Another year, another tour of shows by Carolina Shows, Inc. This year we signed up for all seven Christmas Made In The South shows plus their Springtime in the South last February = eight. Why? #1) Because the Hunts take care of their exhibitors like they are family. #2) They do a great job of promoting the shows and bringing in the buying crowd. #3) They have a long standing excellent reputation. #4) The shows are all indoors. YEAH!!!
The results - people are lined up at the gates with their big bags and personal shopping buggies. The shoppers come with checklists and plans of who they want to see. Many shoppers come all three days! Within minutes of opening of the doors you see customers with arms full of bags. We've been doing the CMITS shows long enough now we even have people seeking our booth so they can add to their collection of Wolfgang photography. We even had one person who bought something the previous year come back for more. When asked how he liked the piece he purchased last year he said there was a slight problem. The colors did not do as well as expected in the room. So he re-painted the room to coordinate with the new art. Love it!!!!
Concord was a long 5 hour drive for us. Load in and out easy with plenty of parking. Everything must be kept strictly within your space. No bins pushing the limits here. But there is plenty of storage for back up inventory behind the curtains around the perimeter of the arena. If you can manage to get across the flow of traffic up and down the isles you can re-stock in short order. Christmas music is played over the loud speakers (at a comfortable volume) to enhance the shopping mood. Most exhibitors add holiday decorations in their booth. I welcome my visitors with "Merry Christmas!" and always get a smile and holiday wishes back. I wear my Christmas shirts and jewelry. It's FUN. I love Christmas.
The arenas have concession stands so if you don't pack your own lunch fast food is handily nearby. The CMITS shows also have Christmas Buffets for the exhibitors and shoppers. Turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie and the works.
Did you notice I say exhibitors instead of artists. Mainly because the CMITS shows are predominantly crafters. Very fine crafters I might add. Tom Brown's rocking horses are almost (if not always) a sell out. And there are jewelers with beautiful necklaces and rings and bracelets and earrings. There are quite a few skin products and flavored oils and dips. There are proportionately fewer 2D artists at these shows. The ones that are there are really good. My friend Dan Williams has the most amazing bird pictures you will ever find. Watercolors by Janice Lippincott and Ron Taylor are beautiful. Mike Johnson's pen and Ink - I don't even know how to describe their detail and beauty. So why do 2D artists participate? Well, we are the other option. We stand out. We are different. People notice. We are not one of 100 other 2D artists. And we do well.
But I am running out of time. I have to get back to making more prints. Time to pack up for the next show this weekend in Columbus, GA. If you are there - come say HI. I'm in booth 426.
Here are the images. Really poor images for a photographer but I was in a hurry and using my iPhone just trying to grab some shots for you all and get back to selling. Enjoy!
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