Not informing of there being admission fee at the gate

Hi Johnny. I had never heard of this show, and it sure seemed like a strange name for an art event. So I did a quick Google search and read the content on four or five of the links I found.

I never found the application, but I did read quite a bit of promotional stuff aimed at potential attendees. Although there were references to "VIP wristbands" (with no price cited that I saw on what it would cost to acquire one), I didn't see any specific reference to a five dollar admission. So perhaps the public WAS taken by surprise, which would explain why so many walked away.

More to the point, the event is clearly aimed at attracting power boat enthusiasts. I didn't find any reference at all in the advertising to an art event...just a couple of references to "vendors", without any mention of what kinds of vendors they might be: Food? Drink? Boat racing supplies?

I don't know what kind of art, or craft, you produce, so I can't give much advice other than to say, this is pretty clearly not an event aimed at art lovers. If I were considering applying to an event like this, I'd want to know: "What are the interests of the people attending? Would people coming to a power boat race want to buy what I make? And, at best, it's an impulse buy. They're not coming primarily for the art. So are they going to be able to carry it around while they watch the event?"

So although the limited evidence at hand suggests that promoters may not have done a good job spelling out everything that would be available beyond power boat races, it is also possible that it's a really poor venue at which to sell art or crafts. So if I were in your shoes, I'd write this one off to experience and avoid shows like this in the future.

Replies

Larry Berman June 3, 2013 at 12:20pm

Short answer is never do a show where they refer to exhibitors as vendors.

Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Geoff Coe June 3, 2013 at 11:14am

Hi Johnny. I had never heard of this show, and it sure seemed like a strange name for an art event. So I did a quick Google search and read the content on four or five of the links I found.

I never found the application, but I did read quite a bit of promotional stuff aimed at potential attendees. Although there were references to "VIP wristbands" (with no price cited that I saw on what it would cost to acquire one), I didn't see any specific reference to a five dollar admission. So perhaps the public WAS taken by surprise, which would explain why so many walked away.

More to the point, the event is clearly aimed at attracting power boat enthusiasts. I didn't find any reference at all in the advertising to an art event...just a couple of references to "vendors", without any mention of what kinds of vendors they might be: Food? Drink? Boat racing supplies?

I don't know what kind of art, or craft, you produce, so I can't give much advice other than to say, this is pretty clearly not an event aimed at art lovers. If I were considering applying to an event like this, I'd want to know: "What are the interests of the people attending? Would people coming to a power boat race want to buy what I make? And, at best, it's an impulse buy. They're not coming primarily for the art. So are they going to be able to carry it around while they watch the event?"

So although the limited evidence at hand suggests that promoters may not have done a good job spelling out everything that would be available beyond power boat races, it is also possible that it's a really poor venue at which to sell art or crafts. So if I were in your shoes, I'd write this one off to experience and avoid shows like this in the future.

This reply was deleted.