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I love my tech, as I’m sure you do, too. And I use it all the time, every day, for something or other. I rely on my computers for work, and we’re currently using YouTube for our study of World War II. I print worksheets for my younger off homeschooling sites online, and all that is just my computers. My phone enables me to keep up with social media, including posting pictures to Instagram and instantly shooting pictures to customers.

Last Wednesday morning, I followed my usual morning ritual – drinking two cups of water while checking email and my social media feeds. It wasn’t long at all before I realized my text messages on my phone weren’t going through. Then I noticed that none of my sites were coming up on my computer. Brief analysis – no internet. I went outside to find a second bar of reception and to call my provider. Joy. An area-wide outage had taken out our internet and crews were “working hard to restore service.”

Thursday morning rolls around, and at 9 a.m., my phone rings. It’s our internet provider informing me that the outage had been cleared up. Woohoo! I zip downstairs and had internet coverage for… two minutes. Another call to our provider informed me that half our neighborhood was still affected and our internet should be restored later that afternoon or by noon the next day at the latest. Yea! Hope!

Thursday night… No internet. Friday morning… No internet. Friday noon… No internet. The great service techs helped me go through all the possible steps to reboot our modem, but in the end, there was no recourse left but to wait for the cable guys on Saturday. Saturday our service was winking in and out, but the fellas came, got me back online, then discovered that there was an issue with the box by the road.

Things flowed smoothly from there. In fact, things were better, because our internet was faster. I had my website access, my social media outlets, my email, YouTube for school, math worksheets for the Wee One, everything I’d been missing.

Let me take a break from the narrative here to say, I decided last week that I needed to take some time away from Facebook, because the hatemongering; injustice-in-the-name-of-Jesus; and horrid, fearmongered comments about a segment of the population were having a very negative effect on my psyche. Truly, the comments were hurting my heart. However, with my internet down, I couldn’t log off completely as I wanted. Alright. Back to the story.

Monday morning, I followed my usual routine, but this time with a twist. I dropped a post on Facebook to let people know I was taking a break, why, and how to reach me. Then I logged off and closed down the tab. To prevent further temptation, I uninstalled the Facebook app from my phone. Yet, my phone was still saying I had low memory, even after uninstalling that and deleting a bunch of pictures. Sometimes, my phone requires a hard boot to register that I’ve freed up memory. So, I disassembled my phone, let it meditate, put it back together, then pushed the power button. No. Power. I tried again. And again. Then I called T-Mobile. Shout out to them for getting me a phone to me the next day!

In the last seven days, technology has hardly been my friend. Well, it’s been perfectly friendly when it’s been working, but when it isn’t, my life nearly comes to a halt. These days have certainly tried my patience! Joy of joy, though, I have a newer model S5 that has cool, new features that weren’t on my two-year-old one, and I don’t have to go phone shopping any time soon, thank goodness!

You have a spectacular event. It’s well-planned, scheduled at just the right time of year, and you are expecting some crazy-good crowds, You have tripped over my website or heard of me through the show grapevine, and you send me an application in the mail. What will make me say, “Oh my gosh, I will simply perish if I can’t vend this event” and part with a chunk of my hard-earned money? Well, barring a scheduling conflict, here are some things I look for before I sign my name on the line and mail in my booth fee.

One, how long has this event been going on? I’m more likely to toss my hat in the ring for an established event that already has a following. I might consider a first-time event.

Two, What sort of advertising are you doing? If you’re so committed to your event to invest in billboards, TV ads, and radio spots, then I know this is a huge big deal to you. Your striving for success tells me I have a chance to be successful, too.

Three, What other vendors do you have? If you’re an artisan-only show, then I expect vendors to be well-juried to weed out multi-level marketing companies. I promise you, those sellers/representatives are not artisans selling artisan products. If you’re allowing commercial vendors, then what’s your ratio? As an artisan, I personally have no desire to compete against a commercial vendor selling inferior soaps made in some overseas sweatshop in upscale packaging for $3.00 a bar.

Along with that, how many other artisan soap vendors will be joining me? Some competition is great, and I enjoy meeting other soapers. Plus, we might sell different products that appeal to different customer bases, which is cool. However, four soapmakers out of around a hundred vendors, all selling about the same type of product, is a bit much, don’t you think? Yes, that has happened.

Four, what sort of crowds are you expecting? You could be planning a small, cozy event with maybe 200 attendees who will spend lots, or a humongous event with a projected 40,000 attendees who may or may not spend much at all. I have a good reason for asking. My first show was a 4-day event, 44 hours across those 4 days. The event coordinator said that on one day, there could be 20,000 coming through in a few hours’ time period. The “surge” I was expecting was a mere trickle. A veteran vendor said at the end of the night, “I estimate we had 10,000 all day.”

Five, How can I get more information about your event? I would look for things like a Facebook page, reviews of past events by other vendors who’ve done it, or a website. A current Twitter or Instagram feed shows me you tend to be active about keeping your followers up-to-date and are likely to post right before and during the event to draw interest and generate excitement.

Six, Is your booth fee realistic for the duration of the event? Two separate events, same month. One is essentially a one-day event; the other, 3-day weekend. The booth fee for the weekend is just $20 more than the booth fee for the one-day event. Considering other expenses, it’s important for me to determine if your event is cost-effective for my business. Some argue, “But it’s contact. It’s exposure.” Sure it is, but if nothing comes of that exposure, then I’ve wasted a good deal of time and money. I’d rather invest that same amount of time in building and strengthening relationships with my customers.

I love events, speaking to customers face-to-face, seeing their expressions when they smell particular soaps (a little Perfect Man, anyone?), and teaching them about the amazing benefits of artisan soaps. As my business has grown and I’ve matured as its owner, I have learned to be more picky about the events I do. No more selling myself short or cheap chasing after the almighty dollar.

What things do you look for in events you would do?

The Joy of Saying No, pt. 1

The Joy of Saying No, pt. 2

Tag: Instagram

How to Get Me to Vend Your Event

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