Christopher will miss seeing everyone. Have a great 2010!

The America’s Mart tradeshow in Atlanta gave us a great opportunity to start showing the world Christopher’s “new shoes.” As you may know, the Christopher Pop-In-Kins story and concept is unchanged but we’ve updated the look of the doll and the book. It’s the same great tradition and story that Flora started in 1985. What is new is the illustration style that Christopher is drawn in. I think I’m the third or fourth artist over the last twenty three years to illustrate Christopher Pop-In-Kins. During the process of putting my spin on Christopher, I kept a photo on my computer screen of Flora’s original hand sewn Christopher doll. I wanted to make sure that I kept the original creative spirit of Christopher’s character in my illustrations. The color schemes and basic design are all still there – that was very important to me personally.

So while we were in Atlanta I was excited and a little nervous to see what the reaction would be from all of the store owners shopping for this year’s Christmas items. Long story short – the reaction was incredible! If we had a nickel every time someone said “Oh my gosh, this elf is so cute!” we would be very well off! So to every one in Atlanta and your kind words, THANK YOU!

In Atlanta, our team consisted of myself, my wife Missy, Imaginatives CEO Rick Johnson, Bob Holliday, Imaginatives president Dave Kuntzman, and Debbie Burge. Besides Christopher himself, Debbie and Missy stole the show! It was so neat to see two people step into a role the way they did. Missy is a first grade teacher and Debbie is an executive assistant at Dave Kuntzman’s agency. So hosting a trade show booth is something they have never done before – but you would have never known it. I had to keep telling them how impressed I was with them. I remember Debbie saying “Well, it’s easy because Christopher is just so darn cute!”. (ding! nickel…)

We made some wonderful contacts and friends while we were in Atlanta. Folks from all over the country. From Florida to Michigan – and Massachusetts to California. So many wonderful people stopping by to see what our little elf was all about. Thank you all for your kind words and compliments!

The weekend following Atlanta we headed to Columbus, Ohio. Our humble little headquarters is based in Alliance, Ohio – about a two hour drive northeast of Columbus. So yes, we are Buckeyes and it was nice to be in our own backyard! Just like the week before in Atlanta, folks were quite impressed with little Christopher. It really makes me feel great to see people enjoy something I’ve helped with.

The cool thing for me in Columbus was meeting up with many people from Ohio that knew Christopher way before I did. I was fortunate enough to chat with a very nice couple from Chagrin Falls, Ohio. They had purchased Christopher for their store many years ago from Flora Johnson herself. They had wonderful things to say about Christopher’s new shoes and it was truly exciting to see their passion.

Looking forward, we have tradeshows planned for the ASTRA Convention June 23-24 at the MGM Grand in Mashantucket, Connecticut as well as the Atlanta Gift Mart, July 11-15 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Maybe we’ll see you there!