2014 ACC St Paul - Sunday and Load Out

The show started later and ended earlier than previous days.  This is an attribute of Sunday as loadout happens today.  What took two days to set up has to be cleared in just five hours.  

Sunday was the slowest day of the show with practically no crowd and not a single sale, not even a close call.  I made my rounds early to say my goodbyes and wishes for a safe journey home to those I know.  Once teardown starts at 5:00PM there is no stopping for anything.  I have learned to remain calm during this period and take care to wrap my furniture and bundle booth parts for the trip home.  It takes me three hours.

Once everything is ready to cart to the loading dock I get to go get my vehicle.  A walk to the elevator at the end of the hall, up to the skywalk and down to my van parked in the ramp.  The usual exit is barracaded and I am directed to a different exit that resulted in a 20 minute drive around downtown St Paul trying to get into the line waiting to enter the loading dock.  But finally the GPS got me where I needed to be.  The line creeped ever so slowly and after an hour and a quarter I was entering the loading dock tunnel.  In just a few minutes I was approaching the loading dock area and asked the officer for a level loading space.  He told me that they were letting artists drive into the hall so I could park right next to my booth.  This is incredible!  Instead of taking six cart loads to my car in the dock I get to load in 15 minutes instead of an hour and a quarter.  Once loaded I left the hall, at 10:30PM, and headed back to my hotel.  I would spend one more night in St Paul, heading home Monday morning.