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Just got back from the Chincoteague Island Decoy and Wildlife Art Show. The show is held every year on the Friday and Saturday before Easter. This year had a great selection of Artists, and the crowds were pretty good, too. It was a nice weekend to visit the Island, with warm weather and good sunshine. Chincoteague has a lot of “summer” cottages owned by people in the Mid-Atlantic area, and they all come to the Island on nice weekend. It’s also a popular vacation spot, and day trip destination. This all helps bring people into the show. A lot of them are repeat visitors, looking forward to the show every year.

The variety of Artists was good, with a mix of local talent and out of town talent, and also a good mix of decoy carvers and 2-D artists. Some of the carvers were really great. One specialized in hummingbirds, with a carved flower and the hummingbird beak in the flower. Nothing was holding the bird up except the finely carved beak! There was not an over abundance of jewelers, and the one’s there were all a little different.

The show is held in the Chincoteague Island “Combined” School cafeteria and gymnasium, and is put on by the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce. Friday is from 12 to 6PM, and Saturday is 9AM to 5PM, with an auction at 7:30PM. I didn’t make it back for the auction as I was trying to get a good sunset shot, but I understand the picture I donated of a wild pony went for a lot more that I’d have sold it for in my booth! For those not familiar with Chincoteague Island, it’s a old fishing village on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and adjacent to the Assateague Island National Seashore Park.

For me the sales were not that great. Saturday was OK, but I sold very little on Friday. There were also too many Photographers and they all specialized in wildlife. It wouldn’t have been too many Photogs, if we all had different specialties. My personal opinion, also, is that the show should be one day only, with longer hours (until after the auction). The out of town folks have to spend an extra night in a motel with very low sales on Friday.

The new site not only continues the separation of the art from the food and stages that we instituted a few years ago, it also places it in a downtown full of unique stores, popular restaurants and theatres, a favorite destination for young professionals, families and residents
of the nearby cities of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Troy and Huntington Woods.

Our promotion is considered among the best of art festivals nationwide. You cannot be in the metropolitan Detroit area on Labor Day weekend without seeing specials about the arts activities on television, hearing artists' interviews on numerous radio stations and seeing comprehensive feature articles in the press, directed solely to the juried fine arts show.

300,000 peopleprojected over the 4-day weekend, based on last year's attendance, promotional media, event programming, reasonably good weather, and our wonderful new
site in downtown Royal Oak.

Artist Amenities:

• Onsite and overnight security provided
• Vehicle unloading and loading at booth
• Individual artist electricity (included in booth fee)
• $7500 in artist awards

Have you ever wondered what customers want when it comes to customerservice? Of course! Aside from the many questions artists have onthis subject, one of the most asked is “is it something I said ordid that prevented someone from buying from me?” I have somethoughts on this topic.

Question 14 What kind of service do customers want?

1. Respect. Customers want to be treated with respect like a friend or familymember. Respect can easily be achieved through welcoming customerswarmly or recognizing them as a repeat customer and always lettingthem know you are available if they have any questions.

2. Trust. Patrons don't want to feel like a criminal, they want to betrusted. Letting customers know you trust them – “Sure, Iaccept checks” or “Feel free to try this on, I trust you.”goes a long way. The worst thing a craft artist can do is hover,guard your booth like a gargoyle, or follow a person around thebooth pushing them into purchasing something.

3. Be left alone. If you polled anyone what kind of customer service theylike, they'll most likely say – just leave me alone so I can shop.I say this each time I go into a shop at a mall. Before I put onefoot in the store I get accosted by 2-3 clerks asking, “Can I helpyou find something?” I recommend quick greeting those who walkinto your booth, and go about doing some simple chores letting themknow you are available to answer any questions when they are ready.This shows customers you trust them by giving him/her the power tocontrol the sale. This is very pleasing, don't you think? Also,don't interrupt customers while they are shopping they don't careand is a turn off to most. Only when a customer asks you a questionabout an item you make/sell, then is the time to win them overmentioning interesting facts about your work or testimonials (I justsold that very piece to a gal who loves the color blue too, let meshow you some other blue pieces I have over here...).

4. Don't ignore me. A big turn off customers have is being ignored. Far toooften at shows I see craft artists chat with their neighbors orco-worker, chat on their cellphone, or take too much time talking toone customer and ignoring those who very well might be ready topurchase something. This is rude. A solution might includeinterrupting the current conversation (say “hold that thought –let me assist a customer and I'll be right back) or simply makingeye contact with those who come in your booth to show you see themand will be right with them.

5. Be friendly. Customers are less likely to ask for help or buy from youopenly are having a bad day. Customers rarely buy from craft artistsif they over hear you complaining about a shows attendance or badsales as well as exhibiting negative body language (for instancesitting during, reading, or frowning or looking as though you areagitated say by a customer who rustled your feathers or whatever).One thing I learned back in my drama club days is “act” like youare having a good day even if you really aren't. Be kind and politeas well as jovial and enthusiastic about your work and being at theshow. People who are passionate about their work creates a positiveshopping environment which attracts even more customers.

Hopefully this helps to identify what customers want regarding customer serviceand how to achieve these results. Do you have a suggestion orexperience you want to share regarding this topic, do tell by using the comment button. Our next question will cover how GenX and Yr's affect how people shop especially at art and craft shows –this will be a fun topic! Happy Easter everyone!

Michelle, www.quickcraftartisttips.blogspot.com

I have been juried into Manayunk or Corn Hill Art Festivals? I am wondering if I should do them after hearing from one artist that they are not that great. This will be my first year going up north. I will be up there for several shows in a row. I also applied to SoNo and Mystic Art Festivals. My medium is abstract nature photography. Any thoughts on these shows would be great.

Brett Miley

is anyone doing the may 7,8,9 fest this year? i am looking for info on the load in, but noone returns my emails from the festival site? thanks for any response, denice

It is our 50th year and we want you to celebrate with us!

Artcenter Traverse City invites you to apply to its 50th Annual Outdoor Art Fair, to be held on the campus of Northwestern Michigan College in
beautiful Traverse City, Michigan. We offer spacious display areas, with ample parking to provide the perfect Art Fair atmosphere. Our juried fair seeks to maintain the highest standards for both the artists and the viewing public.

This is one of Artcenter's premier events and fundraiser, we are comprised of working artists and members who volunteer time, talent, and experience to ensure a quality show. We offer a cash award and a pre-juried complimentary booth for 2011, and we are continuing our 20% pre-jury invitation to selected artists.

In 2010 TC ODAF falls right in the middle of the Traverse City Film Festival. This opportunity offers a unique twist to our celebration. Their event spills over to the NMS campus. This will be a vibrant and exciting day drawing visitors from many diverse lives.

Making it easy for you:

• Setup Friday night or Saturday from 6 am to 9 am
• Rooms available on Campus
• Reasonable fees - $25.00 entry fee
• $135.00, 10 x 10 booth fee
  

Just seeing if anyone else was considering this show, I have really cheap lodging there; but still have reservations. This is a brand new show that they are starting. Please offer some input. Thanks in Advance!!

Ben

1. How do you think this should be handled?
2. Do you think we should have volunteer moderators who could monitor the conversations and keep them civilized? A moderator could be someone who keeps the discussion in the parameters of the subject.
   
3. Should we put together a group to create a policy that will allow everyone to put forth their point of view within guidelines?
4. Should discussions be closed out at two weeks?
5. Any suggestions?
   

1. Be nice
2. Be generous
3. Be ethical

Got a call this morning from Nels. "Why don't you write up the show, I left early Sunday morning".

I remember hearing that at the show Sunday morning, and saying to my wife, "There's a smart man!" The weather report was as bleak as it could be. We would be hit by rain around 1 PM and it would last all afternoon.

Tarpon Springs is a small town with a lot of character. The tourist draws are the sponge docks and the Greek food. I've done the art festival off and on for 2 decades and have been in most locations throughout the park. Some locations are better than others. I have gravitated to the hardest location to set up, but where the sales, for me, are consistently good.

The Park is hastily fenced around its perimeter on Friday so an entry fee can be charged. The artists can load in on Friday too, but the degree of difficulty is in direct proportion to your assigned spot. Mine is a cart-in from 50 yards away, if I can get one of 2 parking spots. Tear-down is worse, sometimes 100 yards and then carrying everything up a grassy hill to the curb. I couldn't have left Sunday morning even if I had wanted to. Nels is always in a different area and this year he had a perfect load-in/load-out spot, but he said it lacked steady traffic and therefore, sales.

He shared his number with me and, really, I only made a few hundred more on Saturday. Oh, by the way, Saturday was a perfect day! Great crowds and lots of people carrying bags.

The show hours were 9 to 5 on Saturday and 10 to 5 on Sunday. We arrived at 9:30 Sunday morning and found the parking difficult and the crowd huge. They were letting people in early due to the threat of rain. By the time I got back from parking many blocks away, Kim had the booth open and was putting up as many awnings as we had. I mention this because a year earlier, we couldn't do this even though we had the same booth number in the show.

Let me digress to editorialize to promoters everywhere:

When an artist requests the same booth number they had last year, they don't really mean the same number, we mean the same real estate! Last year when we arrived for set-up Friday afternoon, we found another booth set up in the spot we had had for several years in a row. We had to set-up in the grove of trees where a booth had never been set up before. It seems a volunteer didn't realize a booth should not be placed there, but there I was, same number, but one space away from "my" spot. Same thing happened to me in Naperville last year. "Spot" means location not number!

So, last year when the rains came we could not put any awnings out. This year, when the rain came, there was no reason to. The crowd evaporated so fast we just dropped our sides. Up to that point, sales were fantastic and we did as well in a few hours as we did all day, Saturday. The show was officially closed and artists were given permission to tear down in the poring rain.

Several artist joined us in drinking beer (the beer booth stayed open) and we sat in the booth plugging leaks and telling stories for a couple of hours until one of my loading spots opened up and then we proceeded to pack-out in a steady drizzle.

That makes two weeks in a row of short Sunday afternoons and a lousy pack-up. Between the cold and the rain this year, Florida has been pretty miserable.