I feel like Paul Revere – “The trade shows are coming! The trade shows are coming!” Well, in reality, 1 down and 3 to go! Hopefully the Atlanta Gift Show was a huge success for the artists who exhibited. Next up, CHA then SURTEX in May and the Licensing Expo in June. So there will be many discussions and questions about how to decide which show would be best for your business, how to go about learning about the shows, what to do you if you attend a show, etc.
To me, the most important thing is to be extremely conscious and considerate of the exhibitors and their time and investment in any of the particular shows. I’ve exhibited at more than 11 shows and have seen some crazy things. I’m not an agent for others yet some artists want me to spend a lot of time looking at their portfolio and telling them what to do. (That is what coaches are for, and not on a show floor.) Or others want to take my promotional materials and say to me, “So I can do mine just like yours”. That isn’t really a complement, it’s copying. Or one time and artist literally stood in front of my booth, rocking back and forth on his shoes saying, “Yup. I’ll be in a booth one day and you will have to compete with me.”
I don’t think most artists are mean-spirited in what they do or how they act, they just don’t know better. They get such tunnel vision about why they are there and wanting to learn that they forget the exhibitors have spent a lot of time, money and effort to be there – and not so someone can block your booth rocking back and forth on their shoes. 🙂
But don’t take my word for it – here is some great advice a fellow artist shared with a new artist wanting to learn what to do or not to do when walking a show.
She refers to SURTEX and a few of the details are specific to that show but overall, the advice is sound for any show.
I’ve done a booth at Surtex for a long time and mentored a number of aspiring artists. I remember how many questions I had and how eager I was. May I offer you and other new artists an arm around the shoulder about this? If you’re a newbie, there are so many ways you can step on toes without meaning to.
Sometimes when we’re so full of enthusiasm and want to learn so much, we can accidentally do things that make us seem rude and offensive. This happens often at Surtex. You may not realize it but those of us in the booths have spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours preparation to be there. We MUST make it pay. We are there to meet present clients and prospective ones. Our money and sweat has paid for that huge venue and brought those people into the building.
So while I know you’d never try to take advantage, you can understand why we ask you to walk down the middle of the aisle and not approach our booths. We don’t want people taking photos because we have struggled to dream up something that’s ours- we don’t want you to copy it. You must find your own vision, dream up your own wonderful and unique booth, not copy mine.
We exhibitors would ask you not to walk over and engage us in conversation unless we make the move first because if you are standing at our booth, proper show etiquette means that nobody else will approach us. Others do not know this is just a friendly, non-business conversation and if we’re just having a pleasant chat, prospective clients will walk by because that is politeness in this industry. They will not interrupt what might be a business meeting. You may unintentionally be wrecking our show. We may be wishing you’d leave but too polite to ask and make it awkward.
The same with portfolios. It is absolutely a no-no to start looking at another artist’s portfolio unless they invite you. Sometimes artists look through another artist’s portfolio to steal ideas. Of course that is probably the last thing you’d do. But if you innocently start looking through a portfolio, you are likely to have the artist respond by asking you to stop immediately. This happened to me a dozen times last year and after the first time or two I’m afraid I wasn’t particularly sensitive in the way I said it.
As to the $150 fee to walk the show, if you are planning to go you should pay it and consider it a cheap education. That’s only fair. We who have paid thousands for our booths have asked the show organizers to do this to make it more fair. Why should we pay all those fees so that others can walk in and take photos, meet clients, peek through our samples… all for free? If you look at it from the exhibitors’ point of view (and we after all are the ones who fund the whole show) why would we put out all that energy and money so that others can have it for nothing? I know that’s not the intention, but it’s how you will look at it when you have a booth, too. We are not major corporations, we are small design shops for the most part, individuals just like you. And we have to make it pay.
If you pay the $150 fee, you should wander the show and look at everything. Walk those aisles for hours. Smile and some of us will chat with you when it’s quiet and we can do so. But for the most part you are there to observe and learn. Don’t take photos, don’t approach busy people, and for heavens’ sakes don’t bring your portfolio and plan to whip it out and make a deal in the aisle. Bring a little stack of business cards and your most comfortable shoes, a notebook and pencil. If you see an agent you are interested in, note their name and you can contact them after the show. If there’s an artist you admire, write their name down and send them a kind email when you get home. This way you’ll build a reputation for being appropriate and considerate. You may make some valuable contacts and you’ll have gotten a good education.
I hope I haven’t offended anyone. I am only trying to offer you the advice someone should have offered me when I was starting out.
I wish you joy and success walking the show. If you come to Surtex, wave at me from the middle of the aisle and smile and if I can I will step out and greet you.
Thank you so much for letting me share this (you know who you are!) and I, too, wish everyone a great 2011. We all want to do what we love, be successful and get the economy and industry back to where it was. Let’s be professional, optimistic and work hard to make it happen!
– Tara Reed
I was rocking? So sorry!!! 😉
Ha! ha! wasn’t you – it was a dude… with a backpack… very disturbing!
I attended the surtex/national stationary show in NY for the first time last may as an artist. Most of what you suggested, I already knew not to do.
I would advise artists to arrive first thing in the morning each day because that was the slowest time. On day one, I quickly walked through the entire Surtex show making note of what caught my eye…booth display, artwork, etc. When I did go up to talk to someone it was in the morning and I let the person know that they were free to let me know to leave the booth if I was in the way; I usually stayed for about a minute or 2. Also when I did talk to someone it was usually to compliment them on their booth and/or their art as well as to wish them a successful show.
One thing I picked up on rather quickly…at first I thought people were looking at my breasts until I realized that on the name badge I wore around my neck was also written who I was…for me it said “Artist”. As I would walk by or into a booth, I would get the quick scan of my face down to my badge,then usually a quick smile and then a walkaway from that person. I knew not to take it personally, because I knew what they were doing and why.
I went every single day going up and down the aisles multiple times, taking notes and business cards. It was an invaluable experience, worth the $150, and I hope to someday be in a position to have my own booth.
@Tara…I did talk with you for maybe a minute or two (sharing that I was from Oregon and wondered about any workshops you offered in person in the Portland area) and I appreciated your time. I also had a great time chatting with your sister.
Thanks for your feedback from the “new artist who walked” perspective and I do remember you! Still not doing anything live in Oregon but if I do, it will be on the blog and Facebook.
I am planning on walking Surtex this year in preparation for exhibiting in 2012, thank you for this post. I would probably be too shy to approach artists for many of the reasons listed above but it is nice to see something concrete about the etiquette. The last thing I want to do, as someone new to the industry, is to step on toes. Great advice, as always!
Hi Tara, great to have this information ahead of time. I’ll be exhibiting at Surtex for the first time this May and am beyond excited and inspired. Your ebooks, ASK calls and blog have been a major catalyst for my decision to finally step in to a business that has been calling to me for many years. I’ll definitely say hello in person, but will be very conscious of the value of everyone’s time and investment in exhibiting at this show 😉
Thank You so much for the advice. I will be an artist walking Surtex for the first time this year.
I would have been the one talking to you for a long time. Now I’ll be one of the many who wave from the isle. You are an inspiration to me. Thanks for not letting me make a fool of myself. (or a pest)
Thanks for sharing this great article and topic Tara and secret “guest”!
As always, it’s wonderful of you to help educate the beginners who may be walking the show.
I can only apologize now… for I may have innocently been one of the uneducated MANY years ago who walked the show and would have possibly stopped to talk and admire the work of the wonderful artists who were exhibiting, not yet realizing the proper show etiquette, not to mention how expensive the shows can be to rent booth space at!!!
…please forgive me anyone that I ever did that to?!!
Appreciate you sharing your valuable insight about this!
Gina – I can only speak for myself of course but I don’t mind talking to artists – enjoy it actually – when the aisles aren’t busy. So no backward guilt, ok? It’s really a matter of being very aware and asking for permission – especially to look at portfolios, etc.
I have been on both sides of the aisle, as it were, and learned, as an exhibitor, what I shouldn’t do when I walk the aisles as a prospective vendor. This advice is invaluable IMHO and will save red faces and hard feelings from those not meaning either. I usually have tried to take 30 seconds – when no one else was in the booth – to ask if I may contact the vendor after the show and ask if I can grab a business card, making some notes on the back. Also good to know you can buy a pass to walk Surtex. Tara, is this true of other shows? PS: I think this advice is also good for strolling around art gallery openings, arts and crafts shows or anywhere people are trying to conduct business and not there to dispense free advice.
Thanks for the advice. I am planning on walking the Licensing Expo this year. I have never been to any of the licensing shows. Since licensing is a new direction for me I figured I better walk the show first and see what I may need to do to prepare my booth for the show.
Tara,
This was a super article! Thank you.
As usual invaluable advice for the “guest artist”. Thank you so kindly for making me aware. I’ve noticed the same type of issues when I’ve been selling at other shows. And I must agree with the fees to walk the show… it is a wonderful way to learn how to really showcase your work.