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I had written a post about an upcoming show being revived in Atlantic City, NJ. The show was once a large show and very popular in the resort. After being missing for 13 years it has been revived.I am not experienced at writing reviews, but will offer my observations. It was a one day juried show on Sept 7th with a $75.00 space fee. We arrived at the scheduled 7:00 AM set-up time. The show would run from 10:00 to 5:00 on the boardwalk. All load-in occurred on a side street off the boardwalk. We went to the registration table and got our assigned space. We were assigned a space in Kennedy Plaza directly across from Boardwalk Hall which was setting up for the Miss America Pageant. We thought this would be a prime location. From the street level you needed to unload and then haul your entire display up approximately 6-8 wooden steps to the boardwalk. The stairway was about 10 feet wide and was used by both those moving displays and those trying to register. There was no ramp available. Once you had your equipment on the boardwalk they had a couple electric carts which could help you move equipment. The drivers had been instructed that they were not to lift any artwork for liability issues. After moving my tent the block and a half to my space I opted to have the cart driver haul the remainder of my equipment .After unloading you were required to move your vehicle to a lot about 2 blocks away. Upon arriving at our space, our joy of the expected prime location soured as we saw the huge stage in Kennedy Plaza for the day's entertainment. For most of the day it was extremely difficult to talk with potential customers. As it turned out, for the most part, the boardwalk foot traffic seemed to stay on the boardwalk rather than venture into Kennedy Plaza unless they were coming in to see the bands. The spaces were advertised as 12x12. Once we arrived at our space it was actually marked out at 10 feet wide but with generous space behind for spare storage.

After setting up I took a quick stroll down the boardwalk to see who else was there. The booths were set up on either side of the boardwalk facing in to each other. This formed a sort of gauntlet for the visitors to walk through. It seemed to be all quality merchandise and I saw no BS.

It may seem at this point that I found no redeeming qualities to this show, but it did have some good points. There was a reception for the artists on Friday Night before the show which I heard was quite nice. We did not attend. Advertisement and publicity was done quite well. I didn't have a chance to talk with other artists after the show to see how they did with sales. The customer base pretty much included anything you could think of from young to old, which I guess should be expected at a boardwalk show. I would have to wonder how much traffic was visitors in town for the Miss America pageant. I managed to sell enough to cover all my costs (registration, ins, gas, etc) plus make a small profit. We live about 30 miles inland so there was no lodging involved. The organizers provided several awards ranging from several $250 checks to a $500 check and a $1000 check for best of show. Surprisingly the best of show went to an artist that I would have chosen also. It doesn't usually go that way for me.

If I submit to this show next year, I will do my best to obtain a space away from Kennedy Plaza. I just received an email from the promoters asking for feedback as this was their first go around. I will offer constructive thoughts for them.

Sorry for the length of the post. Maybe I'll get better and more concise with more reviewing experience :-)