Portland Book Fair 2007

Well, the dust is settling from the Portland show. The show was moved from the old site (the Portland Expo Center) which was a big brick building with some charming architectural elements (but no air conditioning) to the Holiday Inn by the Bay's "Conference Center" (the quotations exist because it *was* parking garage space). What the space lacks in aesthetic merit, it more than makes up for in air conditioning.

Setup was on Saturday and had that element of performance art Theatre of the Absurd that all such events should embrace. The hotel, aware that a few dozen book dealers would be loading heavy things in decided that it would be smart to patch large sections of the parking levels in the garage. As a result, no one could actually pull up to the loading bay (that should have been able to hold 4-5 vehicles at a time. Instead, three vehicles (read vans/trucks) had to back down the ramp and unload "across" from the doors. We were, thankfully, able to wheel carts across the "new" cement...the alternative would have been to wheel things into the lobby and down the elevator. Luckily, we were somewhat early and were able to get in quickly and park behind on Pleasant Street.

Our location was very nice. We were near the front, had one open end, which I favor for any number of reasons, and at our other side was Don Lindgren/Rabelais Books, increasingly one of my more favorite book humans. This was doubly nice as it was a nice warmup for our adventure in a few months, as Don and I have decided to do the Seattle Fair this fall. Suzanne and my son, Aidan, were both on hand to help set up and shop for this and that.

Dealer turnout was interesting. As most may know, this is a "new" show, that is, it is in a new location, on a new date and it is no longer the show co-sponsored by MABA and MHS. For this last and undoubtedly many other reasons, a reasonable number of Maine dealers who have traditionally done the show were not there.

Personally, I missed Sarah of Sarah's Books fame. She had a scheduling conflict and was not able make it "down" for the show (it is a two hour or so drive down from Bangor...interesting as Bangor is still part of "Southern" Maine). In my not remotely humble opinion, Sarah's presence alone makes a book fair better. The profession needs more people who love books, book people, book trivia, bookish lore and the like...that she is charming and fun to have about are added perks.

Sarah absence notwithstanding, there was a broad and interesting collection of dealers at the show with a larger than usual number of good dealer "from away". For example, David Richie made the trek up and his wit was a nice perk, as did Joe Maynard. With luck, this bodes well for the fair in years to come. We shall see.

The show seemed to have reasonably strong attendance. Not great numbers, but pretty healthy. Better still, there seemed to be a good number of people interested in buying (always a treat). I had expected to sell one book from the "sexy/fun/interesting" tables and a reasonable number from my history of Maine collection and was very pleasantly surprised to have a half dozen or so sales from the "not Maine" material adding to that sum and more of Maine items. Best yet, many of the sales were to new clients (as opposed to dealers). We do this show to support the Maine book scene, meet the bookishly inclined in and about Maine and have a good time. It was a pleasure to have it also be a good show from a sales standpoint.

As has been noted elsewhere, Don hosted a very nice wine and cheese party after set-up on Saturday. He had mentioned this earlier and I feel quite twitish about not offering to help with it. It was a great idea, a great time and I intend to assist next time around.

It was a fun show and a good weekend. Perhaps the best part was that it was 4ish blocks from the house. I was home by 530 or so and asleep by 930. Pathetic, but necessary.