Tips from Artists for Promoters

1. Don't call us vendors.  Vendors sell hot dogs, imports.  Call us artists.  Everyone feels better.  Art is special, vending is common.

2.  Make spaces 10' 6".  Every one gets a little wiggle room.  It won't kill you.  Means a lot to us.

3. Don't let artists set anything in front of their booth.  No chairs, photos, plants, umbrellas, anything that messes with the flow of traffic to the booth next door.

4. No late hours on Fridays.  People do not rush from work to buy art from a craft show.  They come on Saturday.

5.  More days.  We  need Fridays to make the booth fee.  Artists with jobs who complain about Friday shows are taking opportunity from full time artists.

6. Name tags.  No tags with pins that destroy clothing. No tags on neck cords that dangle and get in the way.  No wrist bands.  Use a clip-on name tag holder.

7. Awards?  Who cares.  Put the money in advertising.

8. Have something for vegetarians at artist dinners.

9. Never charge artists extra for insurance.  You can get it cheaper.  We don't need it.  Our art doesn't hurt people.  Charge food venders for insurance. Get a policy for the whole show.  

10.  Never cash booth fee checks before acceptance.

11.  Ask for four slides and a booth shot. Not three, not five, not 10.

12. Deadlines are by post mark, not by "received by."

13. No items with tags or stickers that say "Made in another country."  It doesn't matter who designed it and had it made overseas, shouldn't be in a craft fair.

14. Musicians selling CD's in a booth should have their customers use headphones.  No loud speakers.  Or put them in a separate area.   A craft booth is not a stage.  It makes it hard for an artist next door to talk about their craft.

15. Don't put artists next to a music stage.  Duh! 

16. Applications are due 4 months before a show.  Not 1 year, 8 months, whatever.  We don't even know if we will be alive in a year, much less what we are going to be doing.

17.  Leave artists alone when setting up and packing up.  We know what to do, how to park. We know how to drive in and pick up our stuff, we do it every week.  No goons.

18. Don't take a commission.  Northwest shows are the worst. 20%, 25%?  Forget that.  If you want to support the arts, don't rob the artists.

19. Don't prohibit rugs or require them.  Same goes for awnings.  Require that awnings be 7 feet high. (Yes, rugs save our products when they fall down, and make every one feel better.)

20. Indoor shows, turn up the lights all the way. Lots of light makes people happy.  The darkened halls make people depressed. 

21. Set aside a restroom or a few porta-potties for artists only, so we don't have a line. 

22.  Don't let in: Sky chairs, Chinese tiles, lucky bamboo, stamped weather vanes. It drives us nuts.

23. At pack up, have a few trash cans around.  Many shows take up the cans before artists finish packing, and we have nowhere to put trash.

24. Make porta-pottie suppliers keep them supplied with paper throughout the day, provide a wash station, and keep it filled with water. 

25. Digital applications are confusing everyone.  If you want to process and screen applications digitally, then you should be prepared to convert the artists slides to digital.  Use ACDC.  If you want to do it right, use the zapplication.org setup.  You will get more applicants and spend less time jurying.

26. No Didgeridoos in the show.  It is impossible to sell anything within 50 yards of those things!  So what if they are handmade.  Get them out of the show or as far away from any artists as possible.