LEWISTON — It was 2011 and the area hadn’t had a home show in a few years. Travis Dow had plenty of local business contacts and they wanted to see one happen.
So Dow said, why not?
“It was a huge undertaking,” said Dow, 36. “I worked to midnight, emailing people and calling. I’d never done anything like this and people were skeptical, just like with anything new of this scale. ‘Who are you? How long have you been doing this? Is it even going to happen before I give you a few hundred dollars?’ It took a lot of lot of phone calls and followups to put the first one on.”
But it worked.
His Maine Home Show drew 650 people the first year. The now-annual event attracted just under 3,000 in March.
The Maine Home Show was his first big solo event as a show organizer. In 2012, he launched the website menusinla.com. In 2013, Dow started working for himself full time, and the next year he founded Dow Media, bringing his different enterprises — events, marketing and publishing (he also prints Coupons in Maine quarterly) — under one umbrella.
On June 15, he’ll organize the Maine B2B Trade Show for the second year in a row for the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council.
“For me, a successful show is not strictly about attendance numbers, but more so how much traction did it create for the exhibitor,” he said. “Did they connect with the right people, did they sell product, do they have a lot of solid leads? When I know these opportunities have been created, it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment.”
When he isn’t working, Dow spends time with his wife, Kathy, and his sons, age 7 and 5. He’s a den leader for his oldest’s Cub Scout group.
He graduated from Edward Little in 1999 and said being so close to the mountains and the ocean, this area has it all, “kind of a total package thing for me.”
“I have family here and my roots are here, but I really like the lifestyle,” he said. “Where I live, I’m in Lewiston now, I’m not far from the river, I’m surrounded by trees, but right around the corner I’m in town. I think it’s a great area to raise children.”
kskelton@sunjournal.com
“Did they sell product, do they have a lot of solid leads? When I know these opportunities have been created, it gives me a great feeling.”
40 Under 40’s Travis Dow
Travis Dow and his wife, Kathy
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