My World Bazaar Festival 2014 Experience
It's been a while since I last posted here on my blog, because I thought I don't have enough reasons to blog anything. But because I had a new experience to share with you, I think this blog entry is worth to blog about.
I was invited to become the officer-in-charge (OIC) to an exhibitor's booth in the World Bazaar Festival 2014 at the World Trade Center, Manila. The event was organized by the Philippines' media giant, ABS-CBN Broadcasting, Inc. for the benefit of their Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation.
The bazaar
The bazaar is one of the longest bazaar events I have ever seen. From December 5th to 21st, booths from different exhibitors experienced long queues of people who were doing their last minute Christmas shopping. I have seen people who went there not just only once, but many times, almost twice or thrice a week just to complete their shopping list.
The World Bazaar Festival is full of surprises. It's like an air-conditioned Divisoria with their discounted and lowered prices of goods and mechandise and it felt like a "sosyal" palengke (marketplace) with all their variety of products. From dried goodies to clothes to bags to Christmas decors to a variety of food -- the World Bazaar Festival 2014 was really a place everyone should go to like every year!
You can find stuff that you won't find in any malls. Most exhibitors, if not all, had their prices discounted. You can find promo packs of 3's, or 5's with different items at affordable prices for gift ideas and giveaways. Ugh! If only I have the money, I would shopping there, every single day I was there.
Lessons Learned
As I as was doing my 9-day part-time job at the World Bazaar Festival 2014, I cannot let myself not to observe what were happening inside the bazaar event. People are coming in from all walks of life and from different places as well. So, without further ado, here are some of the things that I learned during my 9-day stay as the OIC to the booth I was working with.
Thank god for free taste. Most of the workers from the exhibits I have known depended on a day-to-day salary basis, but some of them would give the salary of their workers at the end of the event. So, the money to buy the food for the exhibitors' workers was really the problem. Fortunately, some booths from the Food Tent gave away free samples of their food products. In my experience, I have tasted a small sip of wine, some pieces of hotdogs and hams, corned beef on a bread, milk fish products, pork luncheon meats, some types of sardines, and different noodle dishes among other things. If you are a first time visitor, you may want to check out booths that give out free taste of their products to satisfy your hunger and not leave the bazaar with an empty stomach.
No matter how good you are at sales pitches, when there is a douche customer, there will always be a douche customer. Sadly, yes. I have met customers who still tried to bargain discounted promo packs and exchange them with different items to satisfy their greediness at bargaining. Sorry for the word, but I pity those salesladies and dispatchers for these douchebag customers. But of course, no matter how douche your customers are, always put a smile in front of their faces (the cursing can be done maybe inside the comfort room, hahaha!).
When you go to bazaars, explore on different foods and do not eat the usuals. You don't go to bazaars and simply eat at McDonald's stall there. There are a variety of food stalls intended for consumption by the customers. Some of these food stalls are those hard-to-finds and offer one-of-a-kind food such as boneless lechon, or kalderetang baka or ginataang tilapia or even Korean fish cakes that you won't find elsewhere. Explore your palate and look for your cravings. You will be shocked at what you will find at bazaars.
Freebie stuff are the best! There were some booths that gaveaway freebies such as t-shirts, umbrellas, caps, etc. for every 2 or 3 promo bags that you bought or depending on the items included in the promo packs. Some people are into freebies, really, and they are crazy about it that they choose the booth with a freebie instead of the booth, where they can have really big discount. Not a smart shopper, right? Hahaha! Oh well...
You will learn to respect salesladies, dispatchers, and sales attendants. This learning is very much true for me because I have experienced it first hand. In my previous work, I experienced working for ten hours in front of a computer and sitting all day. In this part-time job as OIC in a booth, I had experienced working for 15 hours standing all day. The first few days were really a pain in my calves and knees, but I got used to it as the days passed by. So, my highest respects to all salesladies, dispatchers, and sales attendants. Congratulations for a job well done!
You'll learn to make friends with co-exhibitors. If there were people who understood the exhibitors and their workers, the closest people are always their co-exhibitors. During my 9-day stay at the event, I have met crazy but dedicated people who were reciting their sales pitches just to convince the customers to buy their products. These people are also the happiest when they talk to their co-exhibitors. Somehow, we connect with each other and this bazaar brought us together.
You'll find good stuff that you don't find at malls and at discounted prices. Just imagine finding a bottle of flavored wine selling at only P160 per bottle when it costs at around P260 per bottle in malls. You saved P100 for that, isn't that great? This and some other things that you can find inside bazaars such as the World Bazaar Festival 2014.
If someone wants to buy something in your booth, and he/she has the money, there will be no questions to be asked. He/She will buy it right away. I have met some people like this one. Budgeted or not, for giveaway or not, if these people want to buy your product, they will buy it without a blink of an eye. There will be no more bargaining involved. Every transaction is just a breeze away. Isn't that great when it comes to marketing your product/s? I do hope all transactions are like these. Hahaha!
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So, there. My World Bazaar Festival 2014 has finally come to an end. I kind of missing it, but I have to rest my body for a while. Standing all day was really a no joke. Until the next bazaar! See you there when I see you! Ciao for now!
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Very informative, keep posting such good articles, it really helps to know about things.
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