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First juried show


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Yay, I just got the email that I was accepted into my first juried show.  I did a season of farmers markets over the summer and some pop-up stuff but this will be my first real gig.  

I couldn't pass it up.  A three day tulip festival that draws an inordinate amount of people to a very small city here in Washington, booth fees ridiculously low (325 for the 3 day festival).  

So yeah, I was a bit surprised getting that email today, but I guess they had some booths to fill!

I have loads and loads of stuff to bring, so no issues there.  I will probably do some tulip themed stuff to bring along, but yeah, I'm stoked!

Any tips, tricks and advice welcome!

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-Give yourself lots of time to work on your booth. You’re going to want to set it up, play with it, stand back and look at it, and decide what it needs or needs removed. ( I still do this when it needs tweaking.) 

-make an email sign up form. It’s never too early to start this.

-If you don’t want to feel super gross afterwards, pack your own food so you’re not totally relying on restaurant fare. A thermos of soup is the easiest booth food to eat: it’s more graceful to recover from a drink of soup than to empty your mouth of a bite of sandwich when customer comes from nowhere and asks a question.

 

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Good job, Liam! That sounds like a very smart next step.

I agree with Callie that it's time to start collecting email addresses, and building an email list. 

If you have time to make more pots, rather than making tulip themed pots, make vases that are properly shaped for tulips. Tulip stems are shorter and thick, so the vase needs to be short-ish with a wide mouth. The same form that would work for a utensil caddy. This way, you won't be stuck with tulip themed pots that don't make sense at other shows.

Don't think of yourself as a salesperson, think of yourself as the "host" of your booth. Make everyone who comes in feel welcome and comfortable, and glad that they stopped by whether they buy something or not. It's your responsibility to have positive interactions with your customers, not their's. It takes a great deal of energy, especially for three days. You can decompress in the evenings and when the show is over. 

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Yes on the do not make tulip pots maybe some vases as Gep suggested. Also a yes on the pack your own food. I NEVER eat faire food-seen itb go wrong to many times with neighbors.

The host idea is spot on as well.I feel pots sell themselves you just have to be upbeat and answer question and talk story.

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Sounds fun, congrads!

and as I am sure you already know in the northwest think about the possibility of rain throughout. Won't hurt the pots but everything else may get soaked so have tops for tubs and such. Always like to have something for a floor to avoid puddles and mud.  

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43 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Sounds fun, congrads!

and as I am sure you already know in the northwest think about the possibility of rain throughout. Won't hurt the pots but everything else may get soaked so have tops for tubs and such. Always like to have something for a floor to avoid puddles and mud.  

It's on main Street, so hopefully no mud, were you thinking AstroTurf or wat

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49 minutes ago, liambesaw said:

It's on main Street, so hopefully no mud, were you thinking AstroTurf or wat

How deep is the water on main Street when it rains?  Who gets use the high ground during the rain? Think about the water that falls on the buildings around the area; where does that water go and will that water impact you where your booth will be located on main Street?  Will you be prepared to be located at the bottom of the hill or at a low spot in the road?  


LT

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6 minutes ago, Magnolia Mud Research said:

How deep is the water on main Street when it rains?  Who gets use the high ground during the rain? Think about the water that falls on the buildings around the area; where does that water go and will that water impact you where your booth will be located on main Street?  Will you be prepared to be located at the bottom of the hill or at a low spot in the road?  


LT

Oh it doesn't rain like that here in Washington, but I get what you're saying, I don't get my booth assignment until later this week and I'll be able to prepare better.

And ixnay on the ulipstay, got it

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Has anyone else noticed a resurgence of 17th century tulip vases in the past few years? The kind where each stem is held up with an individual tube like holder as part of the overall vase? 

This is the kind of thing I mean. It seems like everyone is saying no to tulip vases but I'm seeing more of them.

Congrats on your first juried Show Liam!

image.png.1db0db7b965555cc75a6f869ed760f55.png   image.png.df606b11bf68a44f7f815b3c759193df.png

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2 hours ago, liambesaw said:

It's on main Street, so hopefully no mud, were you thinking AstroTurf or wat

We have always used an outdoor 6x9 rug from the outdoor department at Lowes. I think it cost about $80 and you can just hose it down when it gets dirty. 

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Between the OT at my day job and working my wife's new store, haven't had much time for pottery. It's calmed down now that the holidays have passed and I can get back to throwing again. Need to restock badly. Wife sold all my big bowls, berry bowls, spoon rests and most of the mugs, being behind is awesome! Just unloaded the kiln on my lunch break today, only one fail, yay!

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18 minutes ago, shawnhar said:

Between the OT at my day job and working my wife's new store, haven't had much time for pottery. It's calmed down now that the holidays have passed and I can get back to throwing again. Need to restock badly. Wife sold all my big bowls, berry bowls, spoon rests and most of the mugs, being behind is awesome! Just unloaded the kiln on my lunch break today, only one fail, yay!

Glad to hear you're still at it! :)

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On 1/13/2020 at 10:47 AM, Min said:

Has anyone else noticed a resurgence of 17th century tulip vases in the past few years? The kind where each stem is held up with an individual tube like holder as part of the overall vase? 

This is the kind of thing I mean. It seems like everyone is saying no to tulip vases but I'm seeing more of them.

Congrats on your first juried Show Liam!

image.png.1db0db7b965555cc75a6f869ed760f55.png   image.png.df606b11bf68a44f7f815b3c759193df.png

An interesting throwing or hand building challenge! I'd make a couple of those and price them high!

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good job, liam!

a place to look for a rug that can take it is a camping store or the camping section of a walmart or other like place.   i think target and lowes and home dopot have outdoor furniture sections where they are also available.   nothing so complicated that it detracts from your display, though.

 

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1 hour ago, liambesaw said:

I'm gonna be there alone at least the whole day Friday and part of the day Saturday and Sunday, how are bathroom breaks handled?

Couple of years ago when I did a string of shows by myself I got tired of trying to time breaks for when someone came around (and at some shows no one ever did anyway) so I went to office depot and bought a waist money pouch. They make some elaborate ones but mine is just a simple  one that ties around my waist and has a large open pouch in front. I kept my cash in one envelope for each denomination and when I needed to be out of the booth for a moment I just left a large notice on the table saying I would be right back and dropped those envelopes and my phone (square cc cash register) in the pouch and went and did what i needed to. I never worried about the change I had on hand and never had any problems with anything missing. Sometimes someone would be waiting to check out when I got back but I was just gone a moment. Also at a few shows I would get to know the folks in the booths next to me and would ask them to  keep an eye open while I was gone and would return the favor if they needed to leave for a second. 

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2 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Couple of years ago when I did a string of shows by myself I got tired of trying to time breaks for when someone came around (and at some shows no one ever did anyway) so I went to office depot and bought a waist money pouch. They make some elaborate ones but mine is just a simple  one that ties around my waist and has a large open pouch in front. I kept my cash in one envelope for each denomination and when I needed to be out of the booth for a moment I just left a large notice on the table saying I would be right back and dropped those envelopes and my phone (square cc cash register) in the pouch and went and did what i needed to. I never worried about the change I had on hand and never had any problems with anything missing. Sometimes someone would be waiting to check out when I got back but I was just gone a moment. Also at a few shows I would get to know the folks in the booths next to me and would ask them to  keep an eye open while I was gone and would return the favor if they needed to leave for a second. 

Alright makes sense.  I will not be using a cash box anyway, I prefer to carry my wad.  Hopefully there's porta potties close to my booth, I haven't gotten my booth assignment yet so we will see!

I've got some portable USB power banks for my days there, because my booth has no power.  Trying to just run through things in my mind and anticipate stuff I haven't thought of yet.

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