Looking for Feedback on Booth Sitters

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Diane Wright on March 5, 2010 at 1:05pm

I was involved with organizing a local indie type show. We got volunteers from our members and from organizations that have volunteers (we used Pittsburgh Cares). Our show benefitted Parkinson's foundation. Our volunteers helped with load in and load out as well as booth sitting. Our booth sitters did exactly that - sat in the booth while someone got something to eat or used the rest room. They did not sell anything and did not handle any transactions. We decided it was better for them not to be involved with anyone's money. They would just say that so&so would be back in ____ minutes. Some artists liked that others thought they should sell for them. We were afraid of the liability.

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Permalink Reply by Sandi Cottrell on March 5, 2010 at 1:12pm

Thanks Diane!

Diane Wright said:

I was involved with organizing a local indie type show. We got volunteers from our members and from organizations that have volunteers (we used Pittsburgh Cares). Our show benefitted Parkinson's foundation. Our volunteers helped with load in and load out as well as booth sitting. Our booth sitters did exactly that - sat in the booth while someone got something to eat or used the rest room. They did not sell anything and did not handle any transactions. We decided it was better for them not to be involved with anyone's money. They would just say that so&so would be back in ____ minutes. Some artists liked that others thought they should sell for them. We were afraid of the liability.

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Permalink Reply by Linnea Lahlum on March 5, 2010 at 2:07pm

I exhibit alone so really need booth sitters. It’s good that you will be providing them.

2 systems I have seen used: one where you sign up in advance for which time slots you want (can sign up at check-in or the morning of each day at the volunteer booth. ). A sign up sheet is made with time slots, and the artist writes down his/her name on the line and their booth number. The volunteer is given your booth number and heads straight for you at the appointed time. To make this work everyone has to be strictly limited to 20 minutes maximum, and the artists need to be told this when they sign up for a time. Some people run over and then the volunteers are running late. They usually make up some time on me because all I do is run to the bathroom. I bring my own food, as I don’t want to be stuck in a line and miss sales.

The second system is where you hang up a colored ribbon or piece of cloth, provided in the packet, at the front of your booth when you need relief. Volunteers are roving and stop in when they see the flag. Again artists must be reminded that they are limited to 20 minutes maximum. The problem with this system is sometimes the rovers miss the flag. They get sidetracked, are looking to the left of the row and not the right, etc. I have had more situations where I put it out the flag and did NOT get a sitter until an hour or more later with this system, than with the former one.

System one is good is best if you have a lot of volunteers. As an artist, it’s my ideal scenario. (I can plan when to drink coffee!) Someone also has to organize the list and tell each volunteer where to go. System two I have seen work with as few as 2 volunteers for a show of 75 artists.

At the risk of beating this into the ground: for any system the time limit is critical. Some will abuse it, so it must be mentioned at each relief stop. Last year at one show a boothsitter was relieving the photographer behind me. The guy stayed away for an hour. The poor volunteer didn’t know what to do. He thought maybe the artist had gotten sick. Meanwhile all of us around him were hopping up and down or crossing our legs waiting for our turn. When the photographer finally showed up all of his neighbors practically ganged up and attacked him. He'd been shooting the breeze with a friend. He made 6 enemies that day.

Hope this is helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Sandi Cottrell on March 5, 2010 at 8:11pm

We are leaning toward just having the artists call a number from their cell phones when they need relief and then dispatching the booth sitters. All of this information is most helpful, thank you for taking time to share! Sandi

Linnea Lahlum said:

I exhibit alone so really need booth sitters. It’s good that you will be providing them.

2 systems I have seen used: one where you sign up in advance for which time slots you want (can sign up at check-in or the morning of each day at the volunteer booth. ). A sign up sheet is made with time slots, and the artist writes down his/her name on the line and their booth number. The volunteer is given your booth number and heads straight for you at the appointed time. To make this work everyone has to be strictly limited to 20 minutes maximum, and the artists need to be told this when they sign up for a time. Some people run over and then the volunteers are running late. They usually make up some time on me because all I do is run to the bathroom. I bring my own food, as I don’t want to be stuck in a line and miss sales.

The second system is where you hang up a colored ribbon or piece of cloth, provided in the packet, at the front of your booth when you need relief. Volunteers are roving and stop in when they see the flag. Again artists must be reminded that they are limited to 20 minutes maximum. The problem with this system is sometimes the rovers miss the flag. They get sidetracked, are looking to the left of the row and not the right, etc. I have had more situations where I put it out the flag and did NOT get a sitter until an hour or more later with this system, than with the former one.

System one is good is best if you have a lot of volunteers. As an artist, it’s my ideal scenario. (I can plan when to drink coffee!) Someone also has to organize the list and tell each volunteer where to go. System two I have seen work with as few as 2 volunteers for a show of 75 artists.

At the risk of beating this into the ground: for any system the time limit is critical. Some will abuse it, so it must be mentioned at each relief stop. Last year at one show a boothsitter was relieving the photographer behind me. The guy stayed away for an hour. The poor volunteer didn’t know what to do. He thought maybe the artist had gotten sick. Meanwhile all of us around him were hopping up and down or crossing our legs waiting for our turn. When the photographer finally showed up all of his neighbors practically ganged up and attacked him. He'd been shooting the breeze with a friend. He made 6 enemies that day.

Hope this is helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Hoyt on March 6, 2010 at 7:32am

We do a number of shows where people will come around on a regular basis and ask if we need a break. But a long time ago at one show a woman asked if an exhibitor needed a break, was told "yes" and left her booth. Well, the "sitter" wasn't a sitter at all. When the exhibitor came back, the sitter- and her cash box- were gone. That was in the 1990s. And I have never used a booth sitter since.

But if you want to endear yourself to the exhibitors, ask them if they ever need SINGLES! I do Chester, NJ and Jim comes around on a regular basis and if I need singles, he goes and gets me $20 worth. He's happy to have twenties and I'm happy to have singles. I'll take change over booth sitters any day. Especially when I don't know who the sitter is.

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Permalink Reply by Pauline Ross on March 6, 2010 at 12:37pm

It is so appreciated when someone comes around and asks if you need a break. They usually wear an ID Tag letting you know they are a volunteer or a T-shirt or smock saying ART SHOW VOLUNTEER and they are all the same color. I prefer they just sit at the booth and not sell. And if there is an interested customer tell them artist will return in 10-15 minutes. I take my money pouch for a walk with me while on a short break anyway. They are also the same bunch that walk around with the morning coffee cart or water bottle cart during the day. If you are working alone some will even get your lunch if your booth is that busy. Don't we all wish for that this year! lol I've had that happen in the past.

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Permalink Reply by Alison Thomas on March 8, 2010 at 8:25am

I don't like signing up in advance for booth sitters. I only use them for bathroom breaks and how am I to know in advance when I am going to need a bathroom break? The best solution I have seen is to have people assigned to a particular area that can be flagged down when needed. Definitely no sales! I had one try to make a sale once and couldn't figure out how to use the cc machine so she was going to write down the cc number and expiration date. I need more info than that to process a transaction without the card present. Luckily I returned just in time.

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Permalink Reply by Sandi Cottrell on March 8, 2010 at 6:28pm

Thank you! Everyone has been super helpful.

Linnea Lahlum said:

I exhibit alone so really need booth sitters. It’s good that you will be providing them.

2 systems I have seen used: one where you sign up in advance for which time slots you want (can sign up at check-in or the morning of each day at the volunteer booth. ). A sign up sheet is made with time slots, and the artist writes down his/her name on the line and their booth number. The volunteer is given your booth number and heads straight for you at the appointed time. To make this work everyone has to be strictly limited to 20 minutes maximum, and the artists need to be told this when they sign up for a time. Some people run over and then the volunteers are running late. They usually make up some time on me because all I do is run to the bathroom. I bring my own food, as I don’t want to be stuck in a line and miss sales.

The second system is where you hang up a colored ribbon or piece of cloth, provided in the packet, at the front of your booth when you need relief. Volunteers are roving and stop in when they see the flag. Again artists must be reminded that they are limited to 20 minutes maximum. The problem with this system is sometimes the rovers miss the flag. They get sidetracked, are looking to the left of the row and not the right, etc. I have had more situations where I put it out the flag and did NOT get a sitter until an hour or more later with this system, than with the former one.

System one is good is best if you have a lot of volunteers. As an artist, it’s my ideal scenario. (I can plan when to drink coffee!) Someone also has to organize the list and tell each volunteer where to go. System two I have seen work with as few as 2 volunteers for a show of 75 artists.

At the risk of beating this into the ground: for any system the time limit is critical. Some will abuse it, so it must be mentioned at each relief stop. Last year at one show a boothsitter was relieving the photographer behind me. The guy stayed away for an hour. The poor volunteer didn’t know what to do. He thought maybe the artist had gotten sick. Meanwhile all of us around him were hopping up and down or crossing our legs waiting for our turn. When the photographer finally showed up all of his neighbors practically ganged up and attacked him. He'd been shooting the breeze with a friend. He made 6 enemies that day.

Hope this is helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Sandi Cottrell on March 9, 2010 at 10:03am

Thanks Holly.

Holly Olinger said:

Hi Sandi - This was a great solution provided by the Mount Dora show in FL. When you got your name badge at check in, a mailing label had been pasted onto the back. It had the cell phone number of some person from the art center who was coodinating volunteers. You called the number when you needed a break and then the volunteer would come immediately to your booth. The volunteers were well identified with festival shirts. I think a strict limit on the break time is needed so you don't get an exhibitor who goes off wandering which is really not fair to others waiting for a break.

You might also consider posting this question to the NAIA forum as we now have several art fair directors who are trying to contribute regularly to answer these types of questions.

HTH

-Holly

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Permalink Reply by Diane Wright on March 9, 2010 at 10:05am

I love the idea about being able to get singles. That has happened to me and in one show my neighbor kept borrowing singles from me which put me low.

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Permalink Reply by Art on the Lawn: Barbara Berney on March 9, 2010 at 4:50pm

Both of my shows have volunteers who continuously make the rounds to relieve artists when they need a break. They are identified as volunteers with name tags. Volunteer booth sitters do not sell. They are there to protect the booth while the artist is gone. We use only mature adults, as we have found that high school and college students are too easily distracted by texting, phone calls or visits from friends. Time is limited to 15 minutes, long enough to take a bathroom break and stop to pick up a bite to eat. We have never had a problem, but I feel strongly that volunteers must be identified in some way. My volunteer tags are easily identifiable and would be very tough to copy.

As an artist, I appreciate having booth sitters. I would never ask them to sell. I just want someone to guard the booth and welcome guests while I'm away.

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Permalink Reply by Sandi Cottrell on March 9, 2010 at 5:47pm

Thanks Barbara. I love Holly's suggestion about the phone number on the back of name tags...we have decided to use that suggestion.

Art on the Lawn: Barbara Berney said:

Both of my shows have volunteers who continuously make the rounds to relieve artists when they need a break. They are identified as volunteers with name tags. Volunteer booth sitters do not sell. They are there to protect the booth while the artist is gone. We use only mature adults, as we have found that high school and college students are too easily distracted by texting, phone calls or visits from friends. Time is limited to 15 minutes, long enough to take a bathroom break and stop to pick up a bite to eat. We have never had a problem, but I feel strongly that volunteers must be identified in some way. My volunteer tags are easily identifiable and would be very tough to copy.

As an artist, I appreciate having booth sitters. I would never ask them to sell. I just want someone to guard the booth and welcome guests while I'm away.

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