Just curious if other artists have automatic "dealbreakers" when they are filling out applications.
I came across this one again today when looking at the application for the Talbot Street Festival. It's one of those festivals that wants you to include the booth fee check with the application. Which I think is only marginally OK, but the dealbreaker for me is the following clause: "Your acceptance to the fair is your obligation to appear. Once accepted, no money will be returned to any exhibitor for any reason." I feel strongly enough that I should be allowed to accept or decline their application without having to pay an entire booth fee as a penalty that as a general rule I do not apply to these kinds of shows. Period.
Along these lines, I also wish that I could un-apply for shows as well when they announce that "due to artist demand" or "due to an unexpected federal holiday" or some other BS reason that they are going to extend the application deadline. Now that would be a great feature for Zapplication!!
Any other things that cause people to take an application and put it in the trash?
Comments
I concur with Larry Berman regarding ZAPP setting the standard for art fairs requiring booth fees in advance as well as creating a reasonable deadline for cancellations and booth refunds. It is our intent to support artists in doing what is best for them and at the same time setting reasonable and fair expectations for the artists as well as our organization. The art fair business is truly a partnership between artists and the show. As in all partnerships (borrowing from my nearly 35 years of marriage), each party needs to be treated with respect, dignity, honesty and integrity. It has been my experience that we all just want to be heard and understood. Thanks for listening!
http://boulderbrook.net/rules-and-policies/72-refund-policy.html
This is a very civilized way to do it.....
Talbot's policy doesn't bother me. If I'm planning to do the show, it makes little difference to me whether I pay them now or later. I like the show, so it's on my schedule.
The deal breakers for me are: Same day, early morning set-up, too much extraneous garbage going on that detract from the actual art fair, and one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet- an exorbitant application fee. I think anything over $35 to have someone look at my photos and send me a rejection email is preposterous!
I prefer to set up the day before a show opens. I also like shows that have Friday morning set up and then open Friday evening. It leaves plenty of time to get ready and maybe even fit in a shower before people come.
I almost never apply to a show that is asking for the booth fee upfront and has no refund policy. I too was going to apply to Talbot Street, but did not once I saw their policy. There are too many good shows out there that don't have such a non artist friendly policy. Shows that require full payment of booth fee before acceptance and offers no refunds, strike me as nonprofessional and short sighted. If they changed their policy, they would receive more applications and end up with more revenue in the long run.
Prior day setup shows earn extra points with me, but not a deal breaker. If two shows with similar sales are offered on any given weekend, I'll choose the one with the day before setup. I can do morning setups if needed, but not my first choice.
Any other fees that are due before you know if you are accepted into a show, examples, insurance, city licenses, guild member fees, etc. If I'm not accepted, why would I bother spending money on those items.
Another stupid wait list policy is a show that tells all the people on the wait list to show up - and see what happens. Sunfest (West Palm Beach) did that to me one year. My response was it was a 1200 mile each way trip so I wouldn't leave home without an acceptance confirmation.
Or the time I was on the wait list for Tempe and they offered me a half size space to drive across country for.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
I find it hard to understand this hardline, "no refunds once accepted" policy. I know that Talbott Street has a waiting list of people who have also paid their fees.
I forgot about prior day setup! Setting up the morning of is a dealbreaker for me as well. I tried that once, and it just doesn’t work for me. I always make sure to read the fine print now about when I can get in to setup. And Michael, I can’t imagine tearing completely down each night. That’s crazy! It’s a wonder they ever got ANYONE to apply to their show.
Larry, that’s a good point about contacting the show. Somehow I never think of doing that. They might be just cruising along not understanding how this is not the general practice any longer. People might complain about other aspects of Zapp, but the new “pay for your booth when accepted” standard I like! I no longer have a zillion checks floating around out there that may or may not ever be cashed.
And I agree with Lisa, for me there are also other factors besides “is it a good show” that would go into deciding to do a show or not. I also look at what other shows I’ll be in, travel times, and also what does my complete calendar look like? If I have 11 shows in a row, maybe that’s the weekend I need to take off in order to get caught up. So even if it was my number one choice now, which it isn’t, it might not be my number one choice after I see how the rest of my season settles out.
Mark, that’s a nice policy you have for your shows. I tried to explain to my other business owning friends that this biz is like rolling dice at the beginning of the year to see how many days your store will be open. Who runs a business like that besides us!?! It would be nice to be able to build up a clientele in an area without worry from year to year.
Lastly, thumbs up Will! The organization might be volunteer run, but I am not volunteering to be there. This is my business and my livelihood. Fortunately, most shows get that or we wouldn’t be making a living on the road. But if a show demonstrates through their application process or policies that they don’t get it, it makes you wonder what else they don’t get. No wait list? What about location? Marketing? Treating artists like people, not like cattle to be driven down a load-in chute? It’s just another red flag to me that maybe it’s not a show worth doing after all.
One other deal breaker we're considering is how many times have we been rejected. For example one show we were rejected the first year we applied, then got in the next year and have now been rejected the past 3 years. Thinking that one is now on the list of shows to never apply for again. But for shows we've never gotten into, we're trying to decide how many more times we try?
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