Late night post of my show because it was an emotional roller coaster at times and I am trying to unwind while home front is quiet. Many of us had shows this weekend. In the metro Atlanta area they were everywhere. So Here we go another review for a Chastain Park (atl) show. I have lost count on how many times I have reviewed a show at this site. Short version for those too lazy to search AFI for more info on the basics, beautiful park, long stretch, rich area, booths on one side, most folks plenty of room. Chastain Park has a show in the spring, lots of crafts and some fine art then again in November Art only.We had a twist this year. Usually we can set up on Friday, which really helps in a park location. BUT the concert venue scheduled a late date for the Smashing Pumpkins so it meant 1/2 of us couldn't set up on Friday and the other half had a shorter window to set up on Friday. AFFPS went to bat for us with the city and those of us closer to the concert venue were given an option for a midnight set up. This meant that the AFFPS folk were at the park starting on Friday morning around 7am until Saturday morning until 3am and then had to be back on site by 5 am that Saturday to let in more artists, then run the show all day Saturday. Whew.... So there were folks that had it harder then me, I opted for the midnight set up (not a morning person to say the least)Like I said I picked the midnight set up, because I am not a morning person, and it happened to be my birthday. I almost always set up alone but since it was my birthday I guilted my teen sons and husband into helping me set up. I don't think any one else was in ear shot for my set up, but I too was in bad form by barking orders and getting frustrated with my 18 year old son for not understanding the difference between a square and a rectangle. I know it is no fun when you are stuck listening to families bicker.In these parts we had lots of weather (I am sure no one else had lots of weather :) Sun, wind, rain, lighting and tornados all around a 30% chance at all times pretty much. Oh and maybe it would be hot or maybe not just had to wait and see. Sounds a bit like Florida.My main thought about this years show is that the "artists", not the vendors or patrons, showed very bad form. Shame on us!!! Like I said this is a long show so for most of the show I only experienced my end and it wasn't pretty. At load out at the other end I experienced and had ample time to talk to other artist who also had issues with inappropriate artists. Kudos to AFFPS for trying to wrangle us in to the coral but come on "artists" get a grip. BUT my hats are off to the patrons that attend this show. Here is an example today. Two couples with crazy expensive strollers with kids in them, not dogs, ran in to eachother. They are chatting away then more friends and neighbors come along and they all catch up and enjoy the day. This went on for about 20 minutes, lots of hugs and kisses and all that kinda stuff. The excellent part is that they never blocked a booth. Different people came in and out of the group and as it got bigger and smaller they would adjust them selves and the strollers so they were out of the way of blocking artists booths. I was soooo proud of them. I have never seen anything like it. When it started to break up I went over and thanked them all for having proper "art show etiquette" but not really in those words. I might just add some gold stars into my gear to hand out to people at shows:)So how were sales. Saturday the crowds were small. We were lucky and didn't get any rain until the last 5 minutes of the show but it was raining all around us. IMO this is a great show for 2D. I saw a lot of large pieces walk out including my own. My last client of the day had to run around and pick up all her purchases, left some of them with me because she had so much. At one point the trash pick up folks thought it was a pile of trash it was so big. as I walked her out of the show to her car we stopped at 2 more booths for her to pick up already paid for items. We were both loaded and she even mentioned to the last booth (who was 100 feet from her car) that they should offer car service, but that artist didn't even blink. The other artist around even tried to encourage the artist to carry their glass item to the ladies car, but like I said "bad form". Most of us who do this for a living know how to be a pack mule and I played my role well. So I had decent sales for the amount of people that showed up on Saturday.Sunday the show opened at 11am. I have done this show so many many times and I had told the new comers to open early. Do as I say not as I do, I showed up at 10:45 am. Bad Melanie. But I was not exhausted and had a much better attitude. I didnt even have a chance to fully open and people were in the booth. I tried to get the tripping hazards out of the way as quickly as possible. Lots of action before noon and by the time I got back to my starbucks coffee it was cold. The rest of the day the crowd was just about right, not too crowded but a good stream. Not as many big purchases went by. I screwed up the night before and charged my phone with a bad charger and realized my phone was dead! Really stupid or super genius (probably stupid because I needed spell check to spell genius:) So folks had to go to the ATM. Problem because some of the ATMs were not working and or out of money. What helped save me was that it was Mother's Day so again I told the family crew that they had to show up for break down and help me. I "think" I was on better behavior for break down. My 18 year old son who doesnt know the differnece between a square and a rectangle handled the deliveies and calls since I didnt have a working phone and all was right with the world. (Just to let you know this same son received over $60k in scholarships so he is somewhat passive agressive:)Break down was a dream as always with Randall our "block captain" and as a family we were able to go to afancy dinner in very inappropriate clothing to celebrate Mother's Day.I also was able to meet Rhonda, a fellow AFI member, who just moved to Georgia. She has georgeous jewelry and her booth is amazing. I love her use of color in her booth, very on trend. I look forward to hearing about everyones elses Mother's Day weekend show.
Good idea, Barry. I've noticed in the past couple years it is much more common for show organizers to request information on the vehicle/trailer type and size during the application process. Seems like a practical way to use the info when placing each of us.
Darn, Melanie, I was hoping it would get "better" with age.
Melanie, I agree with you about the problems caused by trailers at shows like Chastain or in Piedmont Park with narrow one way traffic. Not sure that the answer is to make them wait but what about asking on the application which artists are bringing trailers and then putting them in locations that caused fewer issues for the rest of us? Maybe at the far end of the road nearer to the exit. I'm pretty slow at breaking down and I'm usually one of the last 20% out so I haven't had much trouble but I certainly see it around me.
Yes, my spot had it's ups and downs, that is for sure, but it definitely made break down and exit, much easier than I had anticipated. However, my husband and son came to surprise me and "help" tear down.... Let's just say that having a 10 year old, overly active boy, helping me, didn't exactly help move things along any faster...but, it was great to see my little man.
As far as the shade goes, this Nova Scotia girl didn't mind it at all!
Rhonda so glad you had a good show. Your booth spot area is the only "bad" area since there is a ton of shade, not much space behind booths or across from the booths so it can be tight. BUT the good news is that load out is wicked fast because you are right at the entrance and exit so easy in and out. Plus you are really close to parking. So good and bad with your location and glad it worked out for you. Your work is beautiful, I am not suprised you had a good show.
Barry I hope Duluth was a good show for you. Congrats on the award. Yes this show was not the typical easy breezy set up like it usually is, but I gotta go because the show is consistantly a good one for me. I am sure next year it won't be an issue.
I do have an opinion for break downs at all shows and I know it isn't going to be popular with a lot of other artists, but I think the shows should delay trailers into shows for load out until artists with smaller cars are out. One the trailers take up 3 spaces, that means that one person is loading instead of 3, this slows us all down. Second many of these big trailers block the road and then we are in grid lock. The trailers would only have to wait 30 minutes max and then things would move better IMO. I can break down pretty fast, about 15 - 20 minutes. I can fit my vehicle in my booth spot. So I can be out of the way within 30 minutes after break down and ready to leave but I have lost count on how many times I am sitting in a log jam with a fully packed car just trying to get out of a show. I usually just go slow and take an hour to break down so I don't have to deal with this issue, but like I said in the review I had lots of help so we were ready to go really fast this time.
Melanie - with all of those setup hassles apparently I did the right thing passing on the show this year. Loadout at Chastain is always a bit of a hassle but it sounds like it was worse than normal. I'll still do the fall show. I went up to Duluth instead for Barefoot in the Park. A small show but a beautiful venue and easy setup/loadout. Crowds there were similar to what you describe: small on Saturday but steady on Sunday. I did take home $500 for a 2nd place 2D award so that definitely helped.
WOW!! What a fun weekend! I have to send huge KUDOS out to Melanie for her excellent review of this weekend's Buckhead Show. She is exactly on target! THANKS!
The weekend's weather was absolutely beautiful and the show was extremely well organized! Having just moved to the South, this was my first ever show in this area, so I wasn't sure what to expect. On Saturday, the flow was slower, but pretty steady. The customers who attended the show, came to buy. Although Sunday's shoppers were much more plentiful, I found there were more browsers as well. Lot's of families out enjoying the day and walking around with MOM. Overall, sales were great both days!
The organizers of the show, AFFPS, gave away $25 gift certificates on Facebook this year (not sure, but perhaps they did the same last year...). This brought two different customers to my booth who both mentioned that they hadn't really planned on attending the show, but once they won their certificates, they decided to come and take a look around. One of the women came and purchased 6 pieces on Saturday, then returned on Sunday with her sister, Mom and Grandma, who all bought several more pieces!! What a great idea to give out gift certificates on Facebook. It really does encourage the community to get out there and take a look - and buy.
Overall, I was quite happy with the show, and thankful to the organizers for such a smooth set-up and tear down process. I was honestly shocked with how well the load out went!!
I met some wonderful people and made great connections with new customers. It was a pleasure to finally meet the very talented, Melanie Rolfes (love her work!!!!) and several other artists and craftsmen. I'm looking forward to our new "home in the SOUTH!"
So, now I can say I have experienced "southern hospitality"! Love it!!
I enjoyed and appreciated your review Melanie. Thanks...! Everything seemed to work well overall.
My wife and I are doing our first show in the Atlanta area in September and looking forward to it..especially encouraging from the good things we have heard from everyone...
Comments
Congrats on a good show Melanie and belated happy birthday wishes! What better gift though than a show with decent sales!
Good idea, Barry. I've noticed in the past couple years it is much more common for show organizers to request information on the vehicle/trailer type and size during the application process. Seems like a practical way to use the info when placing each of us.
Darn, Melanie, I was hoping it would get "better" with age.
Melanie, I agree with you about the problems caused by trailers at shows like Chastain or in Piedmont Park with narrow one way traffic. Not sure that the answer is to make them wait but what about asking on the application which artists are bringing trailers and then putting them in locations that caused fewer issues for the rest of us? Maybe at the far end of the road nearer to the exit. I'm pretty slow at breaking down and I'm usually one of the last 20% out so I haven't had much trouble but I certainly see it around me.
Yes, my spot had it's ups and downs, that is for sure, but it definitely made break down and exit, much easier than I had anticipated. However, my husband and son came to surprise me and "help" tear down.... Let's just say that having a 10 year old, overly active boy, helping me, didn't exactly help move things along any faster...but, it was great to see my little man.
As far as the shade goes, this Nova Scotia girl didn't mind it at all!
Barry I hope Duluth was a good show for you. Congrats on the award. Yes this show was not the typical easy breezy set up like it usually is, but I gotta go because the show is consistantly a good one for me. I am sure next year it won't be an issue.
I do have an opinion for break downs at all shows and I know it isn't going to be popular with a lot of other artists, but I think the shows should delay trailers into shows for load out until artists with smaller cars are out. One the trailers take up 3 spaces, that means that one person is loading instead of 3, this slows us all down. Second many of these big trailers block the road and then we are in grid lock. The trailers would only have to wait 30 minutes max and then things would move better IMO. I can break down pretty fast, about 15 - 20 minutes. I can fit my vehicle in my booth spot. So I can be out of the way within 30 minutes after break down and ready to leave but I have lost count on how many times I am sitting in a log jam with a fully packed car just trying to get out of a show. I usually just go slow and take an hour to break down so I don't have to deal with this issue, but like I said in the review I had lots of help so we were ready to go really fast this time.
Melanie - with all of those setup hassles apparently I did the right thing passing on the show this year. Loadout at Chastain is always a bit of a hassle but it sounds like it was worse than normal. I'll still do the fall show. I went up to Duluth instead for Barefoot in the Park. A small show but a beautiful venue and easy setup/loadout. Crowds there were similar to what you describe: small on Saturday but steady on Sunday. I did take home $500 for a 2nd place 2D award so that definitely helped.
WOW!! What a fun weekend! I have to send huge KUDOS out to Melanie for her excellent review of this weekend's Buckhead Show. She is exactly on target! THANKS!
The weekend's weather was absolutely beautiful and the show was extremely well organized! Having just moved to the South, this was my first ever show in this area, so I wasn't sure what to expect. On Saturday, the flow was slower, but pretty steady. The customers who attended the show, came to buy. Although Sunday's shoppers were much more plentiful, I found there were more browsers as well. Lot's of families out enjoying the day and walking around with MOM. Overall, sales were great both days!
The organizers of the show, AFFPS, gave away $25 gift certificates on Facebook this year (not sure, but perhaps they did the same last year...). This brought two different customers to my booth who both mentioned that they hadn't really planned on attending the show, but once they won their certificates, they decided to come and take a look around. One of the women came and purchased 6 pieces on Saturday, then returned on Sunday with her sister, Mom and Grandma, who all bought several more pieces!! What a great idea to give out gift certificates on Facebook. It really does encourage the community to get out there and take a look - and buy.
Overall, I was quite happy with the show, and thankful to the organizers for such a smooth set-up and tear down process. I was honestly shocked with how well the load out went!!
I met some wonderful people and made great connections with new customers. It was a pleasure to finally meet the very talented, Melanie Rolfes (love her work!!!!) and several other artists and craftsmen. I'm looking forward to our new "home in the SOUTH!"
So, now I can say I have experienced "southern hospitality"! Love it!!
I enjoyed and appreciated your review Melanie. Thanks...! Everything seemed to work well overall.
My wife and I are doing our first show in the Atlanta area in September and looking forward to it..especially encouraging from the good things we have heard from everyone...
Mamie here is a linnk to 2011 review with pics. Looks about the same
Connie I was that and I hope I win one:)
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