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  Eve Greiner October 24, 2011 at 11:26am

  Hi Connie,

   I used weight plates that lock onto the poles. Then the weights are stacked on top of them. It has worked very well in other shows even with windy conditions. This time, the wind dove into the peak and the weights simply fell off. There were also weights attached to the frame itself. The post by Karole Bowlds was brilliant. She figured out how to prepare for any adverse weather conditions and I will follow her suggestions. I also looked at the Stabar accessory from the Flourish company. Beyond that, I`m Dorothy looking for a way back to Kansas! 
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  Connie Mettler October 24, 2011 at 10:08am

  Hi Eve, thanks for sharing this information. Undoubtedly there are artists who don't anchor their tents properly, but as your example proves, the unpredictable nature of high winds can often be the main culprit. A tent well weighted may catch a freak wind that swoops down between tall buildings or microbursts appear out of nowhere, etc.

  What happened to your weights? Did they fall off?
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  Eve Greiner October 23, 2011 at 4:16pm

  Hello All,

  I was the one at The Bethesda Row Art show whose tent flipped over. Just to clarify to Keith, I had walls and 300 pounds (75 on each pole) and did everything I could to be sure my tent was secure. There were at least 2 dozen EZ Ups at that show, but wind is random - that`s just the way it goes. I did a show in Virginia Beach with even more wind, and there was no problem with my canopy. I will follow Karen Bowlds advice :EZ UP secure tent set up the Maine way. As of this writing, it has been viewed over 950 times (posted on the main page under blog posts) which proves there`s still plenty of us using the commercial grade EZ UP.

  I thought the staff at this show was very well organized and the loading/unloading went fairly well. Sales weren`t the same as other years, but it was still a decent show considering the economy. That`s my tidbit.
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  mea rhee October 20, 2011 at 9:17am

  I was on Elm Street, and in this section of the show, the foot traffic was excellent both days. This is my fourth year at this show, and I always ask for the same booth spot. I nearly sold out of my pottery. I try to pack about twice as much inventory as I am expecting to sell, but this time my expectations were exceeded by a lot. 

  The wind was not a problem at all on Elm Street, maybe we were shielded by the tall buildings close by. But anyways I was chatting with a show staffer who said that the flying tent had not been weighted down at all. Fault of the artist, not the weather. 

  Speaking of the show staff, there was a new person in charge this year, and I think it is important to comment on the major improvements. My one gripe about this show in the past was the awful car traffic on Saturday morning during load-in. These are city streets and cannot be closed until that morning. In the past, the scene has been disorganized and chaotic. I recall one year the person with the walkie talkie just stood there looking blank while artists were hurling f-bombs at each other. "Move your f*in car!" But this year the traffic managers had a plan, and they worked it. Very orderly and strict. In fact, when I was packing up after the show (I admit I am a slow packer) someone came by and told me to pack faster! I really didn't mind. You couldn't dampen my mood after my killer sales. And I would much rather work with people like that, than the one with the blank stare. 
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  Brett Miley October 19, 2011 at 8:37pm

  I was on a short spur of the show and my sales were good for a show half of the booth fee, but not for an expensive show like this one. I only made 4x booth fee. We had half or less the traffic as the rest of the show and many of them had just started walking the show and said they would stop back by on their way out. Most did not. Almost everybody that I spoke to that had a booth not on one of the 2 small spurs, made at least twice as much as I did. If I did the show again I would not want to be on a spur. I made almost twice as much at a show a few weeks prior only a few miles away. Luckliy, I sent out an email to the people who signed my guest book. A few of my sales were from them.
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  keith wilkie October 17, 2011 at 6:16pm

  Far as I could tell there were no walls, to stabilizer bars, no weights attached (adequately if at all) as it was lifted vertically then up and over row immediately behind it landing on the other side.  FYI my EZUp had flourish stabilizer bars and walls with hanging paintings and weights firmly attached and mine didnt even budge.  I think weather reported 20-40mph gusts in that downtown location on Saturday, but everyone adequately secured, regardless of tent type, weathered it just fine.....exceptional show too!
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  Connie Mettler October 17, 2011 at 9:38am

  I look forward to hearing more news on this show, Keith. There was a bit of chatter on Saturday on an artist's Facebook page about a "flying EZ-Up" --

  I know a bunch of our members were there -- details needed!
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  Jacki Bilsborrow October 16, 2011 at 12:03am

  Always great to hear good show news.  I hope you have good sales again tomorrow.  If the wind we had here in Michigan today is headed your way tomorrow everybody should make sure to really have their things secured.  The wind here was something else. 

  Have a great sale day on Sunday.

  Jacki B