It's a topic that I have been thinking about for awhile and it certainly comes up with every show that I do. Inevitably an organizer, or more frequently, other artists/artisans will ask "Was it successful?"
Very rarely now do I feel that a show has been a failure. It has to be a real bad one in a lot of ways to get that designation.
This weekend's Art Market in Fredericton was no exception. All the attending artists were asked to complete a survey with various questions measuring the success of the venue. Did we hear/see advertising for the event? What went right, what went wrong? What else could have been done? And the clincher of most events that have some amount of municipal, provincial or federal funding: Circle the number that represents your sales for the show.
The problem with evaluating the success of a show/sale totally in terms of actual sales at the event is that it never takes into consideration the other things that make it a personal success.
There is the amount of personal promotional effort that a person puts in. How many business cards and brochures were distributed? How many conversations did you have with people who have never seen your work before? How many people are seeing you again and are now getting interested in what you do? How many people were complimentary or just plain curious? How many names did you get to add to your contact list for the area in which the show was held?
Answering and measuring from that perspective can take a show with low sales numbers and turn it into a success that can built upon at a later event.
The surveys also don't address these possibilities either: If you teach in your medium, did you get new students? Were there any commissions or custom orders placed for your work?
Another avenue for success: Did you make a connection with another exhibitor or a visitor that may lead to another income stream, exhibition possibility or further recognition for your work?
And finally, one of my favorite ways to measure the success of a show: Was it fun and did I get to meet other artists and exchange ideas?
The Art Market in Fredericton was a raging success for me on a lot of fronts. There were sales and a couple of commissions. Lots of compliments and conversation. Plenty of cards and brochures out there now. No new names on my list, I'm really bad at that part yet. Met a lot of the other artists and had some great conversation with them. Got some new ideas for business too and may have snagged a couple of new students. Not bad for a rainy weekend in Freddy Beach.
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