Anyone with Event Trailer?

[BamaSuper]

Would luv to know the pros and cons of owning and maintaining an event trailer for shooting sports events?
TIA
Mike

[eddarr]

Do you mean having a trailer set up with computer and printer etc? Are you wanting to sell and print right on site.

[BamaSuper]

Yes- Have multiple viewing stations and print on site.
Thanks

[eddarr]

What type of sporting events? Are these events the type that will sell enough volume to cover the expense?

The logistics of the trailer are fairly simple. Set it up to be on city power (when available) and have two generators around 1000w to 1500w each. Make sure you get the portable Hondas that are very quiet. Wiring it won't be hard but you can also get an electrician for fairly cheap.

Is this what you had in mind?

[ryant35]

Inside an old box truck:
http://www.caliphotography.com/res/boxtruck/boxtruck_19.jpg
Inside the toy hauler trailer:
http://www.caliphotography.com/res/trailer_inside.jpg

2 Separate rigs for shooting at 2 separate tracks on the same day. The guy who put
these together does this full time and seems to be doing pretty good. The spontaneous buyers make all the difference.

[ryant35]

Last year a $1500 weekend was decent for him, I'm not sure what he does on average now.

[convergent]

We looked into putting one of these together when I was up in NY and in the end decided against it. On the "pros" side, it lets you have everything ready to go on the fly... so less packing and setup. And, it also looks really cool and really professional if you do a good job. On the "cons" side, there were a few things that stopped us from proceeding. First, the price... this is not an inexpensive undertaking. Next, we'd have had to find a place to store it, as our neighbors would have killed us if it were in the yard. Next, it was only useful for outdoor events... and we did as many if not more indoor events... in which case you'd have to dismantle the whole thing. Next, is the trade-off between using view stations and proof sheets. I guess you could go either way with an event trailer, but most people go with view stations with trailers. Proof sheets to me are better unless you are going to have a LOT of view stations. They are easier to use and provide essentially unlimited viewing if done right. We then funnel interested people that have found some images in the proofs to guided viewing with our staff. Finally, the trailers either have their displays on the inside, or the outside. If they are on the inside, you've got issues with cooling and it being boxed in and crowded if you have a lot of visitors. Some people don't want to go in there. If you put them on the outside, then you have glare problems. We just found that although they look really, really cool, we felt that we could do better and have much more flexibility with tents and a portable setup. In the end, our setup time was the biggest drawback.

[WillMass]

Mike,

Your question is pretty open-ended.

I've had my trailer on the road for 5 years now. What exactly do you want to know?

[Dennis_Hammer]

$1500, I do 1500 without a truck or trailer and no onsite printing the more I hear the less I can justify doing that. I have done onsite at horse events but for only reason being they have lots of money they are very impulsive when they have won a medal and demanding. But other than that for sporting tournaments and such I just use exposuremanager, well worth it.

http://www.exposuremanager.com/aff/hammerphotos

[convergent]

Well I've done sporting events with and without onsite printing... and I got WAY more sales with onsite. But you don't need a trailer to do it. A couple of easy-up tents, some plastic tables, and a good sign, and you can quickly get a setup that is very professional looking and costs a lot less. I think the people that would be able to justify a trailor are the ones that do something that is outdoors all the time, and doesn't involve whole teams of people showing up at your booth at the same time.... so motorsports, equestrian, etc. Some of those shooters go to a different venue every week and travel a lot.

One other "pro" of a trailer is that it is a rolling billboard. When I was thinking of getting one, I had decided I would try and rent a spot in a parking lot on a main drag to park it at when I wasn't using it... and of course lock it well and chain it to something.

[amfoto1]

Hi,

I've not got a printing trailer, but have been looking into it, too...

A couple more things...

1. What size events? One photog I know who was using a trailer was regularly shooting motocross racing that often had 500-600 participants.

Personally I draw a line at 100 participants and usually will not consider doing onsite printing unless the organizer agrees to pay a fee. The cost of simply printing onsite is such that it's not possible to generate enough business off a small event to cover your outlay. That could be even greater with an expensive rig like a trailer. Now, if the trailer acted as a self-service kiosk, where people could mostly place their own orders and you didn't have to staff it with trained people, that might offset the cost of putting together the trailer to some extent. On the other hand, you'd need an adequate tow vehicle, plus gas mileage always goes south even when towing a smaller rig.

2. Also consider carefully how you are going to transport and store delicate computer equipment. First thing that comes to mind is the disk drives, of course, especially after they are loaded with valuable images and possibly other irreplaceable data. Perhaps removable drives and a padded case to store them/transfer them to the tow vehicle would be a solution. Or, eventually, when prices come down and sizes are bigger, solid state drives might be a workable solution. But, even solid state computer components won't take well to being rattled around a moving trailer or sitting stored in a hot/cold parked trailer.

Even a self-service kiosk is going to need to be staffed to some degree. There's simply no substitute for face to face selling. How many skilled computer operators do you know who can download files, organize and edit them, plus make a great, finished print quickly using the various tools at our disposal and are also good sales/customer service people? The two personality types are a bit at odds with each other.. But not always!

4. I thought long and hard about the idea of a rolling billboard, too. Lots of signage on the trailer sounded like a good idea... At first. Unfortunately, I figure it would also advertise "Steal Me" at least as much as it would help my business, so I've pretty much decided it's not a great idea. Some sort of temporary signage while on location with it - yes. But no markings or advertising on it any other time, I'm afraid, just as a practical matter. I might feel otherwise if I had a barn or warehouse to store it locked up reasonably securely, though.

Basically I think onsite printing has the potential to double your overall take from an event. If you don't do it, you are likely leaving about half your sales behind.

But, this isn't a universal rule by any means. For example, in youth sports leagues it's far more likely to produce additional business at final tournaments or playoff games, as opposed to the typical weekly, mid-season game.

Don't be too quick to judge based on a dollar amount you hear quoted. The motocross photog told me he typically sold $3000 and up on-site over a race weekend and nearly as much again after the fact (again, that's 500-600 participants over two days). Other types of events, $1500 may be pretty good. It will vary an awful lot by type of event and location.

And the economy is having a big effect. The events I've done for several years running are both a lot smaller this year and people are being a lot more careful about what they spend. This is even with people who you'd normally put in the "money to burn" category, who show up at equestrian events with a $25,000 horse or two in a $25,000 trailer with a tack room loaded with $1000 saddles and $1000 outfits, all towed by an $80,000 vehicle.

Plus, more and more I am seeing parents simply taking their own shots. It's rare now for there not to be at least two or three moms or dads with DSLRs even at the smallest events. Probably 3 out of 5 proud parents in attendance at least have their own P&S digital. Nearly everyone has a camera phone.

Sometimes there are folks there with "better" cameras than me (although usually not with better lenses). They aren't afraid to use them, either. When I'm nearby I hear them knock off 6 or 10 frames to every one I shoot. They are bound to get some "keepers" when they take 5000 photos in a day!

The worst "moms & dads with cameras" are the ones who follow me around and shoot over my shoulder... Or step right in front of me when I'm shooting. I had two "dads" follow me right into the middle of an arena the other day at an equestrian event. One of them was wearing a funky hat that spooked a horse and nearly sent a kid into the dirt!

In a big way, my customers have become my most direct competition!

All these are things you need to carefully consider before going to the serious expense of setting up an event trailer. I've put my project on hold... At least for now.

Finally, every minute that trailer sits idle makes it an expense to you, rather than a revenue generator. So, you'd really want to try to figure out some other ways to put it to work, whenever you aren't using it for an event yourself.

[BamaSuper]

Thanks for all the responses.
We use pop ups now. For viewing, We use one desk top to load the pictures and usually four lap tops networked together for viewing. My attendants really do a good job keeping drinks away from the lap tops but I know its just a matter of time. I rarely print onsite. I will speculate pictures, usually 5x7 in folders during two day events.
I guess the main problems with my way is losing the quick buy factor and also the terrible problem with dust, or the random thunderstorms (not a friend of the first up tents) that seem to follow the summer tournament trail. We shoot mostly youth baseball and softball tournaments.
I'm not sure I can justify the expense of a trailer especially with the economy where it is.
The main advantages I see in trailers over pop ups, is the time needed to set up, being able to store computer equipment in the trailer, and the kewl factor.
Sorry for the rambling, wishy washy post.
Thanks
Mike

[convergent]

You may want to consider proof sheets as an alternative to requiring view stations. I found that it works a lot better... so my three view stations are manned and we walk them through looking once they've picked out their top choices with the proof sheets. We dedicate a 4x6 roll printer to do the proofs and do 12 thumbnails per page... and have the game number on each page so that we can easily get them back into the right folder after customers mix them up. So we can have dozens of people looking for what they want, then when they come up to us we can find the images for them in a matter of seconds and let them see them on the screen. If they want them, our staff will do the cropping and any correction on the spot while they are watching, and then once they are done with the consulation, they collect the money and hit print. The cost of 4x6 proofs is peanuts and the thumbnails are big enough to identify the players... we also provide magnifying glasses to help. The problem I've seen with view stations only is that you can get kids that just camp on there for a half hour and tie it up with no intention of buying anything. The way we do it, we can service an entire team of parents as they leave the game... all at once.

Thanks for all the responses.
We use pop ups now. For viewing, We use one desk top to load the pictures and usually four lap tops networked together for viewing. My attendants really do a good job keeping drinks away from the lap tops but I know its just a matter of time. I rarely print onsite. I will speculate pictures, usually 5x7 in folders during two day events.
I guess the main problems with my way is losing the quick buy factor and also the terrible problem with dust, or the random thunderstorms (not a friend of the first up tents) that seem to follow the summer tournament trail. We shoot mostly youth baseball and softball tournaments.
I'm not sure I can justify the expense of a trailer especially with the economy where it is.
The main advantages I see in trailers over pop ups, is the time needed to set up, being able to store computer equipment in the trailer, and the kewl factor.
Sorry for the rambling, wishy washy post.
Thanks
Mike

[BamaSuper]

Do you sort by team or by game?

[convergent]

Do you sort by team or by game?

We put the proofs in folders by game and put the team names on the folder too. We also keep a schedule of the games we are shooting as an index, numbering each folder.

[WillMass]

Mike,

When I'm sick I go to someone who went to Med School, not someone who has thought about it.

When my tow vehicle needs repair I take it to someone who repairs trucks, not someone who has thought about it.

If you have any questions about real world experiences with an events trailer, feel free to PM me.