๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐พ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Hey there, I canโt tell you how excited it makes me that you would like to be a part of our event! ย The Rural Road Trip was created to highlight shops in smaller communities and give people an opportunity to embrace the rural roots that surround them. It will be a fun weekend to hit up stores that have been hidden treasures to most. My hope is for individuals to fall in love with our small towns and come back time and time again.
We will be hammering out details as vendors join in so we can have a finalized map but here are the locations and surrounding areas with shops that were included on our last route. PLEASE UNDERSTAND that while you may only be 20-30 minutes away from ONE of these locations you may be 1.5 - 2+ hours from the furthest location. We try and make this route possible to do as many as you can in a day. We certainly aren't trying to exclude anyone but it needs to be beneficial to all the places that apply. ย
- Rural Southwest Iowa City -ย Kalona -ย Wellman -ย Keota -ย Sigourney -ย Ollie -ย North English -ย Williamsburg -ย Marengo -ย Oxford -ย Tiffin
Here are the ways you can be involved in the event:
๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ฅ ($200 - $175 if applying & paying for all 3 at once): This means you are a numbered stop on our map. Your business name and address will be listed. It is preferred you have an established business at this location so people can come back and visit later on. And best of allโฆ.no traveling! Our vendors from this past year have reported increased visits stemming from the Rural Road Trip Event and we are very excited to hear that! You may host additional vendors at your location.ย ย If you choose to host vendors at your location, we need to know who they are and they will need to select one of the two vendor types listed below to sign up as.ย Having additional vendors at your location is often a good incentive for people to make sure they stop at your location. Your business will be advertised as a stop in all of our marketing material, you will receive a road sign and you will agree to be open during the ENTIRE duration of the event.
๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฅ ($75): This means you are popping up at one of our map stop locations for the ENTIRE duration of the event. ย Your business name will be listed underneath the stop. This is a great way for you to get your business name out there and your products in front of shoppers. Your business will be advertised in all of our marketing material with the location you will be set up at.ย
๐๐ค๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฅ ($35/day): This means your business name will not be included on the map. You will not be required to be present the entire weekend. It is between you and your host site to work out when you will be present then let us know what days you will be popping up with them. Your business will be advertised in all of our social media marketing materials with the exclusion of the map as well as benefit from the traffic of the event.
๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ค๐ง๐จ ($75): Sponsors will have features on both the Facebook event and Facebook page and Instagram as well as in the event description with their link if applicable. They will have their names listed under the town name on the map with either a restaurant, hotel, or applicable icon beside them. Sponsors have no obligation to be open during the entire duration of the event. It is a great way to get your name out there but still keep your normal business hours. If you know of a restaurant, hotel or specialty store in your area that would be interested please have them contact me. After all, you each know your town better than I do and I would hate to leave anyone out!ย ย Sponsors cannot host pop-ups.ย
๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ will need to apply, just like any other vendor show or event. We need to be able to monitor how many of each type of vendor we have along the route so each stop doesnโt include the same items. If they are popping up at your place for a day, two days or the whole time ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฟ ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐๐. Failure to have your pop-up vendors apply will disqualify you as a map stop and also the pop-up vendor for any future events. If they are not a regular part of your shop, we need their application. We will do our best to match up pop-up vendors with map stops if you have not already spoken to a map stop about setting up at their locations. Please do keep in mind we may not have enough map stops that are taking on pop up vendors to accommodate everyone and there are very limited indoor locations.
There will be ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐พ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ (multi-level marketing) allowed at this event. If you are a map stop that currently sells direct sale items or any other MLM products they should be pulled for the weekend.
As a map stop and a pop-up vendor you will receive multiple features on both the ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ Facebook Event Page, Instagram as well as the Rural Road Trip Facebook Page. Your business will also be featured on the Google Map that will be created for the event. I have had lots of customers tell me they saved the link to the app on their phone so they can use that route to road trip throughout the year!
The deadline to join in as a Map Stop or Vendor Listed on the Map or Sponsor will be:
ย ย - Spring Edition - Deadline is January 15ย (event dates April 26 & 27)
ย ย - Fall Edition -ย Deadline is March 29ย (event dates September 27 & 28)ย
ย ย - Holiday Edition -Deadline is July 8ย (event dates November 15 & 16)
The deadline to join in as a Map Stop or Vendor Listed on the Map or Sponsor for FALL will be
March 29th.ย ย All applications will go through a jury
process,ย and you will be notified if you were accepted for FALL by April 8 and ๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฟ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐พ๐ will be due by April 15.ย ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ค ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ or a signed contract ๐๐ฎ the applicable deadlines ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ $25 ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐.
You can email us at
ruralroadtrip@gmail.com, or contact us via Rural Road Trip Facebook messenger with any questions you may have. ย Please refrain from messaging us via our personal Facebook messenger or texting as our other team members will be helping with these messages and don't have access to those. Please DO NOT hesitate to hit us up with questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
Mallary Snakenberg & Whitni Bish
Rural Road Trip
Please print a copy of this portion for your records.