CHA

I remember when I first began working in the scrapbook industry, my co-workers kept talking about CHA and HIA. I had no idea what they were talking about. I soon learned that these were the two big trade shows for the scrapbooking industry. HIA (The Hobby Industry Association) no longer exists. Now, CHA (the Craft & Hobby Association) is the sole trade show for the industry. I still didn’t really get what all the fuss was about until I attended the show.

I had the pleasure of attending CHA in 2005, when it was held in Atlanta. I think I only attended one day. It was exhausting. It puts the ASA’s (American Sociological Association) annual conference to shame as far as exhausting goes. The show floor goes on for as far as the eye can see. And even though CHA covers non-scrapbooking hobbies, scrapbooking takes up a huge portion of the show floor.

I was able to get into the show as an employee at a store with an owner who was a member of CHA. It was so exciting to see all the new products. I bring this up now because the CHA winter show starts January 29. What this means is that new scrapbooking products should be appearing in stores in the next few weeks. Yippee!