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“At The Show” Tips – Add yours!

(Sorry, due to spammers, ShowTips has been taken offline…)

From: Beth Warner E-Mail: Date: 3/13/05, 5:15 PM
    205.188.117.10

Greetings!
Until recently, when packing up my canopy poles I was unzipping my entire pole carrying bag, placing the poles into the totally opened unzipped bag. I am tired at the end of shows yet eager to get packed and going. This method seldom worked well because the poles I initially placed into the opened unzipped bag had the nasty habit of escaping. They would roll out of the bag, get tangled up with other poles or with the lines I keep attached to the poles for my weights. I hate having to repeat tasks. Finally one weary afternoon I stopped in the middle of this insanity. I then examined what I was doing and discovered the mistake I was making and the reason for this inefficient method. I have solved the problem. I no longer unzip the entire bag. Instead when packing the poles I keep the bag zipped up and only unzip it a little. This way the poles have no means of escape and remain in the bag, not rolling around. It really works.
Hope this helps anyone out there who is tired and finds that they are still chasing poles around.

From: Flourish Company E-Mail: Date: 2/15/05, 11:53 AM
    66.82.9.59

Attention All Craft Hut Owners: Newton Displays has closed their doors. Flourish Company, makers of the Trimline Canopy, has taken over the Craft Hut and we’re working to support the needs of all current Craft Hut customers. We will also be offering new Craft Huts for sale just as soon as we complete the transfer of equipment and processes from Newton’s in Ft Myers, Florida to Flourish in St. Paul, Arkansas.
You can call us at the old Craft Hut number (800-678-8677)or at the Flourish number (800-296-0049). You may look forward to full support for your Craft Hut with Flourish Company’s best-in-the-business service. We hope to have a Craft Hut page added to our website very soon.

From: Carol Boucher E-Mail: Date: 10/5/04, 5:59 PM
    12.75.109.133

Below is a link to a good source for battery operated booth lighting. I purchased my track lights from them, though they are wired for plug in use. I can adapt them for use with batteries if needed. http://eclecticlighting.homestead.com/LS1KIT.html

From: Beth Warner E-Mail: Date: 7/6/04, 8:46 AM
    64.12.116.6

Canopy folding is tough to do when you do shows solo and have only one pair of hands. I have discovered that it becomes easier to fold up the roof section of my Show Off canopy by keeping this roof section partially clipped on to the framework. I release the clips that secure the roof section at the sides, front and rear corners and then fold the roof section into one third its size using the framework for support. This helps when the weather is foul and you are squeezed into a booth space that measures 10 x 10 exactly.

From: E-Mail: Date:

 

From: Jodi Walsh E-Mail: Date: 10/5/03, 4:50 PM
    66.44.106.50

ARTISTS’ MUSEUM
406 7TH Street NW
Washington DC 20004
202-638-7001 [email protected]

SECOND ANNUAL – ALL MEDIA – JANUARY JURIED SHOW

January 4 – 20, 2004

Deadline: Friday, November 26, 2003

The Artists’ Museum gallery, located in Washington DC’s 7th Street Gallery District, is pleased to announce the call for entries for the Second Annual All Media Juried Show. The gallery encourages all types of media including installation work, oil, fiber, watercolor, ceramics, glass drawings, 3D, mixed media, acrylic, photography, etc.

Juror: Nancy Palmer, Associate Professor, Corcoran College of Art & Design. Trained as an art historian, she is also a painter, printmaker, installation artists and jewelry designer. Her work is exhibited in the United States and abroad, is in the collections at the White House, University of Virginia and the Portland Art Museum.

Award: Solo exhibition of one-month duration.

To review the prospectus and obtain an entry form please visit our website: www.artistsmuseum.com.

Have a creative day.

Jodi Walsh
Director

From: Chris P. E-Mail: Date: 7/14/03, 11:53 AM
    67.40.133.122

To make life a bit easier, build yourself an art show survival kit. Use an old tackle box or canvas bag and stuff it full of things you need to hang your show. Put whatever you find necessary in the kit, extra hanging wire, sold stickers, business cards, standard tools, gum, small first aid kit, receipt book, guest book, whatever! It saves a lot of running around and worrying the day of the exhibit.

From: Meredith Kuntzsch E-Mail: Date: 3/19/03, 9:40 AM
    205.188.209.82

To all art fair artists: BEWARE OF NEWTON DISPLAYS…aka CRAFT HUT! Their customer service and product quality has severely declined and much to the detriment of the artist/customer. Case in point: I dropped off my canopy top on Tuesday, March 11 in Ft. Myers for a simply retrofit of a zipper for a back awning attachment. I indicated that I needed the canopy top to be shipped to me in Houston, TX in time to set up for the Bayou City spring show which starts Friday, March 20. They said it was absolutely “no problem” and that the retrofit took no time at all and that they understood totally my need for the top to arrive in a timely fashion. I reiterated this numerous times and had them repeat back the information. On Tuesday, March 18 I called Craft Hut to find out when the top was to arrive. Amazingly they said it was scheduled to arrive the Monday AFTER the Bayou City show. Of course I freaked out! I explained to them the problem with this and their error. Ann, the owner of the company indicated that she didn’t believe me that I was even in on the 11th because her staff didn’t even push the paperwork on the order through until late Friday of that week….4 days after I’d been there. She flat out refused to send the top to me in time for the set up. Flat out refused. She mumbled, grumbled, refused to answer or even speak (silent treatment) when I asked her what she was thinking. She acted like a petulant child. Today, Wednesday, March 19, I called Craft Hut again and spoke with the staff. The woman I spoke with (name not mentioned) admitted the writing on the order was hers and that she takes full responsibility and admitted it was Craft Hut’s mistake! I asked her if she was actually admitting for the record that this was THEIR mistake and should they not have simply fixed their mistake by shipping the top to me in time for the show. She said yes.

BOTTOM LINE: We as artists need to be aware of these companies who refuse to spend a simple $80 to fix a mistake. This affects our lives and our businesses and should in turn affect THEIR BUSINESSES! We need to vote with our dollars and use our common sense in dealing with such poor suppliers with such outrageous lack of business ethics!!!!!

From: Susan Sheehan E-Mail: Date: 9/1/02, 7:13 AM
    24.198.30.188

Hand Sanitizer – After setting up I always feel the need to wash my hands but don’t always feel the need to visit the local porta-potty. It is also a great thing to offer the parent with the sticky fingered child. I have no problem with children touching but often the parent wants them to refrain because of dirty hands. Problem solved!

From: Karen Kinser E-Mail: Date: 8/31/02, 11:13 PM
    68.10.225.61

One of the best “show toys” I EVER got was a small “banquet” table, from Costco/Sam’sClub . . . for $35. Peter, from Florida, had one at the Naples show a couple of years ago and I thought it was the handiest thing to have behind a booth! So, since he wouldn’t sell me his (!) . . . I had to run to Sam’s before Gasparilla, and buy one!
You can keep all your VISA stuff handy . . . gives clients a real place to put their belongings while signing on the dotted line . . . and it’s somewhere to safely pack the paintings that are just streaming out of your booth! I am lost without it, now, at those awful awful shows that make us back our tents up to one another. I much prefer the little office behind my booth!

From: Brittany E-Mail: Date: 7/23/01, 12:04 AM
    63.95.84.37

Play soft music in the back ground, spread sparkles on the table, dress in costume and people will wander towards you, trying to find out what’s happening. Demonstrate how you make the stuff, how it works, or if you can’t do any of that set up a TV (if you have electricity there) and show a vidio of that.

From: Cyd LaBonte E-Mail: Date: 1/14/01, 10:31 AM
    63.70.202.24

Just one word — Velcro! If you have carpet covered panels, use a small piece of the hook side of stick-on velcro on the back corner of a frame. the hooks will grab the carpet fibers and stablize the artwork on the wall. Also use it to hang lightweight signs, card holders, curtains, and to keep tablecloths in place. i even use it in the “office” in back of the booth to hang frequently used tools, like my calculator on the wall. Its a good thing!

From: Lisa Schulman Larsen E-Mail: Date: 5/2/00, 4:42 PM
    156.46.27.75

The first one that comes to mind is the return address label I put on every little receipt I give out with every purchase. I also put one of computer made business cards into every bag with every purchase. The card has my name and address as well as 2-4 images of my work in case they forget what the card is for they can see the image and say, ” oh yeah, the women with the cool beaded stuff from the art fair “, or something like that.Suzanne Gentes

From: Ginny Herzog E-Mail: Date: 5/1/00, 11:04 PM
    209.19.172.55

Comments: To remember important show dates, purchase a dry erase board and asst.
colored markers. Make a chart with boxes indicating: show dates, applications deadline date, notification date, special deadlines (fees, vendors license), hotel reservation made. Keep it in the studio.

 

 

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