Posted by Susan Lukas on October 10, 2009 at 9:41pm
$200 to do the show25 vendors at the show when promoter said there would be 125.Less than 1,000 people walking the show. Many vendors said they were leaving on Saturday, including us.Promoter, Debbie Netter, called my husband a bad name when he wouldn't move his van fast enough and said she would call security. We had only just arrived and were still taking down our tarps in the morning.Then if that wasn't unprofessional enough she had to say she pitied me being married to him.After a few inches of rain, the spaces were mud holes. She refused to get hay or do anything for vendors.Poorly advertised, small signs for show.This show wins the prize for my worst show of the year.
Susan, Is it possible you misunderstood what I said at Bloomington? I would NEVER have said that to anyone. I take my job very seriously and understand that word of mouth is extremely important.
The weather, both days,was horrible...freezing cold and rainy. There were mud holes which the maintenance crew tried to fill but the ground was just too mushy.
We did a lot of advertising for the show in a hundred mile radius of Bloomington.
There were vehicles clogging the pathway, blocking other artists and maintenance vehicles for the college.
You may have forgotten all artists received an email notifying them that the show was very small. Everyone was notified ahead of time and I was more than willing to refund booth fees.
It was just the wrong location and crummy weather.
We did the Burr Ridge Art Fair, first time event in September. Poorly attended as well. Not sure about advertising because we are not from the area. Beautiful setting but extremely slow and not profitable. My sense as Linda states is that Chicago is saturated.
One more thing..... I fully agree with Geri's comments mentioned months ago.... Chicago area is way over saturated with shows. Seems like each burb has a show and residents don't appear to go to ones other than their own.
Sorry you had such a tough one Susan. I did the Deerfield Show (my report) Perhaps because it all went smoothly, I had no problem with Debbie... infact, it was one of the better organized shows I did in Illinois. Hope things go better for your next show. It's a bite when there are no patrons.... worse when such few artists!
Of the 4 shows listed on Debbie's website, I was at three of them this summer. The only one really worth doing is Deerfield. It is the largest of the three. It is in the same place as an old Howard Alan event from years ago. I don't remember seeing a lot of advertising about it, my cousin told me about it. I didn't see a lot of advertising even driving to the show. Do not do the Cuneo show. It sounded just like the Bloomington event, very few vendors. I think I was there all of 20 minutes and all I got were mosquito bites. The Northbrook show was also very small with less than the mentioned vendors. I did get one of my favorite pieces of the summer there but it was the only thing I looked at more than once.
This promoter also had a show in Highwood, Il for one year opposite Port Clinton but the next year she wisely switched to the weekend before. (why she went up against one of the consistently top rated festivals is a mystery, especially one with so many vendors) The next year the show was actually pretty good but it has since been discontinued.
Next year, if she has the same shows, I will only bother going to Deerfield. It is a weekend with no other shows. Her other shows aren't worth the time and there are other shows within an hour that are much better.
Unfortunately this was a poorly attended show. However, I think the promotor did the best she could. She even said she was embarrassed and would probably not have the show next year. She went out of her way to make things as pleasant as possible, i.e. donuts, coffee and even pizza Sunday afternoon. She recognized the fact that the crowds were not coming and gave an early shut down time, which helped for those of us who had a long drive. I must say, I actually did some decent sales, not what I really wanted but enough that I didn't loose my shirt! I will definitely try one of Debbie's other shows as I think she is truly a nice person and tried her best in Bloomington.
I understand a bit more now. I don't know anything of Debbie's shows - I am out of Maryland. I enjoy reading reviews of shows as neighbors at shows talk about them and share opinions so I like to try and be well rounded, even if I might not ever get to sell in the area where said shows take place. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I did leave a few things out. There was no rain on show day. We did ask the promoter about advertising and it was inadequate, probably because she needed more exhibitors to fund ads. We did explain that we had just arrived, but she told us she was in a bad mood. She felt the need to take it out on someone, I guess. I was prepared for the cold weather as I knew it would be like that. I could have cancelled and only lost the $200, but I was lied to about the quality of the show. Many of the exhibitors felt like I did. We stood around and complained because there were no customers. As an art show vendor, you have to be hopeful and optimistic or you should just stay home. We cut our losses and went home early. Saved money on the van rental.
Comments
Susan, Is it possible you misunderstood what I said at Bloomington? I would NEVER have said that to anyone. I take my job very seriously and understand that word of mouth is extremely important.
The weather, both days,was horrible...freezing cold and rainy. There were mud holes which the maintenance crew tried to fill but the ground was just too mushy.
We did a lot of advertising for the show in a hundred mile radius of Bloomington.
There were vehicles clogging the pathway, blocking other artists and maintenance vehicles for the college.
You may have forgotten all artists received an email notifying them that the show was very small. Everyone was notified ahead of time and I was more than willing to refund booth fees.
It was just the wrong location and crummy weather.
This promoter also had a show in Highwood, Il for one year opposite Port Clinton but the next year she wisely switched to the weekend before. (why she went up against one of the consistently top rated festivals is a mystery, especially one with so many vendors) The next year the show was actually pretty good but it has since been discontinued.
Next year, if she has the same shows, I will only bother going to Deerfield. It is a weekend with no other shows. Her other shows aren't worth the time and there are other shows within an hour that are much better.
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