This is my first year of applying to shows, so I guess I'm not yet familiar with the entire workflow through the Zapplication site. But I have one show application out that has proceeded differently than the others (at least in my limited experience) and I was wondering if anyone here has seen a similar sequence and what it means?
The show information had stated that artists would be notified on Mar. 21. Just like my other applications, the status showed "Jury In Progress" til then. On Mar. 21, I did not get a notification email as I have in the past, but I noticed on the website that the application status switched back to "Received".
I contacted the show to ask what this meant and as of yet have received no reply, but at one point on the 22nd I noticed that the application status switched to "Invited." I clicked the link to Accept the invitation, but instead of going into the Accepted state and offering the ability to purchase a booth like other shows did, when I clicked Accept, the application status just flipped back to "Received".
I'm not sure what is going on - I've contacted both the show and Zapp (in case it's a website glitch) and am waiting for someone to reply. Has anyone seen this type of thing before? Is it a website glitch or is the show doing something weird with the applications? Or is this "normal" and I just haven't seen it yet?
Replies
I have had a few weird Zapp deals. In one instance last November, a show with a rolling deadline "invited" me but I didn't know about it, as I hadn't received any emails regarding participation. As the show date grew near, I called the show's numbers without any luck (later told that the Chairperson is only a figure head) but persisted and found out that the person I needed to speak with was the treasurer. At first, I thought it was an oversight-he blamed it on a Zapp glitch and would find out what happened. I told him that I would like to still do the show. I never heard from him again and calls to him and another staff member of the show were never returned. That's poor business in my book. What did my application fee get me? Don't even get me started on those moving jury deadlines.
I've never had that problem and I've been on zapp since 2005, but I've experienced other glitches. I always call the show first. Then if I don't get a response from the show in a few days, I call the 888.562.7232 Zapp telephone number in Denver, CO.
Well, I'm still not sure what is going on as I haven't actually heard back from the show - but today when I checked Zapp, it showed my status as "Accepted" and I was able to go ahead and purchase my booth. I'm hoping that the rest of the show activities, communications, and promotions are better coordinated than this process was. Still, I really want to do this show as a learning experience because it would be the first show for me chronologically and won't be too big an audience. If I didn't do it, then my first show would be a few weeks later with a much larger audience. I really prefer to do a smaller show first so I can hopefully apply whatever I learn to improve before the bigger show.
Thanks Larry and Jeri for your replies - these will be good things for me to keep in mind for future applications as well. I'm hoping more shows stick to their notification dates - so far the others I've applied to have all been either on or before their stated date which makes it much simpler to plan!
I can't speak to your experience of seeing that you were invited and then have your status flip back to received, but I can speak to not getting an email when I saw I had been invited. I contacted the show. The show director responded and admitted that they had experienced a "glitch" and was happy that I wrote. I then did get the Zapp email. You might try calling the show/director.
Those status states; received, or in progress, don't mean anything. It's just there to keep artists pacified. It's basically a setting the show chooses to make in their back end and has next to no bearing on what's actually happening.
Getting back to their notification date. Most shows don't respect artists and have no idea that we balance closing and notification dates with cancellation dates. Even being a few days or a week late could cause 100 artists to spend an extra non refundable booth fee for a show they don't want to do but applied as a backup.
I do hope show directors are reading this...
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Larry, I echo your sentiments and also hope show directors are reading this! This year in particular has been a nightmare for me in this regard. And to add to the fun, I just had a show charge me sales tax on an application fee. They don't respond to call or emails either. Sheesh.