I just got home late last night from Christmas City in Biloxi. I had signed up to fill a gap in my calendar, and thought it would be a good show for me, with Christmas coming up so fast. Not so much. Being used to ART shows, this was not my best idea. It was a craft fair at best.
First, I was put back on row 10 of 11, so by the time people got TO my booth, they were pretty well done, tired, but still curious what was there. They were just finishing out the rows at that point, and it was a thick, steady flow of people past my booth headed for free jelly samples next door to me. Constantly wiping jelly-sticky child handprints off my work was a bonus, since at that point in the building parents did not care what their tired children did.
First day I almost made my entry fee back. Second day, about the same. So after paying for food, gas, two nights hotel, and entry fee to the show, I LOST money trying to do this one. The director and organizer of the show came back and looked at my work, said "Wow, your work is beautiful! We should put you up front so people see you first! Next year we can do that!" Next year? Not likely.
Oh, and all available food was sold by their in-house vendor. Unless you smuggled it in early AM, you were out of luck. One of my neighboring booths went out for lunch to bring back, and was actually stopped at the door by security. He had to eat on the curb, call his wife, then she came out to eat. $7.50 bought me a tiny croissant roll with a dollop of bad chicken salad on it, half the size of a fast food biscuit.
One theft of a $60 pen, quickly reported with description of the teens that stole it, got zero results. No one even came to talk with me about it.
Had I been selling jars of jelly, small ceramic trees with "believe" written on them in Sharpie that you pin to your shirt for a buck each, made in China ornaments, or fudge, I probably would have done very well. Those people who sold those items sure did.
I won't make that mistake again -- it was just the wrong venue for my work!
Replies
Joel,
Thanks for sharing your experience at this event. I thought about going but decided I probably would have a hard time making my expenses. Based on your review, I think I am right on this.
Ha,ha...love "yard art on a stick" and your response to the sticky finger handshake, Joel. I guess you could say that you ended up getting the sticky finger on a stick at that show, sorry it was so abyssmal for you but thanks for sharing it with the rest of us so we don't make the same mistake.
Sorry to hear it was a bum show. We have all done them and had that expensive lesson.
Yard art on a stick and all sorts of stuff that would never ever fit into a normal show...
I know what you mean regarding the sticky fingers. I did a show in Arkansas and had a person pick up and examine just about every one of my boxes and then shook my hand to tell me how very much he really liked my work. He then apologized for the sticky fingers and said he hadn't washed his hands since just eating the caramel corn...After shanking his hand I said that's OK because I just used the Porta-Let and didn't wash my hands either.