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Spaces, Spots, Booths, and Tables. Oh My!
Event Entertainment and Activity Ideas
Site Newsletter - Release Date: 4/25 06
Spaces, Spots, Booths, and Tables. Oh My!
Your location can make all the difference in whether you do well at an event or not. Simply put, not all spots are created equal! Some are closer to the entrance, some are on a main walkway, some are the next to the food line, some are by a cold door, and yet others are simply cramped!
To be against the wall or on an island, that is the question. Whether tis more rewarding through larger customer volumes to be along the perimeter that all will transverse, or to be back to back with other vendors on one of many islands that all look the same to a customers wary eyes. To help settle this dilemma, some promoters charge more for wall spots. Similarly, many promoters charge more for corner spots that have more 'frontage' than non-corner spots.
What then of inside corners? If all the walls of a room are lined with 10x10 spots, each corner would have a 10x10 spot that is inaccessible since it's 4 sides are bordered by 2 walls and 2 spots. Some promoters let these go unused, others stick someone with 2 spots into the corner one and the one next to it.
Staying within your designated area is important. On one occasion, my parents had placed their chairs in an unusable space the promoter had created in a corner and were charged for it as an entire additional spot. Many promoters will get furious if you go over your front line and have a rack or anything extending an inch into the isle. You should expect the same reaction from neighboring vendors should you encroach on their turf.
Receiving your full expected area is critical too. Many times we've erected our exactly 10x10 tent around a designated area that was a foot or two smaller. When everyone in that row has a tent, then it just doesn't work! Indoor events often give a smaller spot size after they start marking the room off and realize it's smaller than they though. I've had 2 promoters recently advertise as having 10x10 spots, but they only wanted to let you have one of their tables, you could not bring in any of your own and part of the spot was the customer walkway. It's industry standard for a vendor to receive the full stated area, if 10x10, then they should get a 10x10 area of their own, not including the customer walkway, that they can do entirely as they like with. If you work it differently, please say the actual size area they will receive or advertise spots as number of tables per fee instead of using spot size for designation. If vendors can't bring their own tables to supplement those received, say so, as that is non-standard! If you advertise 10x10 spots with one or two provided tables and do Not state that vendors can Not bring tables, you WILL have vendors showing up that morning expecting to add their own racks, card tables, and full sized folding tables to their space. They will want to make L's, U's, etc out of the table combinations within their expected designated area.
When your neighbor uses a path through your setup as an access road to get behind their stand it can drive you nuts. When they insist that you change your setup so as to allow them a way out, it just makes you think that they are nuts! My dad ran into a lady once that blocked herself in wanted my dad to move his tables to create a way out for her.... If you are outside and have the room, leave a 1 or 2 foot gap every 2 spots as a walkway that the vendor on either side of it can use to get behind their spot.
When there is a sidewalk or a walkway, spots should be right along it, not 2 or 3 fee off it. As odd as it sounds, this little bit of buffer area will not be crossed by most passers. Folks will stay on the sidewalk unless they really see something that grabs their attention. This effect is magnified if you are on a slope up or down from the walkway. Promoters, please be aware of this when marking spots!
Sometimes there is a tree, pole, bench, hole, etc. in the middle of what would be a spot if the line of vendors was continued. Most promoters leave a gap and continue, but quite often what should never have been marked as a space is given to some poor soul.
Please have coffee and porta-johns ready when vendors arrive for setup. We've been up since 3 or 5 and have been in the van or truck for hours and probably haven't stopped yet in our rush to find the place.
Entertainment and Activity Ideas
Many artists and crafters are able to demonstrate at their booths. Some more space consuming crafts, like chair making, might require more room to work and also for crowds that will form, you don't want them blocking the neighbors booth. Other specific types artists can also be a form of entertainment. Try to line up someone for caricature, face painting, sand art, etc.
Focus on health and have a blood bank or the red cross take donations. Your local ambulance squad may be willing to give CPR demonstrations.
Call local karate and other martial arts schools to see if they will give a demonstration in exchange for the exposure to the community. Try same for dance, yoga, and even music schools! It's quite common to see girls from dance schools entertain at street fairs and festivals, but I've yet to see yoga or music school students, although they seem like they might work.
One great way to have free live music is to have a battle of the bands, however pre-screening might by well advised! You can also try schools for their chorale groups and bands.
A kids area is always an appreciated addition. It can include a selection of toys, arts & crafts, games, drawing/coloring, dress up, story telling, puppets, gymnastics tumbling area, etc. Adults might enjoy bingo, chess and checkers, horse shoe pitching, blindfolded lawn darts, or haul-everything-she-bought-to-the-car.
Combine your event with a walk, run, footrace, bike ride, etc.
A simple way to entertain some folks at an art event is poetry reading! Anyone on staff can do it between other entertainment acts or it can be an area of it's own.
Pictures with [furry something] is usually easy to put together as you only need a person in a costume that can be rented. If you are selling pictures too, rather then just letting others take them if they wish, you can make the money back on them, although you need another person to take the pictures now.
Any outdoor street fest can have a classic car or motorcycle show added to it. You don't need to be a mega-rally the first year your try it, even a few local cars would add to your event.
I don't know if you pay for or if events are paid by things like petting zoos and animal rides, but something to consider. Just don't let in someone that has rabid, wild skunks painted to pass as tiny ponies. Enforce shoveling...
Have oven, will travel? Add a bake sale! Members of your organization can be asked to bring their obligatiory donations to the event the day of. You get an extra fact for ads and the extra funds from the sales, and the public has more to be excited about! Dentists included!
A cooking contest could be another variation on this theme where the public cooks instead of your organization members, but you can't sell anything. The public still gets fed, usually for free, and you let them judge and vote... I remember a rib fest contest like that at one street fair we did where an under-priced $2 ticket got you 3 styles of ribs from each of 4 places competing. Not sure where the funds went, but the ribs were fantastic!
You sometimes see a ton of dogs brought to certain outdoor shows, why not involve them in the event? Have a pet parade, a owner-pet look-a-like contest, etc. Fenced in area? Have a leash-less play area! Let some cats loose and watch everyone get exercised!
Add a plant sale, antique sale, or even rummage sale to your event! You'll get more interest from the local community as most of those vendors will be locals and they can be encouraged to help spread the word. You also would have had to advertise locally earlier to find them. If you allow antiques and used junk, be sure to stipulate no new items/retail. There is a huge difference between yard sale type junk, even though it is soon to be someone else's treasure, and new retail merchandise.
It's quite common to see people that live near a show on a street or in a park to have a yard sale of their own on the day of the show, sometimes a whole block will get involved. I love it when I see it, I think customers and drive bys that end up stopping to look feel the same.
I have even seen nearby houses sell spots to vendors that are not with the event, we've setup like that a few times over the decades! I'm sure this annoys most of the vendors at such events and their promoters. It is rather uncommon though.
Some events have just one big rummage booth. Ones put on by organizations trying to raise money collect used goods for the rummage sale from which all proceeds go to the organization. It's just one big rummage booth!
If you can russle up a the necessary vehicle, how about wagon rides or school bus or trolly tours. Lacking anything motorized, you can still have a walking tour.
It's always a hoot to watch a no-hands food eating competition! Do us all a favor and keep us entertained! Make them eat cake!
Depending on your event theme, you can have various workshops or speakers. For wine events, this would of course include tasting and food paring seminars.
Outdoor events with large crowds and multiple days can often get landscapers to create displays of their work at your show that are little osasis within the show of plant life, a pool of water, etc. They have a sign on it with their info and probably brochures nearby. If you are putting up a few tents in a parking lot for a show, this can really make the area look great!
Try for radio station remote site participation. Some will do it for free, especially if you are a non-profit, others require you to advertise.
Spring Bloom Festival? How about crowning of the Bud Queen!
I don't quite know what is involved, but I saw one event advertise as having a Red Hat society Fashion show. Sounds fun and free! It also sounds like extra customers might be involved...
Don't forget the Party Machine! Arrange for an ATM for your customers. Many vendors take credit cards but certainly not all. An ATM on site will increase your vendors' sales!
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