Question about Shows

As long as we are talking about shows, what kind of shows do
most of participate in (good shows that is) fine art, craft, or
gem & mineral??? Retail or wholesale or both??? Anyone have
any suggestions regarding shows on the east coast or even as far
west as Oklahoma. Most of our shows this fall were terrible.
Almost everyone blamed it on the weather being so hot, but I am
beginning to think we just have not found the right outlet yet.
We do upscale wire wrap (would ask you to visit our web site, but
our server went down last month and when it came back up our site
had gone to web site heaven. We uploaded what we had and will
have the rest back up and running within 2 weeks-show schedules
prevented up to now). Would appreciate any input. thanks. jb

J. Byers
http://www.csranet.com/~phoenixe
@Phoenixe

Hi jb…

Upscale wire wrap? This could be a tough one. You are probably
too high end for most craft shows. So if your price range is
closer to the $40 and up crowd you need to be in the fine art
shows. However, jewelry is the most hotly contested category to
be in and with the production gold wrapper people out there it
may be hard to convince a jury of your worthiness…heck, it’s
difficult to jury into upscale shows no matter what your stuff
looks like.

I would probably aim for B shows…not B as in bad, but B as in
everybody on gods green earth doesn’t want to be in them but they
are clear about the fact they don’t accept production, craft kit,
import stuff. I aim for the A shows, I end up in about half B
shows…I usually make enough to make it worth while.

As far as this year…I bombed in shows I did great at last
year, heck I wouldn’t be out shopping in 94 degree weather
either…those “HEAT ALERTS” they kept issuing in Chicagoland
wasn’t good for business. At the same time I went to shows with a
friend and we traded off the good sales…sometimes she scored,
sometimes I did. People are always trading show tips…but there
is always an exception to the rule. Several exceptions…days when
exceptions are the only thing going.

BTW…nobody has mentioned “The Artfair Sourcebook” yet. I
prefer it to Sunshine Artist or the Craft report by far. They
list most the A shows, some of the B’s and rate them using
artists own comments and sales results. I find them to be fairly
reliable and they fill you in on odds, addresses, fees, types of
art sold & personal anecdotes told by artists. Call 1-800-358-2045
for more info.

Good luck…Karen

@karenworks1 Northern Illinois