Sales Manager
Laura Diane Moore
July 2008

We had a staff “wind-down” party last Friday afternoon late and we were laughing and joking about nothing in particular until Paul brought up a very sobering thought.  In a casual, throw-away tone, he remarked, “Hey, guess what we’ll be doing exactly four months from today?”  That’s right, running around like crazy at the Portland Workshop!  Four months, and counting! 

With the exhibit hall only 63% sold, I’ve been focusing efforts these last two weeks on selling booth space to new clients.  I’m happy to report that my efforts have been paying off and three new vendors signed up and a previous one re-joined.  I’m culling lead sources from numerous places and now have a solid list of over 75 prospects.  Paul designed a nice HTML file for me that I send out as a teaser, and then I follow up with a phone call.  The response is varied and mixed.  I’m mainly focusing on business on the west coast to help over come the “travel expense” objective. 

Details on the “VarroBook Scavenger Hunt” finally gelled and a promotional flyer was created.  It can be found on the website by visiting the Exhibit Hall page.

There are opportunities for both vendors and non-vendors to play (and pay) which make it a lucrative addition.  I started selling it in earnest this week.  I’ll give an update on my progress in the August report. 

The latest edition of Legacy landed on my desk yesterday and the back page ad looks glorious.  We are so grateful for that agency’s support.  The next time you’re in Monterey Bay, please be sure to stop by the aquarium and tell them you saw their ad in Legacy! 

Strong efforts were made to procure new advertisers for the September (Eco Tours) and November (Green Architecture) issues of Legacy.  I was challenged by a short lead-time and lack of awareness for the product.  However, I did manage to procure one new advertiser and re-instate a previous one.  So efforts did not go entirely for naught.  I’ve been in communications with several “green” architectural firms and hope to claim new advertisers for that issue, as well.

Sponsorship proposals are still in process with no new news to report there.  I am in the final stages of writing a “sponsorship opportunity” packet for Paul to put the final touches on.  It will be part of a follow up campaign to those agencies that are aware of us and our needs, but who have not committed anything, yet.  That will be completed by the end of next week.

I continue to solicit book publishers and small authors to fill in the ads for the BookSmart page in The Interpreter as well as sell spots on the BookSmart Booth.  There seems to be a long lag-time involved between initial contact and final decision, so there’s no new buys to report there.

We did a mailing of the new Personal Interpretation book to all the professors on our mailing list and it was favorably received. We anticipate good sales on this title.  Two hundred copies of Interpreting for Park Visitors and Interpretation in the 21st Century were ordered.  The last time we ordered these books was last summer.  The pricing has not changed.

So, the sales office is picking up steam.  Thanks for all your encouraging words!

Fond regards,
Laura Diane