The Vendor Takeover strikes again! and this time for a phenomenal 3 day event loaded with multiple businesses representing their products or services! On the weekend of November 22nd - 24th 2024 at a newer yet massive venue space Meanwhile Block located at 119 (West) Costilla Street in downtown Colorado Springs, The Vendor Takeover completely made full use of this space presenting an indoor vendor event like no other!
719 Magazine had the honors of being awarded a booth all 3 days this month for winning “Most Engaging Booth” at the very first Vendor Takeover (also our first official vendor booth) last month (Oct) at Latin Quarters in Colorado Springs. Alot like last month, we made sure to take full advantage of this valuable promotional opportunity and bring some more coverage and engagement to this awesome collective effort of vendors and businesses. I have to say CB The Creative and Brad Volgleman along with a mulititude of partners knocked this one out the park as well! Great job to all the organizers and coordinators of The Vendor Takeover, exceptional work for sure!
EVENT RECAP:
With so many working parts to get this 3 day event going, I was beyond impressed with how smooth things seemed to go, at least from my perspectives. Each day featured a special themed showcase or competition and with a venue as large as Meanwhile Block, these contests for sure had the space to make it happen effectively and The Vendor Takeover delivered!
Day 1 - Friday 11/22/24
The Vendor Takeover - Business Takeover
As I began setting up around noon with some of our team, including the presence of our recent cover story artist KO Kelly, I was greeted by one of the event hosts and invited to join a “Pitch Royale” where a representative from participating vendor booths could give a pitch publicly on the mic and be scored by some guest judges (including Darcy Schoening and some others) which I found to be very motivating. I personally have never gave an official pitch for 719 Mag (outside of usual convos or selling magazine ads/tickets) so this would for sure be a great learning experience for me. Apparently I have alot to learn (with the score I received 🤣) after giving it a shot however, I took it with grace. More importantly, I also took notes on some really amazing pitches from other businesses and vendors. After quite a few participants competed in this pitch contest, the winner well deservingly went to Caprice Jones of Mrz Chevyz Candle World who has an amazing assortment of candles and other authentic gifts at her vendor and store located at Chapel Hills Mall in Colorado Springs, CO. Coincidentally I personally had been a customer of hers for quite a few years before this event. Check her products out at:
Throughout the rest of the day, I attempted to find a balance of supporting vendors and also connecting with so many visitors at our vendor table, also neighboring with the fam Kevin Hopkins (known as K Cheeba) a well known radio personality, host, podcast and media pioneer in the 719 (also a part of the 719 Mag team). K Cheeba had his 360 photo/video booth setup “Cyclone Pix 360” which also drew in alot of traffic around the area as well and was a great addition to this innovative event.
Also Rachel Stovall, one of our magazine’s team members, did a spectacular job as the main host for this 3 day event keeping the people informed and entertained!
As I continued to connect wirh so many entities on Day 1 I became ecstatic knowing day 2 and 3 were looking even more promising. The clear view of the Olympic Museum right next door was a befitting scene for the ambience of growth, champions and teamwork.
Day 2 Saturday 11/23/24
The Vendor Takeover - Colorado’s Next Top Model
The second day of The Vendor Takeover for sure brought the energy and vibes with a collaborative effort and experience of a live modeling event competition (something I’m very seasoned with) and also bringing even more of an interest to the vendors present. As day 2 started getting underway, the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC were in the process simultaneously of winning the USL Championship (for the 1st time in club history after 10 seasons) just a few hundred feet away across the street at Weidner Field! As the crowd poured out, many of the vendors (jncluding 719 Mag) and organizers took full advantage of the Switchbacks celebrating fans pouring out of the stadium in a conscious promotional effort to bring some traffic from the street to our event, which also proved to be successful. Congrats to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks Football Club!
The Vendor Takeover - Colorado’s Next Top Model also was a huge success with an impressive line-up of 6 models who brought their A game for the judges (K Cheeba, Leila Nicolee, Kaui Beamer, Darcy Shoening, Jeremy Loew, AP Peterson, Caleb Thorne) Strutting the catwalk in 2 parts (one at 12:30pm, then 2pm) were some aspiring models who truly came with some top tier energy and kept the vibes going throughout the day!
Performances between the runway walks kept music filling the air and 719 Mag broadcasted live to share the experience! Behind the scenes we couldn’t help but notice the esteemed photographer/videographer Jordan Johnson of J Angel Visuals putting in some amazing media work on the runway! 🔥
At the end, top model Erick Beltran came out with the crown in this energetic modeling competition moving on to next month’s top model contest. 719 Mag was able to briefly interview top models Erick, Pierre, & Naliah and get to know them as well (stay tuned for more from those interviews here at 719mag.com ).
We were also able to sit down and get a brief interview in with Arthur Bellfield of Colorado Springs Poetry Slam which we plan to use for an upcoming article. Check out the attached media and recap video for some of these highlights and more interviews to come!
Saturday was a day for many to shine at The Vendor Takeover! Some notable vendors that got our attention included:
Solid Rock Foundation
L7 Premium Fragrances
Mrz Chevyz Candle World
Farmers Insurance
Cyclone Pix 360
Day 3 Sunday 11/24/24
Vendor Takeover - Lego Takeover Edition
The third day really brought on more of a family vibe with a theme dedicated to Legos, and one of the main original vendors/sponsors from last month and this event, Bricks & Minifigs. Presenting an open family friendly Team Lego Building Contest. There were several layouts with plenty of space for famiy and kids, and also an extended ramp to test out any lego vehicles created. In attendance providing some quality media coverage for this unique experience was AP Peterson / Hustle High 4K / 4K Digital:
Get with 4K Digital at @hustlehigh4k
From what 719 Mag was able to cover to some degree (outside of connecting with high traffic at our own vendor) this event was for sure one of the most innovative and collaborative efforts I’ve seen in an Colorado Springs when it comes to indoor vendor type events. The amount of connections we made as a magazine at our space alone was beyond worth the efforts of just being present and showing up. Along with getting a few merchandise sales, we were able to form some potentially long-standing partnerships and relationships that may not have ever existed without this wonderful 3 day event.
Being a new media publication/outlet in southern Colorado, I would expect alot of questions being answered as well as a variety of inquiries at our vendor table but what I did not anticipate is the amount of positive feedback and reinforcement our magazine received these 3 days, and for that… I am beyond grateful as the magazine’s owner. The flood of recognition and respect we felt from The Vendor Takeover thus far was beyond encouraging for us as a new team and will only help us to fuel the flames to our fires as we strive to assist in igniting the music scene in southern Colorado!
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Written by James Baldrick @idirty
Editor in Chief/Owner
Special thanks to: 719 Staff; Ebony Baldrick, Scottie Simpson & family, Kevin Hopkins, Rachel Stovall, Moses Reasby-Hooks, KO Kelly