We are successful at most of our shows. We make elegant functional pottery. Our experience at four day shows includes South University, which is one of the top Ann Arbor Shows MI; Arts, Beats and Eats in Royal Oak MI; State College PA and Wyandotte MI as well as The Yellow Daisy Festival in GA. All other of our 20 shows a year are either 2 or 3 days. We have stopped doing the 4 day shows. I can't speak to any other 4 day shows as these are and were the only ones we did.
I have just learned from speaking to the promoter that "Art in the Park" in Plymouth MI in July has applied to the city or wherever it is that they need permission to extend to be a 4 day show from their present 3 day status.
Our experience has been that although some additional money is made, it doesn't work out in sales profit enough to counter the total expenses for higher booth fees, hotel, gas and meals. Equally significant - the time away from the studio producing our art is time and money lost. We have done the numbers and it just isn't worth it.
Please send your opinion if you agree with our experience or if your opinion is the same to www.artinthepark.com/contact. You can call or write. This Plymouth MI show is already expensive in booth fees, but it has been a good show mid July. I hope you can exert an opinion to counter the promoter's enthusiasm for a 4 day show. Also love to hear about other suggestions in July for 2 or 3 day shows.
Donna and Greg
Pottery For Living
Replies
I'm an oil painter, and like Larry, sometimes arrive at a show a day early, and almost always stay over the last night and leave for home early the next day. The extra hotel fees are pretty minimal, really, (one small painting) and I eat on the road what I would eat at home, so that's no extra cost.
What I've found, though, is that that extra day just doesn't usually add an extra day's income, or at least, not reliably. The people who come to shows mid-week are generally not my buyers. They tend to be older, retired people who - in general! - usually have all the 2-D art they want. Or they are mothers/fathers with preschool kids, often in strollers. These folks are at the show For An Outing. They might buy small stuff, or mementos - but they're not buying multi-thousand-dollar paintings - at least at most shows.
All that being said, at some of the huge shows that I've been lucky enough to get into - Ann Arbor and Columbus and even Uptown and State College - it seems to be different. That first day, true buyers come out to get the good stuff early. But I don't get into these shows regularly, and at most of the other multi-day shows I do, those extra days are just taking painting time away from me. I suspect that one of the reasons that those shows are so popular with artists is because those extra days contain at least some buyers.
Just my 3 cents (inflation).
Thanks for answering Carrie. It's clear that we all have different buying patterns and preferences. We just came back from the Great Gulf Coast Art Fesitival in Pensacola FL and I spoke to several artists there with high end 3D work. They felt that the same as you. Their essential take was that almost the same number of people come but are spread out over the extra day. I guess we all take our chances. The cost we have to include as well as hotel is the higher booth fee that the show is charging because it's adding a day. The director of the Plymouth MI show in July said she would definitely raise the booth fee. There are a number of factors to include to see if it's worthwhile. In the meantime if anyone has done a 3 day show mid July that's got big crowds of people within 11 hour drive of Atlanta and has a prior day set up, let me know.
Ann Arbor? 10 hour 39 minutes - Atlanta to Ann Arbor :-)
So much work to do now that we just got back from an out of state show that I'm going to give a general reply that I hope covers all your input. And I thank everyone who shared their experiences and thoughts. Of course we've had rain but outside of Reston VA in 2017, we've not had shows where we lost the whole weekend or most of the weekend. Either we're lucky or this is an advantage of getting older and forgetting stuff. We make elegant very functional pottery and always have a double booth with an 8 hour set up and 3 hour breakdown. Except for 2 local shows we always stay at the hotel usually 8-11 hours away from home the night we break down. Our process is lengthy and time home is barely enough to make all of our work. We just came back from a highly rated show and I spoke to other artists who felt that extending a 3 day show to 4 days just meant that the city benefits more from hotel and restaurant attendance but it wasn't as beneficial to the artists. There are so many ways to look at this. As far as going to shows with bad weather, I decided this year that we will not go to shows that make me crazy with worry because of the seasonal risks of high wind in the mid west even though we've gotten into some prestigious shows there. The angst is not worth it. We did Ohio and Missouri last year - good shows, terrible wind even in the good locations. Too many heart pounding moments. Won't go back. Wish we could do more local shows here in GA but not too many great ones.
There is a formula one uses to determine whether to do a show, or run any business, that adds on hours. In this case it is a whole day. This comes straight from a 200 level college econ class. It's MC=MR. Or, marginal (additional) cost equals marginal (additional) revenue. Determine what the cost of that additional day and if you believe you will sell that amount, then you do the show.Your booth fee, gas, etc. is not a consideration because you would pay that even if the show was 3 days instead of 4. So, it would be the cost of another night in a hotel and food for the day. If you want to get picky, you could consider doubling that figure, meaning if it costs you another $150 dollars to stay another day, you need to do $300 in sales to do the show, assuming that your cost of production is half what you sell your work for. This is the simple way of looking at it.
The reason why you only use this break even point, is because the possibility of grossing more revenue makes it worth it. You have no control over your sales, in a sense, because you could get rained out, people may not show up, etc. It's about the upside. Now, if you did the show and zeroed on that extra day, you at least know what your loss will be. $150-$200 is not much of a loss considering what your upside could be.
Btw, I've always been curious as to what functional potters sell besides mugs and bowl. What do you sell? How many different items do you display?
Hi Barry,
I thought I answered you before but it's not showing up so I'll try again. Thank you for your comments; they're really factual and easy. MC=MR. Love it. It is interesting to hear it from an economics class. One other factor to consider besides this formula is where the show falls relative to a show before or after and if we need that extra day to travel 8-11 hours home, refire a kiln or something real that doesn't necessarily fit into the formula. As functional potters, we make about 26 items including platters, baking dishes, Olive oil bottles, yarn bowls, serving bowls, vases small & large, casseroles, Dip chiller/warmers and many others. For the fun of it, you can see our website www.PotteryForLiving.com. Thanks again for responding.
Donna, it turns out we will be at some of the same events in the spring i.e. Ft Myers, March Bonita.
That formula works for a small business or a corporation with 1000 box stores across the country. Let's say your Schlockmarket stores are open on Sunday and you are open until 9PM. You do less business from 6PM til 9PM. Should you change your store hours and close at 6PM? You know how much it costs in electricity and labor during those 3 hours and you know how much you sell during those hours. You would stay open if your sales equal your costs or are greater. You would close at 6 if it costs you more to stay open. You may decide to close certain stores at the earlier time and keep the ones open that do good business during those hours.
Funny thing about driving back and forth to shows. I, luckily, got into Des Moines and Cherry Creek this year. The idea was to drive the 600 miles to Des Moines and then drive the 600 miles to Denver. There was 10 days in between and I was planning to see the Eagles in Denver the weekend in between the two shows. I sold all my pieces $250 and under in Iowa and drove all the way back home to fire pieces that I had made for Ann Arbor, which was 2 weeks after Cherry Creek. Then I drove the 1200 miles back to Denver. I think I am still tired from all that driving.
Your response makes me laugh. We had a similar experience a few years ago. "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." I'd like to meet you in person and hope if your picture looks like you we might cross paths at FT. Myers or Bonita March. We'll have a double booth as usual and our sign is, "Pottery For Living.'
If you are a potter that sells, I can vouch that every minute of studio time does matter. We work by the kiln load.
I fired my kiln Monday starting at 5 am. This is Tues and it won't be ready to open until after 2 a.m. Wed morning. I plan to be in my studio unloading at 2.am so that I can keep things going, as it was a bisque fire, so everything needs to be glazed, reloaded, and fired again, 11-12 hours, with another 36-40 hours for the kiln to cool.
This is typical. Even with working every day, there is a lot to do to restock.
Donna,
If the show is thinking about adding another day, it seems like they may be searching for new ideas?
I would suggest to the promoter that "before they commit to 4 days, consider a half day. Some of the 3 day shows do it that way. Set up is in the morning/afternoon, then the show opens Fri. afternoon or evening. Some examples of shows that have this working for them are Cain Park in Cleveland, OH, and Craft Expo, Guildford, CT."
Setting up on downtown streets has to happen in the evening so the morning set up and half day won't work in this situation but it's an interesting option if it comes up again. I know other shows that do the 1/2 day with a 2 and 1/2 day show.
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