We were at the Howard Alan Boca Fest show this past weekend. The show has been mentioned/reviewed on AFI a number of times so I’ll just hit the highlights of the logisitics.
As with most HAE shows, it’s a 5AM setup on Saturday morning, although many tents were up earlier than that. The load-in is easy if you get there early enough but not horrible even if you’re late. The HAE staff keeps everyone moving and we didn’t see any real logjams.
Spaces are in the parking lot at the Boca Town Center, an upscale shopping center in a very upscale community. The layout is a series of fairly short row bordered by a long row connecting the short ones – think shopping center parking lot and you’ll get it. The aisles are very wide and the spaces are 18 giant feet deep – think parking space. If you had enough panels, you could display art the entire depth of your space or you could store everything you own behind the tent.
The weather was perfect all weekend – mostly sunny, not too warm and gentle breezes. On Saturday the crowd was steady but not the throng we had expected. Contributing factors may have been the torrential rains that had flooded the streets of many Boca neighborhoods in the few days before the show. Also, it was the Jewish Shabbat combined with the Ariel Sharon funeral.
In any event, Saturday was slow for us and for a number of the other artists we spoke to. Of course, some were vey happy. Just like every other show.
Sunday was very crowded - HAE gets them out with lots of promotion/ads. Unfortunately it was just as slow for us as Saturday.
Sales were very disappointing especially after coming off a very good weekend at Las Olas. Last year we did the Hot Works Boca show (Patty Narozny) and had light sales as well. Combined with this year’s result – Boca you’re dead to us!
A painter across from us practically sold out and we did see lots of bags being carried – though many were small. The quality of the art was very, very high and there were buyers – just not for our fabric art.
Highlights:
We had a buyer on Saturday who was waffling about taking a piece because the colors might not match. We did the old pay for it now, take it home, if it doesn’t work, bring it back routine. On Sunday morning, she walks into the booth carrying the piece. We immediately assumed that our slow sales were to get even slower. Instead, she said the piece worked so well she wanted another one just like it. Yay!
Also, we had enough Marriott points that we got a “free” weekend in the onsite hotel. (Of course it’s only free because we have paid for so many other nights.) It was great to have a two-minute walk to the room for air-conditioning/bathroom breaks. It also ensured that we could be in the hotel bar for happy hour within seconds of getting the tent zipped up.
We saw and talked to many artists who were also at Las Olas. This week we were next to AFIers Gary and Maureen Shull and right behind Melanie Rolfes-Leonard. We enjoyed meeting them in person and comparing notes with them on past/upcoming shows.
Teardown was as easy as it gets. With an 18’ deep spot, stacking everything behind the tent and then getting the tent down meant that the already wide aisles became even wider. There was plenty of room to drive right to your spot and load the van. HAE staff tightly controlled entry to the venue. We were on our way in no time.
Lowlights:
It really came down to sales. We covered the booth and a few meals but that was about it. If we didn’t have the free room it would have been a loser. Boca Raton is clearly not our market. There were plenty of artists who did well here; there were also a number who weren’t happy.
Bottom line:
Great venue, big crowds (mainly on Sunday), professional promoters, poor sales.
Comments
Thanks for the nice review, Bill. Better luck at your next shows.
Anytime Melanie. Have fun in Miami.
So true. If they aren't even haggling they aren't even interested. The handwriting is on the wall. What's next for you and Staci?
Connie - I think that some people just dump all their stuff in their space very, very early and then head back to the hotel to sleep some more. When they return later they don't have to hassle with the vans.
I don't think the artists are really chasing the set-up time at HAE shows - some come early, some come later. 8AM would be really cutting it close if you wanted to be ready for the early-bird shoppers.
Haggling is expected in this market and you can price accordingly. But first you need to have what they want to buy. For us, there aren't enough of those folks in this market.
What an excellent review, Bill. I've been there. Love that shopping center, love that Marriott. Sounds like the logistics on this are as good as it gets. Do you think that in a situation like this where the load-in and load-out are so easy and it is a roomy parking lot that you could get by with not getting to your space until say, 8 am? Just wondering. I always felt that so many people got up so @#$ early for the HAE shows was to get ahead of the other guys and it was a self-perpetuating thing. Seems like this would be a place to test that theory.
Boca is a place unto itself. We often did well there but the buyers were mighty choosy and mighty haggly (not a word I know, but you get the gist of it) and we had friends that went there a couple of times and said they just didn't want to do the haggle thing and wouldn't go back.
It was so nice to meet both of you! We are intrigued with your boat lifestyle.