The best two things I have done to my my show life easier are:
1. Getting a vehicle in which I can leave my show stuff. I can't even begin to quantify the amount of time and energy I save by not taking it out after every show and reloading it before every show.
2. Saying yes when people ask if they can help.
What about you? What are the one or two things you've done that have eased your art-show life?
Replies
But the best 2 things I have done: Send out a mailer for each show I do and upgrade after each show. 2nd I take pictures of my booth. I get customers who get back to me afterwards. That way I have a visual of the piece they are referring to. I sometimes have 50-100 pieces for sale, multiple colors & styles. Makes life so much easier.
1. Staying organized
2. Yes, having a helper is key, even if they don't stay around all day.
#1: I agree with the vehicle loading thing....we mostly leave it loaded which has made life much easier.
#2: Getting a garmin so that we don't have to prepare in advance for all the routes we might be taking.
#3: Having our accountant put us on per diem for meals so that we don't have to collect/enter reciepts for food
1: Getting a trailer
I picked up a used 4'x8' enclosed trailer which allowed me to build and haul rigid gallery walls for my EZ-Up. The downside is that parking can be difficult or sometimes impossible. Not all venues allow trailer parking (parking garages don't) and paid lots charge me for two spaces, but I make up the difference when I sell originals off the walls.
2: Getting an Earth Executive VIP directors chair
This changed my life. I was either standing or bringing a hard folding chair to these two and three day events. I was also sitting my coffee on the ground where it inevitably got kicked over, usually by me! I still stand when customers enter my booth unless the booth is full of people, then I retreat to the chair. It had made my back, legs, and butt very happy.
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The second best thing was the foam pad floor. It fits up to a ten by ten booth. It feels real good on the feet, knees, back ...
And if I can go out on a limb, my third best thing was to make some really good stakes for my tent. I got some of the stakes the concrete guys use and drilled a 3/8" hole in them to accept an eye bolt. The stakes are 14" long or so and will not break or pull out.
I have not read what others have said but the best thing I have done is this .
Before each show I create an Excel spreadsheet that will be a mock up to my canopy. I have three walls each with 40x40 square cells.
Then I import each piece of art I have and size each appropriately placing them on the "wall". I leave room for any table or whatever. I can move things around to fit better NOW instead of on the fly.
Setting up is then just looking at my printout and placing on the walls saving my brain for other multitasking issues that always needs to be done.
I bet this saves at least 15 minutes of that stressful time and my walls always look so much better.
This year I've been doing something similar except I've been using Illustrator or InDesign with a page for each wall. It helps to give me a better idea of which pieces to bring with me.
I honestly cannot think of the second best but the best thing was buying a RV trailer. Everything fits into it for transport and I can leave it in when I return home. While at the shows, we don't have to pay the high price for a motel/hotel and only eat out if we choose. And my PU doesn't look like the Beverly Hillbillies when going to a show.
We bought a small trailer from a friend who is often in the same shows. We had to rent a parking spot a couple of blocks away, but we were able to downsize our storage unit to a cheaper size, so it is a wash. Not having to pack up and unload for every show is wonderful. That was our #1 best thing. The #2 best thing was making prints of my collage to see if they would sell. Boy, do they ever. And it is an item I can restock quickly. Going from doing everything one of a kind to having 2 items that can just be printed up and packaged (cards and prints) has been joyful. And a stress reliever. Not necessarily cheap but a great time saver and inventory plumper. heh
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