Hi! I'm Tina and I am new to Art Fair Insiders. I've been doing art fair since 2000 but only learned about this site last month (thanks to the vendor who told me about you all!). This has been a very disappointing festival year for me - so much rain in the spring and fall (and summer) that most of my shows were way down from the past years. In fact, I did better after the big financial breakdown!
I'm looking for some new shows to try out new shoppers because I wonder if I'm just too familiar to the folks who come to the shows I have been doing for years and years. I did a few new ones this year and think they would have gone well if it had not rained so much.
I look forward to meeting you and learning from you because you are never too old to learn (I'm 51).
Thanks to all who have shared their wisdom!
I can't figure out how to fix my photo. It uploaded sideways and I have tried to rotate it on my computer and reupload it and ever time it goes sideways - so if you have suggestions on how to fix it I'd appreciate it!
Tina
Replies
Hi Tina,
Welcome! Believe me, there are many of us here you would consider you "young"...ha, ha. Plenty of help, inspiration and camaraderie here and we're always ready to give a newbie advice, a morale boost or a supportive booth critique. So, continue to look around and make yourself at home...
Welcome aboard, Tina.
You'll find there's a wide variety of artists, craftsmen, crafters, artisans, exhibitors, etc here, but no vendors. To us, that's a dirty word associated with B/S merchants.
See? You learned something already.
Settle in, read the posts, and you'll get to know us and learn how to up your game in this business.
Chris,
No matter what we call ourselves here, every show and I mean EVERY show I've been in calls those purchasing booth space .... VENDORS. Even in the shows where I know everything was handmade. So please don't be too hard on a newbie here. I still have to check myself and make sure I use the appropriate terminology. It is just ingrained from reading websites, applications and so on.
Hi Cindy!
I know the legal term for what we do is "vendor" but it has different meanings for different people. We become used to certain terminology. I started using the word "exhibitor" back in the late 80s and now it's second nature to me.
If I sounded harsh, that definitely wasn't my intent.
Thanks Chris - great descriptive words!
So glad you're here, Tina. I have learned a lot from the "old timers" here. <vbg>