At the start of a recent show, I found myself with three artists who were complaining about another promoter. They really raked this promoter over the coals. When I asked if they'd spoken up about their experiences, they just sort of looked at me and kept up the barrage. I walked away.
I have taken it up with promoters when I felt marketing/advertising had been lackluster (i.e. nobody AT the shows). I have asked about promotions and marketing, I have asked for a booth fee refund or reduction for future shows (no promoter has taken me up on this). I've been honest about bad sales and my sense of the show and my place in it.
I've hesitated to write on AFI or anywhere about what I perceived as rotten marketing, etc. I did so once, on a forum that was not even art-related, and the promoter found it and came close to telling me that my work wouldn't be accepted in the future.
I think we need to not complain and moan about promoters while we're at shows. It gives a bad taste - and might affect other artists, especially new ones. But I do think we need to be able to give honest, open feedback to promoters, without feeling that we will be blackballed.
What do you all do when you feel a promoter hasn't done a good job? What has been your experience?
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I'd like to know how people would handle this: I'm in a juried art fair in Avon MN in about a month, and the promoter spelled my FIRST name wrong on all the promotional materials, both online and in print. When I pointed it out she told me that the posters and brochures cannot be changed, even thought it's a month from now. It's not a big art fair and each and every artist has their name and sample of art work pictured on the brochure and poster and my name is glaringly wrong. It's not just spelled wrong, it's an entirely different first name.
I'm really upset about this -- obviously, my name is my brand and my business name and though the person was apologetic they are not willing to correct this mistake. What would you do? This is my first time at this art fair which has been going on for about 9 years now.
Ain't no way to correct printed materials once they're printed or plated. As Chris points out, being flexible is a key trait of successful business people.
Find a way to turn it to your advantage.
They are correcting the posters, etc.
By the way, I asked my artist friends on Facebook how they would handle this, and it was remarked that it would be nothing less than disrespectful to not reprint the promo materials.
If this was a huge art fair, obviously, I would have sucked it up and not expected any corrections. But this is a small art fair with only 16 participating artists, so we are all getting a lot of highlighting on the promo materials and for each of us it would be a glaring error to have our names wrong on the materials. I'm just very grateful it turned out the way it did.
Really?
You are expecting the promoter to throw all their posters and brochures in the trash and go to the expense of printing new ones on a month's notice because they got your first name wrong?
One of the very first things you must learn in this business is that promoters are human too. And mistakes will be made.
It's not the end of the world, it's a minor inconvience.
If you're going to do shows, the very first thing to remember is that you must be flexible. Picture an oak tree next to a willow. A strong wind comes along and that mighty oak is toppled over while the little willow just bends in the breeze.
Be that willow.
You're going to encounter problems much greater than a misspelling in this business. Wind, rain, rude customers, rude promoters, theft, I could go on and on.
And if a little thing like this upsets you.....
Chris Hoyt -- really???
This is not a LITTLE THING. This is my name, my business name. It seems incredible to me that you would consider getting a business name wrong a LITTLE THING. For ANY business getting the name wrong on printed promo materials would be what is technically considered a "BFD".
The promoter, by the way, went ahead and on her own, without me asking, informed me that she has reprinted the posters and the brochures with my name corrected and again apologized, which is exactly what she should have done. All is well!
I just went to your profile, and while your work is excellent, I did notice you haven't done any shows yet.
Is this the way you will react when a promoter "disses" you? Are you going to be that mighty oak tree?
What are you going to do when you have an outdoor show and it rains all three days? The shows go on rain or shine. Or in the case up here, rain, snow, or shine. Are you going to demand a refund because you didn't make any money? This business doesn't work that way. You will do shows where you won't make expenses, let alone a profit.
Your business name to most people is no big deal. 10 minutes after you sell a painting the customer will forget who you are until they look at your card to remember. Those are the facts of life in this business. "Brands" mean nothing here. People will remember Shelly the person, not your brand.
Do yourself a favor, and don't start out doing shows thinking you're a star. Because you have sooo much to learn. I learn something new at just about every show I do. And I have done over 1,200 shows.
The biggest and best advice I can give anybody is: Do this because you love doing shows. Do this because you have fun doing them. Do it because you love interacting with your customers, not because you have to.
This is not an easy life. The physical work can be exhausting. Driving, setting up, selling, tearing down, and driving home. And somehow everything that fit perfectly in the truck when you left home will not fit when you're packing up.
You will meet some wonderful people doing this. Make friends! Offer to help another exhibitor whenever you can, and that will come back to you. If the show's outdoors, bring a bowl and some water for customers' dogs. The dog stops, they look inside, and you engage them.
Be enthusiastic about your work! Transfer that enthusiasm to the customer. Don't sit in the back reading. As a matter of fact don't sit at all!
And smile! A lot.
Remember, nobody will ever need what you're selling. Commit that to memory, and you'll always be grounded.
Hi Carrie,
I would like to see the artist stop whinging and recognize their power, (not just with their 'feet' ) but take the reins in this issue. We need to recognise that WE are the most powerful group -there is no show without us after all. We are individually and collectively unique, art promoters come and go, they are a dime a dozen. Lets design a questionere which we complete at the end of each show. It need not be signed just collected and collated by one attendee and presented to the promoter. Copy kept and posted on AFI. This would benefit ALL involved. Marje OBrien
Marje, absolutely. That sounds like a great, fruitful, forward-looking idea.
But yes, there are huge cultural differences based on geography. Florida, where the market is over saturated, is much different than Utah, where there are only a few shows. Many examples of this.
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