What a big bold guy At least his head seems clean!

   I’m sure your business cards will be taken into consideration for reviews and giveaways from some of the booth companies.
   Laura´s last blog ..Facebook, HootSuite, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg: I hate you
2. Mazel Tov Furniture - Living Room Furniture
   Twitter: asghar_paracha
   says:

   March 17, 2010 at 7:10 am

   yeah its looks like that you enjoyed a lot. great time.
3. Debbie says:

   March 17, 2010 at 7:57 am

   Thanks for coming to the Show, Elizabeth. We look forward to your views and coverage. We had nearly 2,000 exhibitors covering 700,000 net sq ft of exhibit space, so if you walked all three Show floor, you walked 13 miles of aisles.
4. Diana Augspurger
   Twitter: dianaaugspurger
   says:

   March 17, 2010 at 9:26 am

   As a 23 year attendee, I always leave the show inspired. If it’s not the great displays and new products, it’s the networking and even some celebrity spotting. Where else can you catch Cat Cora, Mario Batali, Michael Symon, Paula Deen and Todd English not to mention the Presidents of companies like KitchenAid and Rubbermaid…up close and personal. Glad you had a good time.
5. hair beauty says:

   March 17, 2010 at 10:36 am

   I want to go.
   hair beauty´s last blog ..The new concept of make-up trends “Peach Heart cheek” method of painting
6. DogsMom says:

   March 17, 2010 at 4:33 pm

   I would have looked for you on the tv reports if I had known!
   DogsMom´s last blog ..WW. Gold in the Water
7. Anna says:

   March 19, 2010 at 6:28 am

   I regret for not visiting this event. I’m going to correct my mistake the next year! You’ve encouraged me with enthusiasm:)
8. K2 says:

   March 21, 2010 at 7:03 pm

   looks like a great time!
9. Kate
   Twitter: cleht fracases
   says:

   March 22, 2010 at 5:45 am

   I’m hlad that you’ve spent a fabulous time there:)))
   Kate´s last blog ..Symfony 2.0 Preview Release Announced
10. Health Top Story says:

    March 25, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    You looks enjoyed it, happy good time
    Health Top Story´s last blog ..Herbs History: The Origins of Herbal Treatment