A HOT Affair !

Easton Art Affair was a HOT one! 
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This past weekend's show in Columbus Ohio was a HOT ONE! Full sun with temps in the mid - upper 90*'s. The street I was on was in FULL sun from 8 am until 8 pm, and it was humid. However it was DRY (no rain) so that was a consolation. 

 That heat may have kept crowds down or they could have been at a large Outlet Mall's Grand Opening that same weekend. Either way, my sales came early and then late on that Saturday. I did 70% of my sales the first two hours and the remaining 30% the last two! I SOLD NOTHING between 1 and 7 pm. So odd. 

 This show also had a LOT of 'earlybirds' (shoppers arriving before the official opening of the show). I would no sooner open one side of my booth than I would have people inside looking (and buying). They were probably trying to avoid the heat of mid-day. I did two large sales before the opening of 11 am. I learned LONG AGO to NEVER shut down early. I did good sales after the 'close' of the show of 9 pm. I still do not understand why some vendors shut down early. This venues had bars and restaurants open late and people were walking around with cocktails and money in their hands. Literally.  

  Overall my sales were solid. This show now ranks #8 All Time for total sales and #2 for dollars-per-sale. My higher end premium frames sold well here. I think I did better than most. There were 12 other photographers here and competition was stiff. But once again I had many people remark that my photos were unique and they had not seen 'anything like this' before this show. Two other vendors told me they would not return because of light sales.

  I will return next year! The deciding factor is that I was able to reduce my hotel cost to ZERO by staying with a life-long friend who now lives in the area. That was so awesome! The show management was super-easy to deal with. They made load-in and load-out easy and stress-free. One painter tried to avoid the guidelines by driving into the venue before he had packed up his display. he blocked the road and made a scene. That is such poor form. The guidelines are for EVERYONE'S benefit Sir!

Anyhow... Barb, the show producer, came by often and gave us ice water (probably saved my life). Her relaxed demeanor rubbed off on many of us and helped me keep a cool head on a HOT weekend.

>Kyle