Consistency of events

It is odd to write about this but I am trying to process and saturdays event ,pop up pearl.  Last year was the first year for pop up girl and people were hungry for an event.  the old brooklyn neighborhood has been starved for festivals there’s another feature events.  so last year was the perfect storm of people hungry for events, eager people wanting to show case the neighborhood, the many talented people of the neighborhood , and the desire to see the neighborhood shine . the first pop up pro was remarkable amazing and wonderful .  As a vendor I made a good profit and found a great joy in meeting and greeting all of the people.  Foot traffic was great and there was not a problem being indoors because people felt free to come into the store fronts.

Fast forward to 2012 and the crowd was a much different crowd of pop up pearl.  people seem to have difficulty visiting the storefront .  and most people were spending money on food but not thinking about supporting any of the artist for vendors .  I can say I made my 10 dollar booth fee back but I didn’t make very much beyond that .  so what was different than what changed in a year? 

1 key components of difference was the woman organizing the vendors .  last year she was on stafford old brooklyn um but a gal that handled that moved on to a new job .  this year they outsource to a woman who manages fairs and festivals for a living .  it might also be the economy and I’m people reserving a refund for it for practical things like food . the capacity was there was a large on a page spread in the plain dealer the day of the event . the news media was there and reported kindly  on the events .  I will really truly never know what changed or why people were not spenders this year. 

a mental note to myself is that if I do participate in pop up pearl next year I will have a tent on the street as opposed to a booth in a storefront . 

thank you to everyone who did visit me .  please know that you encourage me greatly .

But at the center of my purpose for this post was to discuss consistency.  I strive to be consistent with my products my marketing and my advertising .   Tremont Art and Culture Festival has been one that maintains a steadfast consistency each year.  The operations are fine tuned.  Vendors (art) are carefully juried, reducing the rummaged sale and made in China products.  Artists are concentrated in a village with food in another location.  Predictably the crowds come, and the buying public support local art. 

The pop up crowd did not seem to be an arts buying crowd.  But it also brought down the market to have rummaged sale tents.

As a vendor I am at the mercy of the planner of the event to discern through the many applicants and filter carefully to ensure quality, and minimize the Chinese resale junk.  Some do well, maintaining a high level of artistic, hand made quality, and some not so much. 

As an artist I am competing with a deep discount mindset…..most people are financially driven, opting for cheapest price over quality.  Thankfully some will see the hard work, skill and labor involved in what we do, and appreciate its worth.   So the rummaged sale/cheap Chinese imports just play to the “cheaper is better” mindset.