I remember it well. It was Ocala, either 2007 or 2008. It had rained all Friday, all Saturday, and sporadically on Sunday. At about 4:00 on Sunday the sky turned black, the thunder started to rumble in the distance and it looked like it was going to get really nasty. People started to break down and about 4:30 an army of vans started coming on the field. The rules said you MUST wait for the go-ahead to bring your van on the field, no earlier than 5:30. There was this poor volunteer attempting to stand in front of the vans coming on the field, waving her clipboard, and yelling “You’re not authorized to come on the field yet”. And they just went around her. I, being a good little do bee, waited until 5:30 to go and get my van and by that time I couldn’t get my van on the field, because everyone else was already there. Guess who was the last person out of Ocala that year, breaking down alone in the dark?
Then there are two shows that come to mind immediately that have a setup time of 1:00PM on Friday. Still being a good do bee, I show up at 1:00. Half the show is already set up. I can’t get a parking place anywhere near my spot and end up circling the block for 45 minutes to get a parking place at all. The following year I show up at 11:00AM and setup is wonderfully easy.
What about those rules that usually work fine when enforced and put anyone who follows them at a disadvantage when not enforced? What about those rules that must have been written by someone who has never done an art show? When you have no one behind you do you spread out the back, not only with your stuff, but with your display area? Do you put your print bin way out in front of your booth until someone tells you to move it? Or do you put your print bin out in front in self defense because your neighbor has done it and everyone is making a wide circle around their display missing your booth entirely?
Where do you draw the line?
