Busted

Craft Fairs are a lot of work. I really busted a move to prepare for this one, and I must admit I got a little caught up in the euphoria of working again and wondering what kind of reception my paintings might get. I didn't know what to expect, but I had high hopes. You just never know what you're gonna get! I know what the Rose City Rollers got, because I paid them $45.00 for my spot -along with nearly 100 other vendors -most of whom did not make that money back. 2 crafters beside me actually packed up and left early, one of them remarking that she had never walked out of a show before! There just wasn't any traffic. We were in an unmarked obscure location that people didn't know about or couldn't find. My friends were at a birthday party in the Oaks Park Roller Rink and wanted to check out my show afterward and asked about the Craft Bazaar, but no one knew what they were even talking about. There were no fliers posted and they had no idea that a huge event was scheduled to happen just across the parking lot!

This could have been a really fun and high energy happening if only there had been more communication and better promotion. Roller Derby is pretty sub culture, not a lot of people know about it. For this event to have been successful (for the vendors), I think they needed to reach out farther than their own inner circle on facebook -which seemed to be the main venue for their communication about it. I understand that this was their first Craft Bazaar and obviously it is a lot to pull together. I hope they get constructive feedback from other vendors and take it to heart. I'm happy to have contributed to the benefit, but I was under the impression that it might be a more reciprocal arrangement. It's too bad a bigger buzz wasn't generated and more people weren't exposed to what I have to offer.

I did meet a lot of other fantastically creative artists and it was very inspirational to see their work! But you know there's something a little out of whack when there are more vendors than attendees!

Live and Learn I guess!