Cheap Joe's "Boone In June" History
Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, a small town company with an international name, held its first “Boone in June” Trade Show in Boone, NC in 2001 to celebrate the opening of the Cheap Joe’s Outlet Store. That show was held in the parking lot at Cheap Joe’s under a canvas tent. Over the years, the show has grown. First, another tent was added. Then came the addition of half-day workshops on the days leading up to the show. 2004 saw 40 vendors, two tents, live music and great food with an attendance of approximately 2000 visitors. 2005, the 5th anniversary of the Trade Show, was a very special event.
In 2005, “Boone in June” moved to the Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. The Holmes Center provided a larger setting to accommodate more vendors and visitors, allowing Cheap Joe’s to add exciting new booths, artist demonstrations and much more to the much anticipated event.
The 2005 “Boone in June” event began on Thursday, June 16, 2005 and Friday, June 17, 2005 with two days of half-day workshops. The show itself, on Saturday, June 18, 2005, featured over 70 vendors (25% were local businesses, galleries and artists), artist demonstrations all day, live music and barbecue.
2006 was again a success. Cheap Joe’s offered an expanded number of mini-workshops on Thursday, June 15, 2006 and Friday, June 16, 2006 leading up to the show. 2006 also saw the introduction of mini-workshop package deals, which included the workshops, accommodations and meals. The show, on Saturday, June 17th attracted visitors not only from the southeast, but also from the entire country. Everyone enjoyed a day full of deals, demos, food and music.
The 2007 show, which was held on June 16th, was great fun. We made even greater strides in all of the improvements set forth in 2006. Advertising was extremely effective, in part due to an improved event website, which included show information, vendor listings, mini-workshop descriptions and instructor bios, demo descriptions, driving directions and more. The mini-workshops and package deals were again well received, with numbers sold being greater than numbers offered the previous year. The show again attracted new vendors and was better organized, more relaxing and more fun! “Boone is June” has become an annual three-day vacation for many artists, thanks to the quality workshops and artist demonstrations, great prices on products from the top vendors, an accessible location, a relaxed atmosphere, music, food and fun.
» See the 2008 Trade Show Preview
» See the 2006 Trade Show Video
» See the 2005 Trade Show Video!
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The trade show was pretty cool. The burger and malt were the best as well as the music selection, not to mention the array of art supplies.
Cheap Joe's “Boone in June” Trade Show, workshops and visiting Cheap Joe’s Art Store was a very exciting experience… hope we can go next year.
Thanks again for participating in 2007. We could not have done it without you! Cheap Joe’s looks forward to seeing you in 2008!
