Intercal's Who's Who Page presents ABC Unlimited Productions

We, at Intercal, are proud to introduce
ABC, The First Ten Years

In their own words........

April 1995 "Salute to Hollywood" Schaumburg, IL

Early in 1984, while owning and operating My Fantasy, a teddy bear and doll shop, I (Amber Beeler) was instrumental in forming the Flossmoor Business and Merchants Association. The objective of the Association was to develop more favorable laws for Illinois small businesses. During our membership campaign, I entered the offices of Words Ink (a secretarial service and word processing company), owned by Connie Brouillette, to sell her on becoming a member of the FMBA.

Five, minutes later while seated at Connie’s desk, she was busily trying to sell me on IBAIL, the statewide small business organization of which she was a member. Hummm, interesting predicament, so we decided to go to lunch!

Two weeks, later, after having joined each other’s causes, we were off to Springfield, IL to visit our congressmen. Objective: Set up a small business reception to be held in Flossmoor, which would include all of our municipal officials and state and federal congressmen. Most of the people in our group thought this was impossible, but being two very determined, marginally women’s libbers we forged on to prove that we could, in fact, do it. Six weeks later after much time, effort and a little arm twisting, the Independent Business Association of Illinois (of which, Connie and I were now both officers) hosted its first such reception at the Flossmoore Country Club. With the exception of Ronald Reagan who called the day before to express his apologies for being unable to attend, all of the aforementioned officials were in attendance.

Voila! , An idea was born!

If we, could put on an event of this magnitude and bring together not only all of our congressional people, but hundreds of business owners from the South Side of Chicago, we could plan anything! However, each of us had commitments to our primary businesses and weren’t quite ready to add another responsibility to our busy lives.

In the summer of 1986, the final push to do so came from a very unexpected source. Connie and I attended a teddy bear show in Chicago as exhibitors for my shop. Disappointed at the poor public turnout, we offered to help the promoter with advertising and promotion for future shows. At that time, we had no intention of producing a show of our own. We were sincerely volunteering to help! Well, a woman (in this case two) rebuffed can be a powerful force. You hear it coming don’t you! ABC, ABC, ABC (our monogram, Amber Beeler-Brouillette, Connie). And, naturally, Unlimited (we could do anything) Productions.

The next, hurdle came when we asked for some promotional support from "Teddy Bear and Friends" via an article about the first teddy bear show we intended to produce in March 1987 in Schaumburg, IL. Some well known people in the industry told Gary Ruddell, editor of the magazine at that time, that they thought it infeasible to produce a show of this magnitude in just over six months and discouraged his support. However, Gary being much more farsighted than his young years would tell, took a chance and did a full page spread on the "Teddy Bear Parade". We were elated!

Even, though Connie and I were both still running our original businesses with the help of our dear friend Debbie Schmeske and the support of our families, we forged ahead. We wanted this show to be the best! So, every time we turned around, we were going beyond the budget to add something special for the participants. Finally, the weekend arrived! With the likes of Barbara Isenberg, owner of North American Bear Company, Rosemary and Paul Volpp and Beverly Port as special guests, 102 great exhibitors supporting our efforts and more than 1600 public attending, we were sure we had a winner on our hands!

ABC THE AMERICAN TEDDY BEAR CLASSIC
"The American Club Teddy Bear Classic" Kohler, WI - 1995

Sunday Night: , The show was over, the dust had settled, the tension had eased, everyone had headed home. Now came the time to see if we had made any money. Connie and I each sat on one of the beds and started to count. The silence was deafening! When Connie finished with her totals, she handed me her stacks. I added them to mine. More silence as Connie peered over my shoulder to see the results. Simultaneously, we let out great cries of joy! Can you believe it? We were in the black by $ 462! We loved it! We wanted to do more! ABC was going to grow!

And grow we did! , In 1989, we contacted an old friend and previous employer of mine, Hank Currier. Hank had owned a lumber and construction firm for some 30 plus years and was doing consulting for major projects in Northern Virginia at the time. It was a tough sell, but we convinced him that it was time for a career change. Maybe being the only male in our all female office had some appeal? With his background in design, graphic art, floor planning, site inspections, negotiations and management, the fit was perfect.

The rest is history. ABC, continued to grow by adding private conventions, doll events, class reunions, political functions to the increasing number of teddy bear shows we were producing. As we forged ahead, we came to realize that our true love was the production of teddy bear events - large and small - nationally and internationally. Although we continue to do some private functions, our main thrust is our teddy bear shows. We are constantly striving to help the industry grow by educating the public thus creating a larger collector base and providing interesting as well as fun-filled conventions and shows for exhibitors and collectors.

This year,, Hank announced his semi-retirement and has moved to the sunny climes of Florida. Even though he said he wanted time for ESPN, we think the abundance of PMS in the office finally got to him and he went South for the G-O-L-F. All kidding aside, you will still see him at shows and he will remain an integral part of ABC.....only performing his tasks long distance.

We’ve added, into the mix, my daughter, Debra Beeler, who has actually been working at the shows for years. Debra is now often the voice you hear when you call the office in the mornings. In the afternoons Debra does the accounting for the Flossmoore Service Station. She is quickly learning many facets of the ABC business and is a definite asset. Yeah, more PMS.

ABC continues, to seek out new venues - both here and abroad. We are constantly trying to revamp our programs to make them more cost effective for the exhibitors as well as entertaining for everyone. Our objective is to produce the finest quality shows in upscale facilities that bring together first-rate artists with cutting edge retailers and discerning collectors. Join us at our events to see for yourself why the best in the business call us the best in the business.