This was a pretty good show for me. After my "Heaven and Hell" show in St. Louis, this one was pretty uneventful. My tent did not get destroyed by a storm and my sales were moderate ($2800). But I enjoyed the show.
Setup was a little awkward on Friday. I was glad we had a lot of time to set up because my tent was showing the adverse effects of its knockdown the previous week. The tent is a heavy duty EZ-Up that is heavily customized with roof beams and custom corner weights. Although it has survived many storms, the wind took it down in St. Louis and "torqued" the whole thing so that it is more like a parallelogram as it sits on the floor instead of a square. We managed to make it work OK, but now I'm seriously considering a Trimline to replace it... preferably an eight footer (let me know if you've got one for sale).
There were good crowds on Saturday and Sunday and sales were consistent. Deb, the show organizer, used one of my images for the program cover and on banners hanging from light posts all over town. This added exposure generated some additional sales for me, which I really appreciated. We were able to pack up on Sunday in record time because we had our trailer parked in a lot 100 feet from our tent... very convenient. We stayed with friends in nearby West Chicago, and they fed Marcia and I well, so our expenses were minimal.
Most booths were set up on both sides of the street, with additional booths along a pleasant riverwalk. My booth was on the street. I think there was more traffic on the street. there seemed to be some dead areas along the riverwalk. Other artists had mixed reviews about the show. Some had poor sales, but most did OK, if not great. With my friends inviting us to stay with them again next year, I'll do the show again if I'm accepted.
Comments
I would google Naperville and find out how many temples there are in the area. That can give you an idea if you will be affected. Only Saturday is the holiday.
Thanks, John! I appreciate the feedback. Are you going to apply again this year?
It didn't occur to me that the show fell on a Jewish holiday. Since 2012 was the first year I did that show, I don't know if it was affected at all. I do know that many shows during the year fall on religious and legal holidays and don't seem to be affected by them. I wouldn't nix the show because of a holiday.
The deadline for the 2013 Naperville show is coming up soon and my question to anyone who has done it is this: Is the show at all affected by the fact that the Jewish holidays fall during the show? This was the case in 2012, as well, so we did not apply. However, we could use a good show that weekend. Any insight would be appreciated! Thanks! ~Emily
We did Naperville when it was new and it was always a quiet solid show. Inexpensive to stay in the area, nice restaurants and a decent booth fee so we felt like our overhead was under control, something I always appreciated. In general this is a solid middle market show for people who don't live too far away.
Thanks, Annette... I'm delighted with the sales for this show. Didn't know what to expect. I heard from other artists that sales were kind of flat. And... the stressless factor is certainly welcome!
Congrats on a not-so-eventful show John! Although sales were moderate at least the stress levels were okay :)
Sounds like a great show, John. Congratulations on having your work on the banners! Always good to have one to show family!
Good to hear the positive feedback the next show I do I want to have a knowledge base going in and people's personal experiences are the best to hear of and learn from.
Deb, the show organizer, is going to send me three of them after they come down off the light poles.
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