This is the list I use when preparing for a show or fair. It was prepared with the help of many of my friends on Clayart. (Thanks!) I've tried to make the list as general as possible. Some suggestions might not be useful to you, you can down load it and edit as you like. If you have anything you think should be added, send me an email Russel.Fouts@Skynet.be Promotional Materials: - Name Tag, who you are, where from, etc - "about your pottery" flyers - business cards (LOTS) - Brucures (LOTS) - price labels - hangtags - Notebook for guest list - signs (plus extra paper for making new ones) - the mailing list book - Portfolio - Stand-UP Plastic Menu Holders w/Info About You and Your Pots and To hold signs - Something nice to display your brochures and business cards in. Business Materials: - insurance certification - the appropriate tax certificate and tax chart - Fair documents Food: - Cooler - ice - drinks - finger food type snacks (cheese, crackers, nuts, sliced meat rolled up) - chocolate to give yourself a boost in the afternoon - napkins - water with a solid chiunk of ice in it to keep it cool all day, First aid kit: - vitamins - bandaids - aspirin - bee sting medicine - allergy meds or any regularly taken medication - first aid creme - bug repellent - hand cleaner in a tube - handi-wipes - wet washcloth in a plastic bag - sunscreen - toilet paper - waterless hand cleaner (baby wipes) Booth Materials: - Plate stands - Cork mats - wood blocks for leveling your shelves - booth components - Fabric for covering tables - Heavy, disposable drop cloths for covering tables (only seem to come in white though) - Canope weights (concrete or empty plastic gallon jugs or buckets (to fill with water) or 4-50 lb bags of pebbles to hold down the canopy in the wind attatched with strong adjustable straps or bungee cords with hooks on either end) - folding chairs (one for you and one for "company") - small table (like a tv table to place business cards, change etc. on) - lights - Heavy Plastic Tarp - Parachute cloth, expensive but indestructable and has 101 uses - Extra Booth Components (bolts, screws, washers, etc) - the tent! - the display shelving! - Stakes Toolbox: - S-hooks, handy for hanging "stuff" - Wine Boxes - level - hammer - smoothing stone(in case I find a missed rough spot on a bottom (pot's)) - bailing wire - bungee cords or better, a roll of bungee cord - duct tape - extension cords and a power strip - Scissors - hammer - Teak Oil - Soft Cloth - Mini sewing kit - Rubber hammer - Staple Gun - Pliers - Vise Grips - Clamps - Picknic Table Cloth Clamps - Nails - Pocket Knife - Feather Duster - ruler - screw/nut drivers - several towels for wiping up whatever and sitting on and dusting - straight and safety pins - tacks - tape - tape measure - tiny bungee cords (4 inches) to secure the tarp to whatever or itself - twine - String - wire cutters Transport: - large plastic bin with overlapping cover (rain resistant) to tote above items - handtruck with bungee cords that fit securely around your storage containers - Rent small van or break Cashbox: - Startup cash and change - clip boards so that customers can write their checks on the clip board if they want to - waist pouch (fanny pack or my pockets for change and handling the bulk of the money, more secure) - sales pads - calculator - cell phone - charge slips - receipt book(s) - sales tickets in a money box - pens (water proof) - Markers - Shims for leveling the booth and shelves Packaging: - Nice bags (two sizes, small, and heavy duty large handled ones) - packing materials - Bubble wrap cut to size for your pots ("onesies and twosies) - String - Scotch tape Comfort: - extra clothes - rain jacket (stuffs in a small pouch) - comfortable shoes - sunglasses - umbrella (used for sun as much as rain) - list of items needed for a fair (when ready to start loading up, print out the list and check everything off as load the truck. Take the list to the fair is a good way to add forgotten things for next show. Bring it home and update the computer list) ATTITUDE: - Makes a major impact on sales! - Make eye contact - smile - be "there"!! - sense of humor! - "Smiley faces in your Voice" - You need to approach going to an outdoor art show the same way you would get ready for a camping trip (Expect the unexpected as far as weather, delays, and glitches, and have available what you need to make it through), ---------- ------------------------- I can't tell you how many times I didn't go into a booth because its artist was wearing a "gonna kill the next one" face. Just smile. Uses about 47 fewer muscles to smile, one size fits all, the price is right, and the effect is contagious. Want happy customers? Smile and make them happy. Want customers to buy? When you can be one-to-one and there's no crowd, put something they're looking at into the customer's hand. Nothing, absolutely nothing, beats the personal touch. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and holding is nine-tenths of a sale. For those hyperactive kids who can't keep from touching, take along a couple of things to keep them busy while they're in your booth. Many parents aren't willing to leave an event just because Johnny's bored or Johnny's tired, or.....you've seen it, I know you have. A couple of simple somethings that move, a package of party games like the marble in a maze so if one kid walks off with it, you're not out money and activity for the next grabby child, a lizard (bug, spider--something you can stand) in a terrarium at the back and screwed down to the table, a fun-house mirror, some balloons to give away to those old enough...you get the idea. Costs a bit up front maybe, but less than broken pots. Michele Williams ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 23:06:07 -0700 From: Tony Ferguson Subject: Re: Booth design and advice Lois, Many options depending on the color and feel of your work. If you are going to just buy it, check out: 1. Porta Panels (hang your flatter work I have seen people also hook shelving into them, promo pictures, etc) & use formica covered and sealed on the bottom pedistals on the floor. 2. The easiest, least expensive, modular do it your self (or hire someone handy with wood) is cut a perfect square out of 1/2 or 3/8 plywood from the center cutting the same width as the wood down to the edge, essientially cutting the square half way--with two of these you put them together and they lock. Take another square and put it on top--now you have a table and you can stack these in any number of formations as well as utilize different sizes to create different levels. You can also put in triangular shelves on all for sides of the squares too. 3. Go with combination pedistals and tables with fabric. 4. Door panels from any Home Depot or Mendards like store--you can paint them, they are light, and you can use them to create walls with shelves on them--like the porta panels. Good luck, this is not an easy one to figure out so quickly. Thank you. Tony Ferguson Stoneware, Porcelain, Raku www.aquariusartgallery.com 218-727-6339 315 N. Lake Ave Apt 312 Duluth, MN 55806 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 12:46:19 -0700 From: Cindi Anderson Subject: Re: Booth design and advice Funny, I knew some potters that changed their U shapes into L's and sold a lot more. They said people were too intimidated to walk into the U while they were there. If they were standing behind a table, the people felt more comfortable to walk up and pick up pieces. Maybe the best would be a U that is low in back so you can stand behind instead of inside. Cindi Fremont, CA ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jun 2002 11:44:43 -0700 From: David Dahlquist Subject: Fw: Booth design and advice I just started marketing this year and recently invested in my booth. Definitely avoid taking up too much floor space with display material. People do not want to walk into it if there isn't a lot of room. I used normal office fold up tables, I found at Office Depot. I used three in a u shape, and then three tier pine shelves on top. Two shelving units sit on top of each table. The shelves are open and pretty attractive. BUT, the tables are too wide. The foot print they make takes up all the room. So I was able to find skinnier versions of the same tables and a liquidators. I think they are 18" wide instead of like 3 feet. It is now much better. But, if I had to do it over again, and I will next year, I would have bought the wire mesh screens that you hang stuff on. I saw a potter last weekend that had them full booth height and situated like a screen (zigzag), and had corner shelves in the folds. She had them through out her booth. It made for a very open display and it looked really good. I think next time I will buy enough of the screen to go full booth height, and length on three sides and use the accessories to make shelves, hang sales info, etc. It will be a very open floor plan. Light and airy. You can get feet for the screens that will support it and keep it from tipping, also I believe if attached to the canopy top it could help weigh it down from the wind, but Im not sure about that yet. Also I found I get more traffic when I sit in back of booth verses sitting in the front. Dave ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Dave and others; I have found that when faced with the 10 x 10 booth space, that I screen off the deepest 4-5 feet of space, and just stretch the booth across the ten foot opening. giving folks about three feet off the aisle to browse. People REALLY don't want to go inside a space and possibly encounter the potter. My sales have doubled since using this strategy. You can still sit behind the display, and that space can also be used for back stock and empty boxes if kept visually unobtrusive. Best, Hank in Eugene ------------------------------