Elk Rapids, Mi show review... June 27 09

I participated in the Art Rapids Art Fair in Elk Rapids, Michigan on June 27th 2009. It is a one day event an is relatively small with 70 artists.
It is held in a beautiful part on the Lake Michigan shoreline just a stones throw from Traverse City. The area is quite affluent and the people are very friendly. It is a very small scenic town that has a very laid back and relaxed atmosphere.
The people running the show were very organized and helpful. They even had helpers that would assist every artist in unloading their stuff and take it to your booth spot, then helped at the end of the day to get your stuff back into your vehicle.
This show is much different than the last two shows that I did in the suburbs of Chicago.... and much more like I am used to with my shows in Michigan. While those who visited my booth in Chicago had little to say and rarely ask a question or made a comment, the people in Elk Rapids were very engaging. They reacted quite emotionally to what they saw, making comments like "oooh, I like that one... or wow! look at that!" This is what I am used to... being engaged with the community that visits the show and answering questions the entire day.
I find it much easier to sell my art when I am in a continuous flow of conversation with the visitors in my booth. Everyone around tends to feed off of that positive energy and their interest grows as they hear more about how I do what I do.
My medium is wood, and I noticed that the number of wood booths was high.... I usually see in an average show that wood makes up around 5% of the artists, but here it was closer to 15%, which may not sound like much, but it is significant to me.
Crowds were heaviest before noon, then went to about half it's earlier numbers.

My prices are generally in the high range. Most of my work is around $1000, then I have a few in the 350 to 750 range and then a handful of $150 items... nothing below that.
I sold one item at $750, but came very very close to making a $1400 and a $2425 sale. They were sooo close I could taste the income tax. One said that it was between me and another artist's work and they said they were going to lunch to think about which they would go with and I didn't see them again. The other I think I will hear from later... her husband wasn't with her and she wanted him to see it first. So, it is still a potential sale.
There were a half dozen other promising prospects that I believe would have bought if the economy was better and they felt more confident in spending that much money. I think that I could get a few calls from this show in November with people looking to buy as a Christmas present. (It happened a lot last year for me)

Overall... below average sales from a show that has real potential... especially when the economy returns. I will be back.

Here is a short video clip of the fair:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63mF9V6LD6o

Also a show photo:

Charles Bingham