Blog

Woo hoo! Amazing prizes available to all of you who pledge in our 4th Annual Birthday Party Pledge Drive, including:

From Greg Lawler at the Art Fair Sourcebook:

2013 + 2014 Online Subscriptio n w/Diamond Upgrade     Regional Editions  Value $278/Calendar Year from Greg Lawler More info: http://artfairsourcebook.com/about-us/art-show-craft-fair-book.html

From Amy Amdur of Amdur Productions:

Free booth space at the Gold Coast Art Fair Chicago, IL - June 29 & 30 Value $595 from Amy Amdur www.AmdurProductions.com

From Steve Sawusch at TPT Pro:

20”x30” Canvas Gallery Wrap in Float Frame  includes shipping Retail Value $294.95, Pro Value $238.95 Have your favorite image or best seller printed on canvas and finished with a beautiful float frame by TPT Pro. from Steve Sawusch -  http://www.tptpro.com/

From Carol Miller:

Leather messenger bag Perfect for travel, work and school. 13.5" wide, zip top closure, back outside zip pocket, fully lined inner zip pocket; strap is 2.75" wide and 49" long adjustable strap                 Retail value $195.00                  From Carol S. Miller              www.carolsmillerhangbags.com

From Larry Berman:

Imaging services worth $140 from Larry Berman www.BermanGraphics.com

From the Broad Ripple Art Fair:

From Richard & Joanna Rothbard:

Free booth space at Berkshires Arts Festival - 2 dates Great Barrington, MA  July 4-6 & July 12-14 Value from $495 from Richard & Joanna Rothbard www.AmericanArtMarketing.com

From Scott Fox:

From ACT Insurance:

$100 Amazon gift card for your art & craft needs from www.Actinspro.com Insurance for art & craft shows & festivals

From Susan Sharps:

Burnt Floral Clutch with Rhinestone Button This unique clutch, made from a placemat, is a perfect addition to your spring wardrobe. This cotton clutch measures 10 x 13" and is lined with a burnt orange recycled cotton. Velcro closure, interior pocket and gorgeous rhinestone button accent round out this cute clutch.  $18.00 from Susan Sharps For other beautiful things: www.etsy.com/shop/Pinoodles

Click here for more prizes and learn how to win: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

THURSDAY - MAY 23 - 6 PM ET - Call in at 805-243-1338

Do you love our art fair related websites where you can

• find a show to attend
• get the inside scoop about an art fair
• stay in touch with the ups and downs of our industry
• get support for your business
• or just have a good laugh?

You are not alone! As we celebrate our 4th birthday there are nearly 10,000 members and our SEO is soaring. Thank you for making this happen.

Today's show is hosted by Connie Mettler and Internet marketing author Scott Fox. They have two missions:

1. Scott will give you 5 quick and easy tips helpful especially for artists for marketing your work online and Connie will share 5 quick and easy tips for marketing your work at the shows
    
2. Draw the names of the winners in the pledge drive
    

This will be live and we hope you will be listening to see if you are the winner of the great prizes that our friends have donated to our pledge drive, worth 1000's of $$.

Check out the prize page here: www.artfaircalendar.com/pledge-drive

AND we welcome your phone calls! 805-243-1338. Tell us your art fair stories and ask your questions. We'll have answers. We'd love to hear from you as we celebrate and shamelessly promote our art fair websites ;)

No one would have guessed when we started our first art fair website nearly 10 years ago that they'd expand to five! That we'd have over 40,000 nationwide subscribers and have top Google ratings! If you're online and you love art fairs, you found your way to one of our sites and we thank you!

Have our sites and newsletters helped you

• find a new art fair in your community?
• taken you to an art fair when you are traveling and need your "art fix?"
• meet an incredible artist?
• enabled you to make your home and office a place of amazement full of wonderful one of a kind objets?
• helped you earn a living as an artist
• make some new friends?

Learn more about how you can support our art fair websites and win prizes too:   

P.S. besides this site with all its helpful information that I know you love (I see the "page views"), the prizes this year are really generous, from some of your favorite shows, artists, consultants -- and we're doing two special podcasts. The first one will be "Everything You Want to Know About Zapplication" on Wednesday May 15.

Wouldn't it be nice to do a show where the booth fee was free? AFI has friends at many shows and as part of our Pledge drive a bunch of show organizers have stepped forward to give away a booth at

Howard Alan Events across the nation, Paragon Art Festivals from Maine to Texas, Rose Squared Productions in New Jersey, Mount Clemens Art Fair in Michigan (soon!), ArtWorks - 2 events in Wisconsin.

How are we going to do this? We are taking pledges, starting at $12, the participants names get added to a spreadsheet and we are going to do a random drawing starting Wednesday (5/23) at 6 pm. We won't assign prizes but we'll let people choose their own prize starting with the first name drawn.

Be listening to hear if you are the winner.

Here are the rest of the prizes (click on the images for more info):

Table Top Easel                 Watercolor Carrying Box        Ear Climberz Earrings    Press Release         Retro Headband

Spiral Pearl Earrings    Antique-style Pepper mill  $100 Amazon gift card          Fancy Bird Feeder        Robot Sculpture

Oil Giclee Print                Pedestal Display Set     Year's Membership at FNO.com  2 copies of new book    Imaging services for artists

Year's membership       Art Fair Coaching Services   Watercolor Painting  Portable Solar Charger          2 Expert Website Reviews

                                     from Connie Mettler                                                                                  from Scott Fox

Garmin GPS

Learn more about the prizes right here: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

No one predicted that Connie Mettler would end up an Internet guru.

Sure, Connie's decades in the art fair business made her an expert in art events, and helped her develop friendships with artists like you nationwide. But when I told her about this “Internet” thing, she saw it as just a distraction from the "real world" art fairs she loves.

Luckily, I kept up the pressure to put my mom’s love for the art fair business to use on the World Wide Web. In 2004 I started ArtFairCalendar.com so she could collect the nation’s art fair event listings all in one place because of her concern about falling attendance at the events.

And then, as the social media revolution arrived, I started ArtFairInsiders.com to help her help the artist community come together online. In both cases it is Connie’s decades of expertise that have made these sites successful.

This week is Connie’s birthday. Surprisingly to both of us, she has now been working full-time as a “web producer” for several years (in addition to her roles in producing Arts, Beats and Eats, the Great Lakes Art Fair, and consulting for other art events nationwide).

Perhaps more importantly, it’s been over two years since ArtFairInsiders.com took off and seven since the launch of ArtFairCalendar.com.

So welcome to our 2nd Annual Connie and ArtFairInsiders.com Birthday Party!

Will you please help me recognize Connie’s years of efforts to support and promote artists and the art
fair community? I would like to invite you to show your support for the AFI community with a small PLEDGE.

Learn more here about how you can support ArtFairInsiders.com and send Connie a Happy
Birthday wish, too: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

Thanks for being here!
Scott (Connie’s son)

P.S. And, mark your calendar for the next two Thursdays, (May 26 & June 2) at 6 pm ET. At ArtFairInsiders.com we'll have two online radio "AFI Birthday Party" broadcasts.

1 - This Thursday (5/26) you can listen to popular (and often controversial) ArtFairInsiders.com members Munks and Nels Johnson battle it out on the air and share their insights into the crazy world of the art fair artist.

2 - Then next Thursday (6/2) you can call in LIVE to talk with Connie Mettler for the ArtFairCalendar.com Happy Birthday Show! She'll be taking your art fair business questions and birthday greetings, too.

Many thanks to so many of you who have pledged their support to our art fair websites. Most of our prizes are gone, but here is what is left:

1. Hand decorated cookies; oatmeal cookies from Auntie M.'s Baked Goods
2. 1 subscription to Sunshine Artist
3. Candles from BytheBayBotanicals.com from member Michelle Sholund
4. Jewelry from Lynda Keen
5. 1 Frog bag, "BuyArt", from Lynda Wallis, www.freelanceillustrations.com
6. note cards from the Anton Art Center and a one-of-a- kind tshirt: http://www.theartcenter.org/
7. t shirts from art fairs across the nation - view them here: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

And the winners are:

1. Steph Mader
2. Br. Xavier Pankovits
3. Paolo DeMaria
4. Peggy Whitson
5. Linda Shields
6. Don Lake
7. Danglez
8. Terry McCray
9. Roberta Starbird
10. Nicole Moore

Please contact me: info@artfaircalendar.com to claim your prize. Tell me your three choices and include your mailing address.

Pledge now and you will be entered into drawings for great prizes, too!

You could win a new Kindle with built-in Wi-Fi, a free booth space at any Howard Alan show, a Polaroid Mobile Printer, 3 Expert Website Design Reviews, original art from our artist members, private consulting with Connie, memberships in my ClickMillionaires.com online marketing coaching community, digital imaging from Larry Berman, CDs, subscriptions and memberships, cookies and t-shirts from your favorite art fairs, and more!

Visit our website to see the entire list donated by our generous supporters.

We love the Art Fair community of artists, collectors and organizers and believe you do, too. Please take a minute now to send a friendly birthday wish and a small pledge to celebrate this birthday.

Please pledge here now!
http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

More details:  http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/pledge-drive-prizes

It surely has been fun handing out the prizes to all of you who have been such great supporters of our websites. Many thanks to all who have pledged.

Here are the prizes that are left:

1. 3 memberships to the online marketing community - if you are trying to market your art online this community is run like AFI, but it is all about BUSINESS and making money online. This is an invaluable opportunity for you to get some great advice.
2. 2 expert reviews of your website -- great advice on how to make your website work better for you!
3.  2 - baked goods from Auntie M's  (peanut brittle gone)
4. 3 subscriptions to Sunshine Artist
5. candles from Michelle Sholund
6. jewelry from Lynda Keen
7. notecards from the Mt. Clemens Art Center
8. CDs from Paul Adams & David Hoffman
9. 3 Frog Bags from Lynda Wallis
10. vintage t shirts from the top art fairs

Here is the next group of winners.

1.  Barbara Berney
2. Jetze Beers
3. Gary Willcock
4. Wendy Edwards
5. Anne Tindell
6.  Jacqueline Gomez
7. Ginny Herzog
8. Pamella Harris
9. Julie Crouse
10. Wendy Shattil

Please visit the pledge/prize page and make a choice and send it to me.  Please send three choices as someone is sure to take your first choice!

Everyone who pledged should have this "Art Star" on their own page on this website by now. If you don't let me know so I can add it.

and also, if you don't already have a "Red Dot" please send me your mailing address.

Pledges are still being taken and many thanks to you who are just now getting around to it. Your names have been added to the list for the drawings.

We'll be doing our last drawing on Friday morning, June 10, for the rest of the prizes.

Many thanks for recent pledges including: Pamella Harris, Judy Zeddies, Marilyn Troutman, Donald Dixon, Marcia Grout and Michael Ries. Your names are went into the drawing for today's winners.

Monday's drawing:

1.  Suzanne Krongold

2.  Barbara McLaughlin

3.  Susan Miller

4.  Melanie Rolfes

5.  Rush Creek

6.  Donald Dixon

7.  Barbara Nelson

8.  Michelle Wermuth

9.  Carolina Niebres

10. Frances Hurst

Please visit the Prize Page to choose your prize. Please email me (info@artfaircalendar.com) your first three choices and don't forget to include your mailing address. Do this as soon as possible please.

Prizes that have already been awarded from Friday's drawing:

1.  Dorraine Watts - Kindle

2.  Brian Bass - pottery from Sarah Silva

3.  Tahmi DeSchepper - digital services from Larry Berman

4.  Shirley Baker - weights from CanopyWeights.com

5.  Scrap Felt - subscription to Sunshine Artist

6.  Woody Smith - peanut brittle from AuntieM's

7.  Lenore Lampi - free booth space at any Howard Alan Event

8.  Barbara Johnson - polaroid mobile printer

Congratulations to them!

Everyone who pledges receives our AFI insignia bumper sticker, the "Red Dot". Please send me your mailing address so we can get these out to you.

We will be drawing names again on Wednesday morning for the remainder of the prizes. If you'd like to be included in the drawing - and you think this website is worth supporting - pledge today!

This has been a whirlwind week for us with this pledge drive and the two podcasts. Once again many thanks to all who have pledged to keep our websites alive and happy and continuing to make your art fairs more satisfying to you in every way, physically, emotionally and monetarily.

We have a bunch of prizes to award to those who pledged. We have chosen the following names using the www.Random.org site. Instead of directly awarding a specific prize will the following people please contact me and let me know their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices, as I know not everyone wants web consulting or a Kindle or some of the other prizes on the list. You can find the prizes here: http://www.artfaircalendar.com/art_fair/pledgedrive.html

The winners are:

1. Dorraine Watts
2. Brian Bass
3. Tahmi DeSchepper
4. Shirley Baker
5. Margaret Hagopian-Slack
6. Scrap Felt
7. Woody Smith
8. Steph Mader
9. Lenore Lampi
10. Barbara Johnson

Please have your choices to me by midnight June 5.

Everyone who has pledged is receiving:

• an official Art Star on their profile page on this site (going up soon)

• a "Red Dot" bumper sticker. Please send me your mailing address so I can get those out to you.

Haven't pledged yet? Get in on the next round of prize drawings. Pledge here now.

Next prize drawing at 9 am on June 6.