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Confirmation Packets to Exhibitors By Louis Marquette - a CraftLister.com Craft Expert about page personal website  based on 25 ratings Viewed 2080 times Printed 9 times
Some promoters will give you everything from the zip codes that you should be targeting with your own direct mailings to the address of the nearest hardware store; others give you nothing.
Confirmation packets to exhibitors should include:
- Name, Date, and Location Address of the event. This is not the same as set up times. I am amazed at how many packets I get where none of that is included. This helps when you are doing multiple shows as so many of us are.
- Congrats/Welcome Letter - Setup times, rules and regulations, instructions upon arrival (registration booth check-in? vehicle line-up to unload?),
- Is there a promoter cell phone number available for the show?
- Is there a security person phone number available for the show?
- Important Phone Numbers: area visitors bureau,
- Name badges
- Space number and layout map
- Vendor parking passes and parking MAP / Instructions.
- Loading / Unloading Situation - Will vendors be able to drive up to our booth and unload? How far is the haul? Are there steps? Are doors too narrow for dollies / carts?
- What surface are vendors setting up on? Is that surface level? This is a very important question for people who set up shelves and tables.
- Which direction do the prevailing winds come from at the site?
- Is there access to water?
- Are there vendor only bathroom facilities? Are there shops / stores that we can use?
- City Permit information - Some cities require all vendors to get a permit, others food only. Include any forms your vendors WILL need from them in the packet! Include regulations, rates/prices, contact names and numbers, etc.
- Regional and Local map along with written directions from each direction - In the wee hours of the mornin after often hours of driving, vendors do not need to worry about trying to find the place. As someone who has driven back and forth on unfamiliar roads looking for something in the town that looks like the venue, I implore you to take the time to have someone familiar with the area to prepare suitable directions. Most colleges and universities have campus maps online you can start from.
- Coffee Tickets / Menu / Order Form - If you are giving away coffee/donut tickets or the like, include these as well as a menu for the day. The menu can also be an order from, leave room for spot number and item quantities to be written in.
- Parking Pass and Instructions - Ideally you should include a map of the area, indicating where the entrance points into the building and vendor parking areas. If you include a spot layout map with their space number indicated they will know what entrance to park near.
- Handout Flyers - Ask applicants how many handouts about this event they can distribute at other shows. At a minimum, send them a page they can have copied themselves to then hand out. 4 per 8x11 page is a good #.
- Raffle Instructions - Item tag to be added to item they donate, makes it much easier to track! Include on tag room for: Booth #, Name, Item Name and Description
- Area Restaurant Menus - Many vendors enjoy getting a bit to eat in the area after a show, especially if they have a long drive or of it is an overnight show and they are staying in a hotel. Ask local restaurants to send you enough menu flyers for all confirmation packets.
- Area Hotel List and Discounts - Prepare a list of local hotels with phone numbers and rates. Call ahead and ask for a group discount rate. Vendors will then mention thy are with the show for this lower rate. Include camp ground list and RV parks.
- Names, Addresses, & Phone numbers for pertinant Local Stores - Wallmart, K-Mart, ALL Craft Stores, Hardware Supplies, etc.
- Program Listing and Category Form - Form for submission of name, address, craft category, and product description along with other info that will be used to create a show program / handout with a list of exhibitors.
- Show Experience Questionnaire / Critique Form:
Location? Setup? Accommodations?
Sales: Higher this or last year? Compared to expectations? #? $? Would you recommend this show to other vendors? Do you plan to do it again yourself?Conf package quality?
Comments? Ideas for improvements?
- Next Year's Application or your show schedule
The Day of the Show:
- Weather provisions for incliment weather (hay, gravel, snow shovels) or a rain date strategy
- Coffee & Donuts
- Crafters will start to arrive about 1 hour prior to start of set up time.
- Spots NAMED and numbered or CLEAR and OBVIOUS check in table / point.
- Building unlocked an 1 hour before scheduled setup. Building warmed and lights turned on.
- Port-a-johns in place and UNlocked at least an hour before set-up, best the night before.
- If street signs are not up YET, they should be posted at least before vendors start to arrive.
- Plan to have someone walk around during setup AND after the show begins to spot check for imported retail items. Have a staff's husband on hand to ask violators to leave, since doing just this seems to be the most dificult, scary thing for promoters.
- If in a wood-floor gym or other damagable floor, provide baggies of squares of cardboard to use under table legs. Your floor will be damaged otherwise.
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