We went to a few shows and found some of the artists pulled their chairs and sat in the middle of the walkway, blocking the customers' traffic. When asking with the show organizers, they seemed to ignore our issues. When talking to them, they did not care about this either.
What will you do? We need your suggestions. Thank you.
Replies
Tough question. Looking at this photo that isle is very narrow which would impede traffic. It is always difficult to figure out where to sit, sitting in the booth takes up space and impedes patrons from seeing my work. Not all shows have space behind booths where you can put your chair and then the booth looks untended. Sitting at the outside corner of your booth makes you look like a gargoyle and may impede traffic for your neighbor. Each show has its own challenges!
Is this typical traffic of this show on the day(s) you were there? Possibly if it were busier they would have to be in their booth taking care of business helping paying customers, instead of sitting anywhere ---the aisle or inside their booth.
I don't think there is an easy answer. If you have to be their neighbor for just a day, it might be worth saying something. If it's a full weekend show (multiple days), it might be more worth it. It's too bad the promoter won't back you up. We have not had that issue. Usually the rules of the show say not to impede traffic with (artist) chairs or product blocking the walk way. If you have that rule for the show and have it in writing you can show it to the offenders whether the promoter backs you up or not.
You are absolutely correct in being concerned about this. Those artists sitting in the middle are lazy and inconsiderate. By doing this, they are blocking the natural flow of traffic and interfering with not only your opportunity to show work to clients, but they are also shooting themselves in the foot by doing the same for their own booth. You have two seconds to catch the attention of someone walking past your booth, but instead, these inconsiderate artists are forcing people to walk around them, lessening the chances a client will notice you and your work. But your question is what to do about it. I'm the type who regularly confronts problems like this directly. But I completely understand why others don't want to. I'm not there to make artist friends. I'm there to meet clients. So for me, I approach it directly - The same way I do when a neighboring artist puts their brows been outside their tent in a way that impedes traffic from my booth. But yes, the show director should be more receptive to your request as well.
Unless you have crowds like this, I would let folks enjoy the shade. The problem would probably solve itself if there were a decent crowd there IMHO.
A few more are following the suite..
Look like everyone now is following the suite...