Orchard Valley Ceramics Arts Guild on tue 23 jul 02
Last weekend I attended the "Cupertino Art & Wine Festival." Just
about every weekend of the summer, one or more bay area cities
hosts one of these shows. They vary a lot in size and quality. Some
are very selective, and really feature fine art. Others have a lot
of craft items, some bordering on "manufactured" goods. That's OK -
people know what to expect, and go to the shows they enjoy.
But the show this weekend was quite different. About 25% of
the booths had no relation to art/crafts at all. There were people
selling newspaper subscriptions, air conditioning systems,
insurance, you name it. Many of these non-craft vendors were
really obnoxious, calling out to people as they passed, shoving
brochures into people's hands, etc.
If I had been one of the artists in the show, I would have been
really PO'd. (As it is, I will never return to this particular show
as an artist or a customer.)
My question is this: have others experienced this type of this
at art / craft fairs? Do contracts specify the type of booths that
will be allowed in the show? I've only done a few shows myself,
and this has not yet been an issue for me... but I'd hate to get
stuck in a show like this one.
- Bob
Rowdy Dragon Pottery on wed 24 jul 02
>About 25% of he booths had no relation to art/crafts at all. There were
>people
>selling newspaper subscriptions, air conditioning systems,
>insurance, you name it. Many of these non-craft vendors were
>really obnoxious, calling out to people as they passed, shoving
>brochures into people's hands, etc.
I did the Fremont Fair in Seattle in June and was placed next to a
chiropractor. It was my first year as a vendor although I had attended the
event for several years. I remembered a few businesses, such as long
distance companies offering free calls. But at an event with several
hundred craftspeople and some not for profits, I did not expect the
neighbor I had. For most of the weekend there were four people staffing
the booth, usually spread out across the front. At least one person was
generally hawking free exams. You could see the crowd swerving to avoid
them. Since one person was usually near a corner of my both, the arc of
the swerving crowd carried folks away from my booth. Hard to quantify the
damage. With my display anchored by 5 or 8 large platters, which would
have been generally visible to the swerving crowd, I probably didn't lose
too many sales. But I'm sure I lost lots of the kind of browsers who might
want to look for me at other local events. I've been marketing my work for
just under a year, and generating a mailing list of interested prospects is
one of my goals. I added very few nonbuyers to that list that weekend.
Neil Berkowitz
OWLPOTTER@AOL.COM on wed 24 jul 02
There is a well-known-but-shall-remain-nameless promoter from Florida whose
shows normally contain quite a few non-art booths. The first time I did one
of his shows about ten years ago, I was between a car dealership (who
actually had a half dozen new cars right there in the row of booths) and a
tent with a very agressive sales force trying to sell water purifying systems.
It blew my mind, but the public turned out in droves and I sold like crazy!
So-o-o I didn't comment.
This seemed to be the norm at his shows, at least.
I've also done quite a few Chamber of Commerce shows around the Midwest that
contained about 10% non art-craft booths, more like you described.
Promoters can make more money, I think, by filling every booth with whatever
they can.
-Carolynn Palmer, Somerset Center, Michigan
bruec@anv.net on wed 24 jul 02
I always wanted to sell the food and drink (at movie theater prices) at th=
e
art fair=2E Just based on observation, they were the ones truley making
money=2E=2E=2E=2E=2E
Original Message:
-----------------
From: OWLPOTTER@AOL=2ECOM
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 10:20:15 EDT
To: CLAYART@LSV=2ECERAMICS=2EORG
Subject: Re: non-art booths at art fairs?
There is a well-known-but-shall-remain-nameless promoter from Florida whos=
e
shows normally contain quite a few non-art booths=2E The first time I did=
one
of his shows about ten years ago, I was between a car dealership (who
actually had a half dozen new cars right there in the row of booths) and a=
tent with a very agressive sales force trying to sell water purifying
systems=2E
It blew my mind, but the public turned out in droves and I sold like crazy=
!
So-o-o I didn't comment=2E
This seemed to be the norm at his shows, at least=2E
I've also done quite a few Chamber of Commerce shows around the Midwest th=
at
contained about 10% non art-craft booths, more like you described=2E
S
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mail2web - Check your email from the web at
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KLeSueur@AOL.COM on thu 25 jul 02
<event for several years. I remembered a few businesses, such as long distance companies offering free calls.>>
We used to be referred to as "artists". At more and more events we are referred to as "vendors". The change in designation affects the way the public thinks of us. We should all protest when shows refer to us in their contracts and media coverage as "vendors".
Kathi LeSueur
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