I just received my booth assignment at Long Grove for their late August show. Sales last year were dismal, but the prior two years showed a little sign of promise, so this was to be the make or break year for it. I think it may be broken before it even starts, and am seriously thinking of bailing out at this point.

 

The show has 93 artists, of which 19 are photographers (my category) and 24 jewelers. Holy crap, that's 43 out of 93 for 46% of the artists in these two categories, and the pie is getting sliced into mighty small pieces at this point where 1 out of 5 artists is a photographer and almost 1 out of 4 is a jeweler.

 

My wife is already saying to drop the show and not risk losing anymore. I didn't make booth fee last year, and there were fewer photographers then. This is obviously not a balanced show, and I can't think of another show where the ratios are this terrible. I can't imagine what they were thinking when they loaded these two categories up.

 

This is a 4-4.5 hour drive for me and two nights lodging. I normally tough it out and do these shows that turn out to be problematic, but I'm having trouble seeing this one as a good bet. Any opinions on this?

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  • Thank you so much for this post! Have been hunting for July & August shows - and I'm glad to cross a bad one off the list.  Again, thank you for your honest posting!

    • Interesting note, the Long Grove show was initially cancelled and has been resurrected by a different group of people.  I live about 3 miles away (really) and will stop by to see what they do if I have time that weekend.

      • The new group had sent out emails to all previous participants and had promised a balanced show. I sent an email to them asking some questions, but never received an answer so I didn't apply this year. I had thought the show had all the right ingredients, but it just hasn't gelled over the last several years. I look forward to hearing something about it this year if you're able to stop by and check it out.

      • Please give us an update! Thanks!

  • For years this show was put on by the local school PTO .  I believe it is still a fundraiser for them and that they provide the volunteers but a separate entity has been running it since they added "Wine" to the title.

    • The  wine tasting may have taken precedence as the crowd was heavier, a lot heavier, up around the wine tents. I was using them as an alternative to the Lexington Woodland show, but I need to step up my game with some better work and stop considering some of these smaller lower rung shows. It's better to stay home and do something productive than set up and use three days just to churn some work and only have a few hundred to show for it after all is said and done. 

      • Yes -- and if nothing else, work on your website, spend some time on social networking, get ready to have an online presence so those who love your work can find you. Way cheaper than spending all that money traveling to a marginal show.

        • That's the plan :-) I've got the business name staked out on Facebook, and it's way past time to get the website functional and set up for e-commerce.

      • I heard from another artist who cancelled that Long Grove is receiving a lot of cancellations this year.  

        • My luck would be that 15  other photographers decided to bail out :-/

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