Hi Connie! I wanted to thank you again for all you do for the art community and for putting your heart into this site for us all to learn and benefit! I entered the pledge drive again this year because I want to support your site and help keep it running and because it is FUN!
Although my name did not get drawn for a prize, I was probably the first one to tell you which prize I wanted in the 'prize grab' at the end. I chose 2 free months advertising for your festival on the front page of The Event Shop.com. The reason I was so excited about this prize is that I am on the board of a guild show in Pittsburgh called 'A Fair in the Park' and like so many shows, we have recently lost some of our sponsors and are looking for that funding.
I am so happy to be able to bring this prize to the board and maybe help solve a problem. What a great prize to win, I had my eye on that one from the beginning and am so surprised that nobody snatched it up before I could. If anybody else who has an event looking for sponsors wants to know how it works for us, please email me later on this year and I'll let you know.
Again, THANK YOU, Connie for making donating so much fun!
Laurie Leonard
Comments
I won a prize too!! FREE booth space at the wonderful Berkshires Art Festival which is just an hour from my home in Massachusetts. I wanted to thank you again for this fantastic opportunity. The show is over and I made a few sales, added to my mailing list and made some wonderful connections and some new friends too. Didn't make enough to cover the booth fee so it was very sweet I won that! It was terrific exposure for me and the free booth gave me the impetus to spend on my set up which looks great now! Just wanted to say thanks again AND you can count on me for your annual pledge drive every year!
Richard and Joanna of The Berkshires Art Festival were wonderful to work with! They were incredibly gracious and I had a sweet spot! We had one full day of rain which dampened the show a bit but it was a wonderful event all around and I was sooo pleased to be part of it.
David, I sure will!
Hi Laurie, I'm glad you are so happy with your prize from The Event Shop! We love to help our festivals find sponsors (and our sponsors find festivals!). We'd appreciate it if you could spread the word about our services, thanks!
I also won a prize! An Amazon gift card for ACT Insurance, which is fitting since I just renewed my insurance with them last week. BTW, I've used ACT for the last three years and I feel it is well worth the price, especially with all the weather we've had so far this season. You can sign up online and it only takes a few minutes, and it is easy to go in and add additional insured's when a show requires it.
Thanks Connie for all you do with this site, it is and amazingly helpful website and a wonderful community.
I am also excited to win my desired prize , Zapplication.org Art Festival Conference . I thought for sure it would have been given away to an 'early bird' pledger. I have watched up dates from Zapp. and I believe they are trying to improve and inform the active artist nation wide. Just as this site, they compliment and suppliment each other for us. I hope to learn and share news and advise. Maybe some of you are already registered to attend. IF so, I hope we meet. Thank you Connie M. for ALL your efforts.
P.S., You can see the Ingot weights at canopyweight.com
I was thrilled to win a prize, and thrilled with the prize I won - a set of Ingot weights. I had just bought two sets of these weights, stoppiing at the company's HQ, in Olney, Illinois, on my way from Cincinnati to Omaha, and picking up the two sets. I was happy to win the third set.
I used the two sets of weights at the show in Omaha, and they worked well. It was a windy show, and my tent stayed put nicely.
The ingot weights come in sets of four, totaling 60 lbs., so they are 15 lbs. each. They're about 16 inches long, with velcro straps at each end. One side is flat; the other has a curve that fits around the tent poles. They are sheathed in a heavy dull gray plastic, and are delightfully unobtrusive.
While the weights worked well, it is going to take me some time to get fast at installing them. I just put all three sets on my tent here in Columbus, and I was quicker the second time around. But making the weights work with mesh panels is a little tricky. I hung two from each stabilizer bar, and attached one to each upright. Because this is such a windy show, I also used my regular concrete-filled pipes, and also brought in four buckets filled with gravel. At less windy shows, I think my pipes and the ingots will be plenty.
I'm going to try some different methods for hanging the weights from the stabilizer bars; wrapping the velcro around the bars takes a lot of time, especially when you're also dealing with the straps of the mesh panels.
The weights are manageable - but I wish they were 30 lbs each, instead of 15! And, of course, the same size. So that's impossible - but it's an idea.
It was fun to go to the headquarters of US Weight, the manufacturer. It's one of the larger businesses in Olney, Illinois, a quiet little town with a large contingent of white squirrels. If you have a chance to go, I recommend it!