2014 Edmonton Pet Expo

I thought I would ask for input from you wonderfully imaginative residents of Paradise.  My local bird club, the Edmonton Pet Parrot Association (EPPA), is participating in this years Edmonton Pet Expo on January 25-26, 2014.  As usual, we are the only local organization that is representing birds at the show.  There are several local breeders in the area, and a couple of other "bird clubs", but no one else ever attends the Expo.

I was asked by our Executive for any ideas I may have to make our booth better this year than previous years. Basically, we have our members in attendance with as many varieties of birds as we are able, and those of us with "sociable" animals have the birds there for interaction and pictures.  We use the event to gain exposure for our club, which advocates responsible bird ownership and education for owners and wanna-be owners.

I have created binders that contain information on as many "pet" parrots as I have been able to come up with, many of whom are owned by members of the club.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas that I could use that might make our booth more entertaining, or may help us to drum up new local membership, while educating people about responsibvle parrot ownership?  Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I think that having birds there for picture is a great way of gaining people's attention.

Alex is always popular, maybe stream some video?  Also, people see birds, but I don't think they really see how intelligent and affectionate they are.  I'm not sure quite how to get that across...

Do any of the birds know any tricks?

Hi ladies,

Merlin knows several tricks.  He will turn, show his wings, shake his head, give kisses, and flip around my finger, when he is in the right mood.  However, because he needs to wear his harness at the show (which he hates with a passion), he is usually in a pissy mood as far as tricks go.  On the bright side, he is usually very sociable, and will visit other people for attention quite easily.  He is usually a very good boy at the show in that way.

I have a friend from the club that has a Hawkshead parrot, which is very pretty and usually quite sociable as well.  As a result, the two of us are usually front and centre as far as interaction goes, as most other members are less willing to let their birds interact with others.  Those that will interact really help people dispel their fears about birds and does show that they are intelligent, interactive and cuddly, when they want to be.

Video is a good idea, but sound is an issue, as it is quite loud in the show area, with everyone talking and milling about, so videos with talking parrots would not be well received.  However, maybe if we had just the video going, showing other birds that we don't have at the show    

Love the feedback, any other thoughts?

If the videos are captioned, that could draw them in and you could offer headphones if they really want to hear it.

Thanks Deb, I will mention the idea to the group and see what we can do.

Thanks for the input and the help!

By the way, just thought I would say, it is nice to be talking to someone in the forum again.  I have missed everyone here and the conversations we used to have.  It's so quiet in Paradise lately   .

I miss you guys too

Me, three! I think we need some new blood.  Many are active on Facebook, but the dynamic is definitely different.

I would love to get some new people here, and there are several that have joined.  They just haven't joined the conversation.  I don't know how we do that.

Are we harder to find, does anyone think, due to our website moving locations?

I think we're harder to find due to the link, but we're also less active and don't show up in Google searches as readily as other forums. 

How did your expo go?

It was quite good, thanks!  We had the largest variety of birds we have had at the Expo in several years.

We had an African Grey, a Sulfur Crested Cockatoo, a Quaker, a Green Cheek, my Maroon Bellied, a Greenwing Macaw, a Blue and Gold Macaw, a Cockatiel, a Hawkshead Parrot, and the sweetest little Budgie I have ever seen! It was so hand tame and calm it was incredible!

The Saturday session ran from 10 am to 6 pm.  Merlin was WORN OUT by the end, but he made it through the day, sitting on lots of hands and posing for lots of pictures.  Have I ever mentioned how much he hates his Aviator harness?  I was not very popular for the first couple of hours, until I broke out the sunflower seeds.

We had a very popular booth, with lots of good questions (and some bad - I personally am sick to death of "does he talk?") and lots of very interested people.

The main reasons we do the expo is to educate people about birds, dispel some myths, and try to gain new members for our club.  I know the first two were accomplished, but I am not sure if we secured any new members as yet. Time will tell.