Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Mei-la Wrap at the Babywearing Conference

The Mei-la Wrap moms in Chicago

The Mei-la Wrap Booth

Brooke assisting a mom and doing a demo. Sarah and Annette from Hoppediz look on.

A very happy Ulrike Hower from the Dresden Carrying School displays a nicely worn Mei-la Wrap front carry

Brooke and Sarah talking about the Mei-la Wrap with Ulrike

"Two thumbs up for this product!" -Ulrike Hower

The husbands of the Mei-la Wrap

That's a wrap!

We did it! The Mei-la Wrap made its debut at the 2nd International Babywearing Conference in Chicago and it was a success. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and talked with us, tried on the Mei-la Wrap, and gave us helpful feedback.

We had two main goals in attending the conference:

1. Get as much feedback as possible and critique of the carrier itself: the feel, construction, style, ease of tying, etc.

2. Gage who would be interested in purchasing this carrier.

I am happy to say we met these goals. At our booth, we had a number of sample carriers available for conference-goers to examine, critique, and try on. Among those who gave us feedback were fellow vendors, designers, expert seamstresses, brick and mortar store owners, online store owners, avid babywearers both from the US and other countries, a highly respected international babywearing instructor, and even those who were unfamiliar with babywearing. As you can see, we had a wide variety of individuals interacting with the Mei-la Wrap which is exactly what we were hoping for.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. Conference-goers really seemed to enjoy the feel of our soft woven fabric, and the construction of the carrier itself. Others were impressed by the ease and comfort the Mei-la Wrap provided. We were very excited to have Ulrike Hower’s input. Ms. Hower founded the Dresden Carrying School in Germany where she has certified hundreds of Babywearing instructors. She was very enthusiastic about the feel and security of the Mei-la Wrap as she tried tying it various ways. “Two thumps up for this product!” she excitedly announced when we took our picture with her.

It was exciting to have so many people interested in purchasing the Mei-la Wrap. Although it would have been nice to sell carriers to all those who were interested, we really wanted to do things right. Meaning, we wanted to use the conference as a testing ground and use any feedback received to improve the Mei-la Wrap. Our number one interest is to provide the highest level of quality and safety when the carrier is available for purchase.

We hope to release the Mei-la Wrap for purchase this coming fall. As soon as we have a clearer idea when the actual release date will be as well as pricing information, we will post it on the blog and website. In the meantime, we will keep you updated on developments that should arise in the continued creation of the carrier that provides comfort with style, structure with versatility!