Blog

So many people contribute to ArtFairInsiders.com and share their stories and help one another. Let's give them a thank you by voting for your favorites in our annual Community Awards.

Who will win?

Nels, Larry, Barry, Barrie, Melanie, Jacki, Tina, Alison, Ruth, Jim, Richard, Robert, Carrie, Scott ... they've all made you laugh and given you a lot of helpful information. Pay back time, baby!

VOTE NOW. Deadline: January 18, midnight. Prizes will be awarded.

CLICK HERE

Deadline: 7/13/14 midnight

Many thanks to Karen Holtkamp, Kathleen Caid, Mark Loeb and Carrie Jacobson who shared helpful info on AFI in June that led to good discussions.

Please vote now to determine who will win AFI's coveted "Post of the Month."

Let's give these people a round of applause. They keep the discussion flowing on the site, keep you coming back for more, teach you a lot, give you some good laughs, etc. It's a COMMUNITY! Woo hoo!

Which one was the best or most helpful to you?

• Mark Madachik - 3/8/2014, "Marketing, My vision is getting dim"
• Geoff Coe - 3/10/14, "Bonita Springs National: The New Venue, (re-) considered"
• Jennifer Ivory - 3/24/2014 "I may have excommunicated myself from the Bayou City Show but I go knowing I tried to help"
• Nels Johnson - 3/26/2014, "Schlepping Ourselves to Art Fair Oblivion"
• Barrie Lynn Bryant - 3/30/14, "Gulf Breeze Celebrates The Arts REVIEWS AND AWARDS"

Click here to take survey

Deadline: APRIL 14 - 6 pm

It is the end of the year. ArtFairInsiders.com has had a great year and we'd like to pass out a few awards to thank the members who have had been instrumental in its growth. We'd like to recognize those who have made the most contributions to this site in 2010. Here is what we'll do first:

1. Will you help us choose the best blog posts? To make it easier I need 12 people to comb each month's blog posts and choose the ten best from each month. Then we'll let the membership vote for the best of the month and the best of the year.
   
   Will you please volunteer to do this? I'm sure there are 12 of you who have participated or even lurked for a long time who can do this. The volunteer will only have to do one month, not the whole year.  You won't have to come out in public even if you're shy. Email me to volunteer.
2. Will you suggest some topics for the awards? E.g., the most erudite, the most outrageous, the most insightful, the best show review.... Please add those ideas below.

Let's give back to those who have inspired us this year and made us think, get angry and laugh.

This is your site. I notice even when I go away for two weeks and then come back you are still here and the site is alive, even though there was a near lynching the last time.

Let's send this year out with a good wrap up of the State of our Industry for 2010 then we'll go get 2011!

Comment below and email me now to help!

P.S. This site's traffic has moved from #899,286 in the Alexa rankings to as low as #124,385* in recent days. This is amazing! What it tells me is that there are a lot of you out there who we never hear from, but we know you are visiting. Thanks for that. I hope you've found us helpful and fun.

Here are our today's stats:
Members: 4092
RSS feed: 3214
Blog posts: 1437
Photos uploaded: 8205
Discussions: 1225
Facebook Fans: 1381

*Sites that track some of the same topics we are cover rank #785,719, #818,698, #1,265,026 and #4,168,320. Yes, in case you haven't noticed - we rock! What a great group of people we've gathered here.

Congratulations to these members of ArtFairInsiders.com who make this online community the "Facebook" for art fair artists! Your votes from the blogs and private emails to me have been counted and the winners are: 

• Member of the year:  Larry Berman

• Personality of the year: Nels Johnson

• Author of the year: tie - Nels Johnson & Michele Sholund

• Funniest member: the team of Munks & Holly Olinger

• Best comment: Munks
  
• Newcomer: Melanie Rolfes
  

• Special Recognition: Geri Wegner
  

Read additional notes on these nominations from my emails: MemberAwards.rtf

Best blog posts:

1. Munks: "Bad Things Happen When You're Not Where You're Supposed to Be"
2. Nels Johnson: Here is my Tequila/Elvis/What is the Meaning of Life at Art Shows, Report
   
3. Barry Bernstein: Gasparilla Review--The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
4. Bill Sargent: Kumquat Festival, 2010 (we didn't have a category for most amazing art fair photos, but his post definitely would be in the running for the best ones)
5. Phil Crone: Coconut Grove 2010 - the Fobots' Perspective
   

Read additional notes on these nominations from my emails: BestBlogPosts.rtf

Honorable Mention:
David Hipwell, Bert Herrera, Joe Clifton, Merri Pattinian, Jim Parker, Heather Jordan, Martha Bennington, Richard Rothbard, Michael Wommack and Robert Louallen.

Amazon.com gift cards will be in the winners mailboxes soon.

Many thanks to all of you who have made this community flourish, not only those listed above but to all of you who taken the time to care, comment and share with one another. We are looking forward to what will happen here in this ever evolving group. Thanks for all your support to one another in this exciting art fair business. Community is what makes us strong.

May 2011 bring you all the blessings you deserve. See you at the show! Connie

Comments welcome below