I am feeling a bit frustrated and stumped. Today, at the art show where I was exhibiting, there was a LOT of wind. Gusty, 15-25mph with a rumor of up to 40mph later on in late afternoon/evening. The promoter told all the artists they had the option of packing up early if they wanted, around 1:30. Most if not all started to do so, me included.
I headed for home after actually dropping the height of my brand new Trimline tent and re-ratcheting my tie down weights. I was still worried though, being at the end of a line of tents and therefore the first to have the wind hit based on its direction. There was a gap between me and another booth of about 10-15 feet upwind of me (part of another "pod" of booths), and as I left I noticed the tent "jumped" a bit in a gust. With a small sinking feeling, I headed out.
An artist friend called me at about 5:30. She decided to return to the show and pack up her entire tent based on the weather forecast. The tent that "jumped" upwind of me flipped over entirely, landing or clipping the back corner of my Trimline. It was a Trimline too, but very lightly weighted it seemed. As she was texting me photos of the damage, the show promoter contacted me to tell me she was trying to get ahold of the artist whose tent flipped to let him know. I decided to head over there.
30-40 minutes later, I arrive. The guy is dismantling his (upside down) tent. From looking at the back of mine, he feels there isn't much damage. After trying to take care of what I could of my display (luckily not damaged too much in the storm), I brought him to the front of my booth to see that it was severely bent (the front corner was so low I had to duck in and out). Final verdict is still out on the total damage, but it seems as though the telescoping part of the Trimline legs need replacement (all four). He seemed a bit ... surprised? nonplussed? that I would want to discuss this further, but seemed like a nice guy. I got his contact info and gave him mine.
So...here's my question: how do you handle further contact? I will be going through my display components tomorrow, but it's a definite that I need some tent parts replaced. Am I out of line to see if he will pay for replacement? I'm willing to maybe pay for some (as it WAS weather related, which people can't fully control), but I think he's liable, yes? I have no idea if he has any insurance. This experience has made me realize that I DEFINITELY need insurance (haven't done that!), which I will make sure I have in time for my next show. In the meantime, what if he just refuses? I'm wondering what to do. And, is the promoter in any way responsible for helping pay for damages, or helping out with mediating between me and the other artist?
Any advice would be great. Thanks.
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I've never seen the pea gravel used, but is it heavier than just sand?
Do you recommend the gravel over sand? I guess that's the big question I am wondering.
Right now I have some Flourish bags but one has a rip that leaks a little and duct tape over it.
Thanks for all the advice!
I am still in conversation with the other artist, who says he is very willing to pay for the parts. It's actually the four leg posts plus 3 of the corner connectors. All in all, though, not too bad, considering. I think at the time I spoke with him, we were both wrangling with our tents during the 40mph wind gusts (Robert, I was at Deerfield too!), and he was a bit shell shocked. It is indeed not a lot to replace, so I think it will be okay. I was mostly worried just in case he refused, but he was very responsive the next day, so I think it will work out. Whew.
I will be looking into insurance as well for future shows. Also, I did not have the StaBars and just ordered them from Flourish since I was putting in an order anyway. It's another (gulp) expense, but this experience is just a reminder that just because I upgraded from an EZ Up to a Trimline, the Trimlines are NOT indestructible!
I am also happy I had made additional weights (the PVC pipe kind) the week before the show. Will be looking into adding sandbag weights to hang off the StaBars, as I've seen other artists do. My tent was wobbling but not shifting too much in the wind, except during the more severe gusts (and then it was slight). However, of course, once it was knocked almost over, it was very unsteady, and that was the worst of it - trying to get my display out of the tent before it tipped over on top of me! Once the legs were down, and I was packed up, the poor tent next to mine (which had been blocked somewhat by mine from the wind) started to suffer. Just a bad weekend in the Chicago area.
As for weight requirements, if it is written in the rules and regulations of the festival, should that be enough to enforce? Just theoretically. And as for hanging the weights off the corners, I have usually hung them so there is a slight dangle but not a lot (and sometimes on the ground, as I read here for EZ Ups - which is my old setup - that's better for the frame). Should they hang higher? Like halfway up? Or 4-6 inches off the ground? Goes without saying that I would bind them securely to the legs to avoid swinging. Just wasn't sure.
Thanks again! Managing relationships between artists in times like these can seem really tricky. I'm still learning what to expect.
Keep the weights hanging as low as possible, just a few inches off the ground, and secure them them to the leg with a bungee cord of some sort. Keeping them low improves the center of gravity and lessens the chance of tip-over. For the weight bags, check out Sam's club for the double compartment type so they hang better over the Sta-bars. I went with pea gravel in the hopes it would be heavier than sand and less messy. I was a bit concerned about the bag weights as they sit on the ground but the bags have good friction on the ground and don't slide. The EZ-Up bags have a pin that goes through the leg, but I added a zip-tie around the strap and the pin clasp so there is no way it would pop loose and give extra security around the tent leg.
BTW, here's the set-up I have for the EZ-Up; this from Deerfield. You might be able to see the zip-tie around the legs. With the double compartment bags, you would drape them over the Sta-bar, again keeping the bag from touching the ground to keep all the weight on the frame where it helps keep the legs fully weighted down.
I've not written a report yet on the show, but few people around me did well with several zeroing out. I know of some who did okay by making booth fee and expenses, plus more. I'm giving up on the show as it seems to be plagued with bad weather and some who did it the last couple of year said sales were going down. I last did it three years ago and the Sunday then was even more bitterly cold that this year's Saturday was. I had my propane space heater out and several artists kept coming in to thaw out their feet. I didn't even come close to making booth fee. It's a shame as Debbie Netter is a very conscientious promoter who works hard at putting on a good show and has a good organization.
Robert, are these the bags you are talking about from SAMS? http://www.samsclub.com/sams/king-canopy-weight-bag-set-for-pop-up-...
King Canopy Weight Bag Set for Pop-up Canopy
by King Canopy | Item #: 400924 | Model #: INAWB400
That's the one.
We had about 2 1/2 feet or more between tents. If space were more constrained I would have raised the Sta-Bars higher and slid the bags under them. If it were a situation where the tents are virtually touching, the bags would have been tied to the frame of the tent with ropes and suspended from the upper corners to hang just below the display panels. I had a length of rope just in case.
Four legs are not going to cost you an arm and a leg to replace. I'd call the other artist and ask him if he is willing to split the cost with you. That's likely to be less than his deductible; you both avoid costly and pointless litigation, and you get some help replacing the tent parts. You will need to replace them, regardless of the outcome. As Rich says, live with it, get some good insurance in case something REALLy bad happens. A damaged canopy is not the end of the world. A damaged human is much worse.
This past weekend at the Deerfield, IL, show we had a fair number of booths go down, and Amdur's Millennium Park show had 30 booths wiped out with tv news coverage on it.
A customer was in a chatty mood, telling me he's from Wyoming and the winds are bad there. He related a story about a farmer's market vendor using an EZ-Up with 5-Gallon buckets filled with concrete anchored at each leg. A microburst hit, lifted tent and weights way, way up in the air, flipped the tent around in revolving circles, and the weights went flying. Luckily no one was hit as that would have been lethal, and one of the weights went through the windshield of the farmer's truck just missing the cab frame itself. The farmer took photos and got statements from a couple of people including the customer as he figured there was no way in hell the insurance adjuster would buy that story.
I believe there were over a dozen booths go down Saturday night at Deerfield. Several could have been predicted as they had small weights anchored up at the top of the booth, others had no leg bracing, and others were using velcro-attached side tarps that were ripping loose in the wind. The artist next to me had her weights dragging the ground. I had to show her the difference by easily lifting the tent leg with one hand, and after raising the weight off the ground it was much harder to lift the tent leg off the ground. She didn't believe me at first until she tried it herself.
I ditched the old concrete tube weights I had and used the EZ-Up weight bags. I've had the bags for years but never used them. I bought some bags of pea gravel at Lowe's for $2.49 each and used just about one bag of gravel for each weight bag. I put them on the bathroom scales and was pleasantly surprised to see them weigh between 45 and 50 pounds each. I'll get another bag and bring them all up to 50 pounds. The legs stayed put and didn't wiggle in the high winds, so I was a happy camper.
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