Aaron Copeland — Thunderbox USA
We attended our first Overland Expo East in October 2019. We were newcomers to the industry having started in 2018. For those unaware, we import high quality Australian-made portable camping toilets. For our first East show, around 30 or so units were shipped out for us to sell. We did not sell out, however, we had no expectations being that it was our first show.
Fast forward to October 2021. Leary of expo attendance on the east coast, we shipped out 32 units, about the same as our first show, for this year's show. With our freight shipped we flew into Virginia from California. Everything was going smoothly until we learned that our crate did not arrive as promised. The show kicked off Friday morning and our booth remained empty.
After some strenuous telephone calls we learned our crate would arrive Friday, and thankfully it did. We set up shop Friday after the show closed.
On Saturday we were eager to start. We had a great amount of sales and interest. To our delight we completely sold out by 2pm! Now what? Not wanting to disappoint attendees, we decided to honor our special discounted show price and ship for free all units pre ordered at the show. Sunday sales were vigorous as well.
Needless to say, we have a lot of shipping to complete upon our return. With the preorders we nearly doubled our sales from the 2019 show.
Chad Warner, Host - Wailin Wayne Weekend
“I want to express my gratitude to the Overland team for organizing all the educational seminars. All the attendees in my seminars were engaging and grateful for the learning opportunities presented to them.”
Sonya Staples, Staples InTents
“This is the first year that Staples InTents (Sonya and Necota) has participated in Overland Expo East as instructors, and we are so glad we took the opportunity to share our perspectives and stories. Although we still have so much to learn, it was very refreshing to get feedback from so many people that what we shared was not only relatable, but also helpful. As we gain more experience and learn more, we look forward to continuing to attend as instructors and share our knowledge and experiences with our fellow overlanders.
Stacey Pierce - Co-Founder/CEO, OME Gear
We are still living in the "afterglow" of the Overland Expo...exhausted but still smiling.
We drove 8 hours to the Overland West Show just to walk the show and see what it was like and if it would be a fit for our company/product. The minute we walked in the gate we knew we were "home". We immediately went on the website to find out if there was room for us at the East event. We booked plane tickets, rented a box truck, loaded Wanderrs up from our manufacturer in Harrisburg, PA, and found ourselves at the EAST show 2 weeks later. This was an amazing event for us, not only to sell Wanderrs, but the exposure and contacts we made were immeasurable. Big shout out to the Expo Team and all the volunteers who help us make our first event super successful.
We would love to offer $50 off to Expo attendees by using code OVEAST50 on our website. Valid thru 10/20.
Can't wait for the next show!