Hi Friends....Here is my review of Ann Arbor 2013!
First, let me say that this was an experience like no other I have had before. I will summarize first by saying that I will do it again, it was profitable, it was grueling and it is not for the faint of heart! If there is a proving ground for art fair artists, Ann Arbor would be it. I am going to review the show like I always do and this time I am going to throw in some musings I had along the way. Keep in mind that I and 1100 other artists sat in the oppressive heat for 41 hours over 4 days doing this show! Read on.....
I arrived on Tuesday afternoon about 30 minutes prior to my assigned load in time. I was prepared to wait, but there was space open for my van, so they let me pull in and set up. Staff from The Guild was very helpful and very nice. Set up was typical and I was hustling to get it done as it was very, very hot on the street. I had it all up in about 2 hours.
The show opened at 10am Wednesday morning and ran to 9pm, as it did for Thursday and Friday as well. The show ends at 6pm on Saturday for a total of 41 show hours. Wednesday crowds were light and they weren't buying what I had. After 11 hours in the serious heat, I had $80.00. Not cool!
Thursday was better, much better! I had good sales minutes after opening (story on that later on). Thursday's sales were very good all day! I ended up covering costs by the end of the day on Thursday. The hi light of the show, for me, also happened Thursday afternoon. Connie Mettler, Farah Darwish and their fried Sandy spent the afternoon and evening with me in my booth! We had a great time talking and people watching and I took a walk with Farah and it was fun and hilarious. If you see this Farah, yes, it is, oh it most certainly is! :-)
Thursday evening after the show, Scott Pakulski, who had been to my booth a couple of times and had nice conversations with me as well as Michael and Vitoria Terra, Anna whose last name I can't remember, Larry Berman and several others all met up at Sava, a nice restaurant for drinks! We had a nice time chatting and meeting one another in person. I had a lovely dinner with Michael and Victoria and Henry inside the restaurant and had the best Cuban sandwich of my life. It was great visiting with all of them too! Nice, good, fun people.
Friday was a bit slow to get going, but good nevertheless. Sales were good and by this third day of being at the show for 11 hours in the heat, I was ready to get to the hotel. I immediately went to bed Friday night.
Saturday, the short day (8 hours) was more like a Sunday. It was the coolest day of the show and was quite comfortable considering what we had been through. I had my fan on low! Woo Hoo!
Sales were slow until the last two hours of the show and all of a sudden, the be backs came back and I had a very good 2 hours of sales.
The Guild requires that artists be completely torn down and then get a load out slip to bring the vehicles in to load up. Smart policy for a show of this size. I tore it all down and got a slip and went to get the van. This was the fastest tear down and set up for me, ever. Very efficient and was on the road home an hour and 10 minutes after the show closed.
I am home now, with Ann Arbor under my belt and as I said before, I will do it again.
Now for the analysis and the musings.....If you don't like my sense of wit or some pleasantly sarcastic observations, go find something else to read. Otherwise, this is what I observed.....
First of all, find out where you are going to park before you get to the show. Parking is abundantly available if you know what you are doing. There are also parking sharks everywhere, so beware. Day one, I was so overwhelmed with the sheer size of the show, I didn't have a clue of where to park. I arrived downtown and saw a sign for parking that benefited the Boy Scouts near the show entrance where my booth was. I pulled in and was asked if I was a "vendor", my how I hate being referred to as a "vendor." I said I was an artist and was told that it would be $100 per day! Yes, per day! Talk about a total ripoff! I said hell no and found a meter and parked the van. I emptied out my coin purse and had about 2 hours available. 25 cents buys you 10 minutes, insane! Fortunately for me, on the short walk to the show entrance
Comments
Hi Elle - I get your sense of humor. Mainly because mine is the same way. You get my humor too on the Wyandotte post...
Name calling is juvenile and totally uncalled for on a website like this. Regardless of what one thinks about a person, is it really that hard to be civil? I saw the first comment and figured it was written by one of those posters like Rich Cranium. ;-)
Hi Elle, I too have been chastised for my reviews in the past, don't sweat it. If I had ever been considering doing Ann Arbor after reading your review NO WAY, I don't need the aggravation.
Connie, is that your cat? He looks so grumpy! Laugh! Was he at Ann Arbor?
Elle, I'm not going anywhere near you, either. Poor little Miss Cali is going to miss out on a great 'mommy'. I was actually half kidding, but do need to find homes for these beauties. My daughter left them here when she moved out (SOOOOO nice of her!). I have 2 cats of my own and two other adult cats that she left here...so would almost deliver her if you were interested! I love cats, but enough is enough! Glad you had a good show and you sure gave a thorough review! I've never done Ann Arbor, a little out of my comfort zone driving wise.
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