Renaissance fairs, merchanting, etc EDITED
well i managed to get my pavilion up at the Lehighton ren fair ( midsummer productions ) thanks to help from .... well everyone really. i think it looked ok...... whouseknecht kept falling asleep on saturday, we are both very underslept, but on sunday he found a nice fellow and they talked history and politics all day so he stayed awake... *I* spoke to his wife and her friend and we talked jewelry......
as is typical of this event, my best customers are the staff/entertainers. THEY already have corset habits (grin)
we have one more weekend of the ren fair.... so this sat and sun... because of scheduling conflicts most of the entertainers couldnt do the first weekend, so there will be MORE entertainment next weekend. (mind you the belly dancer we have is fabulous! and the actors/staff were all really on top of things anyway. plus we had some lovely musicians, so i dont think we were suffering a lack of entertainment.....) Naturally the best vendors are all there.......
we have had an unexpected opening in the merchant lists for this coming weekend, so if any of my merchant friends want in.. email me! kirsten at fabricdragon dot com
now the reason WHY we have an opening in the merchant lists is not so nice......
There were a couple of jewelry vendors..... i mean in addition to me... and they had some REALLY nice stuff, so i was actually planning on shopping after fair closed...... yea, that nice.... mind you one of them had nothing but ear wraps.. so thats always good, right?
wrong......
apparently they had someohow gotten it into their heads that we had a much larger expected attendance than we do..... we are a SMALL ren fair...... and everyone you ask will tell you that! so when they didnt get "BIG SALES" and crowds first thing saturday they started whining....
and then they decided to pack down and leave.
now if they had done so AFTER THE FAIR CLOSED.. we would be all "shrug.. too bad" i mean, everyone has a bad event, everyone has had an event that didnt work for you.. you usually put on your big girl panties and live with it....... i would have expected them to hold on through Sunday and maybe just not do the next weekend, right?
surely they will at least leave after hours on saturday, right?
no
In a move of absolutely STARTLING lack of professional merchanting ethics..... they packed up and brought cars onto the site, driving THROUGH THE COURT performance area.... and threw stuff in their cars and left two hours prior to closing.
driving through the fair....
through customers....
past other merchants trying to work.....
packing and driving in the middle of the last court of the day...... and THEY WERE ACROSS FROM THE COURT STAGE!
O-o
the one and only time i left in the middle of an event was when i got a phone call that my father had a stroke... and i spoke to the merchant person and got permission to leave (and in fact got help from staffers to get me out) you just don't wreck everyone else's event because YOU are having a bad sales day.
i dont know who else was in the group (and it was a group) of people that did this..... they arrived together and left together. but one of them was "Ear Wraps by Louise Devery" and BOY am i glad i hadnt bought anything from her before she left.....
truly, this sort of thing is absolutely unconscionable behavior in a renfair (or most fairs) merchant.
.
.EDITED TO ADD: according to one of the actual event people (see comments below) the other folks who left early were polite and civil, and talked to the event staff before leaving.... so we will not tar them with the same brush. ... he has "no official comment" on the ear wrap lady.. because he is actualy a staffer and etc.
i am not
i am just a merchant
ok, the other folks were better behaved, GOOD! i am glad, one of them had great stuff..... but the earwrap lady's bahvior (especially in driving through fair during the event) was NOT handled so nicely and was NOT discussed with the staff.. and those of you who merchant know exactly what "i cant comment on earwrap lady" means....
as is typical of this event, my best customers are the staff/entertainers. THEY already have corset habits (grin)
we have one more weekend of the ren fair.... so this sat and sun... because of scheduling conflicts most of the entertainers couldnt do the first weekend, so there will be MORE entertainment next weekend. (mind you the belly dancer we have is fabulous! and the actors/staff were all really on top of things anyway. plus we had some lovely musicians, so i dont think we were suffering a lack of entertainment.....) Naturally the best vendors are all there.......
we have had an unexpected opening in the merchant lists for this coming weekend, so if any of my merchant friends want in.. email me! kirsten at fabricdragon dot com
now the reason WHY we have an opening in the merchant lists is not so nice......
There were a couple of jewelry vendors..... i mean in addition to me... and they had some REALLY nice stuff, so i was actually planning on shopping after fair closed...... yea, that nice.... mind you one of them had nothing but ear wraps.. so thats always good, right?
wrong......
apparently they had someohow gotten it into their heads that we had a much larger expected attendance than we do..... we are a SMALL ren fair...... and everyone you ask will tell you that! so when they didnt get "BIG SALES" and crowds first thing saturday they started whining....
and then they decided to pack down and leave.
now if they had done so AFTER THE FAIR CLOSED.. we would be all "shrug.. too bad" i mean, everyone has a bad event, everyone has had an event that didnt work for you.. you usually put on your big girl panties and live with it....... i would have expected them to hold on through Sunday and maybe just not do the next weekend, right?
surely they will at least leave after hours on saturday, right?
no
In a move of absolutely STARTLING lack of professional merchanting ethics..... they packed up and brought cars onto the site, driving THROUGH THE COURT performance area.... and threw stuff in their cars and left two hours prior to closing.
driving through the fair....
through customers....
past other merchants trying to work.....
packing and driving in the middle of the last court of the day...... and THEY WERE ACROSS FROM THE COURT STAGE!
O-o
the one and only time i left in the middle of an event was when i got a phone call that my father had a stroke... and i spoke to the merchant person and got permission to leave (and in fact got help from staffers to get me out) you just don't wreck everyone else's event because YOU are having a bad sales day.
i dont know who else was in the group (and it was a group) of people that did this..... they arrived together and left together. but one of them was "Ear Wraps by Louise Devery" and BOY am i glad i hadnt bought anything from her before she left.....
truly, this sort of thing is absolutely unconscionable behavior in a renfair (or most fairs) merchant.
.
.EDITED TO ADD: according to one of the actual event people (see comments below) the other folks who left early were polite and civil, and talked to the event staff before leaving.... so we will not tar them with the same brush. ... he has "no official comment" on the ear wrap lady.. because he is actualy a staffer and etc.
i am not
i am just a merchant
ok, the other folks were better behaved, GOOD! i am glad, one of them had great stuff..... but the earwrap lady's bahvior (especially in driving through fair during the event) was NOT handled so nicely and was NOT discussed with the staff.. and those of you who merchant know exactly what "i cant comment on earwrap lady" means....