Comments - ACE Exhibition at Chicago Botanic Garden - crafthaus2024-03-28T10:06:04Zhttp://crafthaus.ning.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=2104389%3ABlogPost%3A522388&xn_auth=noThank you for sharing Brigitt…tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2015-09-29:2104389:Comment:5227532015-09-29T19:50:03.145ZCheryl Evehttp://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/CherylEve
<p>Thank you for sharing Brigitte. I Great review! </p>
<p>Thank you for sharing Brigitte. I Great review! </p> Firstly, just so there is no…tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2015-09-28:2104389:Comment:5223112015-09-28T11:27:16.408ZBrigitte Martinhttp://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/brigittemartin
<p>Firstly, just so there is no misunderstanding, this show was NOT organized by the ACC (American Craft Council). <strong>This was an entirely different organization, the ACE, American Craft EXPOSITION!</strong></p>
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<p>The lack of signage and maps is exactly what's so puzzling, Harriete! Nothing on their website (<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://americancraftexpo.org/" target="_blank">http://americancraftexpo.org/</a>)</span>, no handouts and barely-there…</p>
<p>Firstly, just so there is no misunderstanding, this show was NOT organized by the ACC (American Craft Council). <strong>This was an entirely different organization, the ACE, American Craft EXPOSITION!</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p>The lack of signage and maps is exactly what's so puzzling, Harriete! Nothing on their website (<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://americancraftexpo.org/" target="_blank">http://americancraftexpo.org/</a>)</span>, no handouts and barely-there signage. I got a ticket at the cashier's desk and that was it. There were at least two entry points into the exhibition, maybe it was just my luck that at my entry there were no maps? It was a startling difference to their last year's event.<br/> <br/> There was an information desk somewhere within one of the buildings and the staff there had a paper map overview with booth numbers and artist names and looked up Linda Kindler Priest's location for me. If they had any paper maps they may have run out of them by the time I was there, because even though I was clearly lost, they hung onto their copy and just sent me on my merry way, "Turn left, walk around there, go through the greenhouse, then straight ahead into the next room, walk left there, Linda is on the other side of the room." I am not kidding.<br/> <br/> There were booth numbers displayed and had I known my guys' booth numbers, I might have been able to figure things out better within a room or tent. I am fairly insistent and don't give up easily, but not every customer is that patient, as we all know.<br/> <br/> Who knows what the real story is, maybe the tent situation was a last-minute accommodation because something else fell through or was impossible to rig up. Maybe these are just typical early kinks that come with a new venue. I don't know and I don't want to start guessing. I am sure everybody involved is doing the best they can under the circumstances.</p>
<p>Bottom line: it was unnecessarily hard to find the artwork and that's just not what anybody wants to see. For those artists who consider applying for next year's ACE show, they may want to find out beforehand if the situation has been addressed.</p> Thanks Brigitte for the infor…tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2015-09-28:2104389:Comment:5224442015-09-28T04:04:53.818ZHarriete E Bermanhttp://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/HarrieteEstelBerman
<p>Thanks Brigitte for the informative post. I can't believe that there was no map. At ACC San Francisco everything was in one building but there was still a vendor map of the whole building and every booth location. There were also three additional indexes. The indexes included: <br></br>Artists by Booth (organized by all the booth numbers in numerical order)</p>
<p>Artists by Company (Aphabetical order with the booth number).</p>
<p>Artists by Name ( Aphabetical order with the booth…</p>
<p>Thanks Brigitte for the informative post. I can't believe that there was no map. At ACC San Francisco everything was in one building but there was still a vendor map of the whole building and every booth location. There were also three additional indexes. The indexes included: <br/>Artists by Booth (organized by all the booth numbers in numerical order)</p>
<p>Artists by Company (Aphabetical order with the booth number).</p>
<p>Artists by Name ( Aphabetical order with the booth number)</p>
<p></p>
<p>I can't believe there wasn't a map or program of any kind?</p>
<p>Harriete </p>
<p></p> The feedback that I received…tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2015-09-27:2104389:Comment:5225162015-09-27T17:54:04.661ZBrigitte Martinhttp://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/brigittemartin
<p>The feedback that I received from the artists was mostly positive as far as their sales are concerned. But then again, who would truly ever fess up that their day has not been good? That's a discussion artists usually keep to themselves, or talk to each other about, behind closed doors.</p>
<p>All I can say is that from my observation, for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, the weather was nice, and there were lots of people at the Botanic Garden. I hope that many visitors who had not known…</p>
<p>The feedback that I received from the artists was mostly positive as far as their sales are concerned. But then again, who would truly ever fess up that their day has not been good? That's a discussion artists usually keep to themselves, or talk to each other about, behind closed doors.</p>
<p>All I can say is that from my observation, for a few hours on Saturday afternoon, the weather was nice, and there were lots of people at the Botanic Garden. I hope that many visitors who had not known about the show ended up ambling into the tents just because they were already there anyway. That would be the best case scenario to reach new audiences.</p>
<p>In any event, if the show goes up again there next year, I am sure the organizers will have worked out some of this year's kinks.</p>
<p>I was glad I went. It's always good to see artists engaging customers. And that happened plenty. Some of the craftsmanship was truly off the charts, so exceptionally good, so very worth it.</p>
<p></p> thank you for such a thorough…tag:crafthaus.ning.com,2015-09-27:2104389:Comment:5224372015-09-27T16:36:56.321ZAlison B. Antelmanhttp://crafthaus.ning.com/profile/AlisonBAntelman
<p>thank you for such a thorough review of the show. I know that ACE has always had great quality work and obviously that has not changed. It's a pricey event to exhibit at and I always wonder if show promoters get the idea that artists actually need to make money from the show...$45 is a big deterrent for customers even of high economic situations. I've done shows where layout is difficult and it makes potential customers frustrated. It looks like a gorgeous setting that needs more…</p>
<p>thank you for such a thorough review of the show. I know that ACE has always had great quality work and obviously that has not changed. It's a pricey event to exhibit at and I always wonder if show promoters get the idea that artists actually need to make money from the show...$45 is a big deterrent for customers even of high economic situations. I've done shows where layout is difficult and it makes potential customers frustrated. It looks like a gorgeous setting that needs more pre-thinking about logistics. It was also the first year at this location and even for an established show that doesn't help with crowds. I truly hope that exhibitors made good sales.</p>