Attending the American Craft
Council show in Baltimore this year was extremely beneficial to me, not only as
an employee in the Gallery and Gallery Store here at the Worcester Center for
Crafts, but on my career as an artist. One of the main benefits that I enjoyed
was simply the fact that I had a chance to meet artists face to face. The
inventory sheets, files, and pieces that arrive in the store hold great value,
especially as part of a running business but they are much more than just
pieces of paper or plates or mugs, putting the faces of the artists to the
names printed on those sheets, and signatures on the bottom of ceramic pieces
allows for that importance to really set in. It enables me to really know what
is going on with orders every step of the way. By attending ACC Baltimore, I
know what artists we conversed with, what orders we made and I can keep track
of when they are supposed to arrive in the store.
I believe that being a Handmade
American Craft Gallery Store really means putting an emphasis on the pieces we
sell and the people that created them. Knowing the artists whose work we have,
makes talking to them and the customers that later find interest in their pieces
all the more pleasant and personal. When I have the chance to tell a customer
where an artist is from, what they are like and how they came to make the piece
in front of them, it makes a person’s visit to the store a much more memorable
experience. The hard work that artists put in and the pride they take in their
work is very evident in the way that they speak about their art, or craft and
having the opportunity to talk to artists is the only way that you really get
that behind the scenes commentary. For instance, we spoke to Jeremy Randall,
someone that we have had in the store and has already had a professional relationship
with others working here. However for myself, being the first time speaking to
him face to face, I learned so much more about his process. We found out about
new products he had, his coffee pour-overs, and the story of how he made one
for himself one morning and posted it on social media. All of the positive
responses that he got by friends and fans sparked the idea for him to make them
part of his product line. These little tidbits make the experience of a trade
show personal and allow for later conversations with customers to be much more
interesting and really connect artists to the people that love their work.
The second tremendous benefit to
attending ACC Baltimore was what I learned about the process of making orders. By
observing Candace and how she made orders and spoke to vendors, Sarah Margolin
and I were able to watch, learn and really come to understand the process. First
you have to approach the artists and their work and then you have to decide
what to order. Each body of work you approach, no matter how beautiful you
think it is or what other opinions you have of it, raises questions. Some
examples include: Is this artist new to you, or the store? Is it someone that
we already have in the store? Do they have new work? Do we have something
similar in the store? Do we need more? Will it blend well and compliment the
items we already have? Will our customer/client base feel the same way that I
do about the work? What are the price points? If we are ordering, which pieces
and how many should we order? What time of year should we make the order for, would
this sell better during the holiday season or in the spring? After many hours
and conversations I was able to answer and consider some of those questions in
my head in seconds however, some take a bit more time and practice. Other questions
are necessary to ask the artist. For example, during ACC some artists displayed
wholesale prices and others displayed retail; making assumptions on something
as important as price could be very confusing and could have a negative impact
on the conversation and leave a very bad impression from both standpoints. The
importance of clear communication and asking questions became apparent almost
immediately after entering the convention center. Whether you are ordering from
an artist or not, it is important to keep in mind that developing a
professional relationship could benefit both parties in the future. Speaking to
the artists and being honest about what we were looking for, as well as
explaining what our store is and what our clients look for is another thing
that I learned to do throughout the show. It is important that the artists know
whether you are interested enough to possibly make an order, or if you are just
looking so that their time is not wasted on trying to sell you something that
you know will not work for you. A good example of this is someone that may not
consign or wholesale their work, but their work could be a great addition to
our cup and bowl shows, or perhaps they would be a great candidate for the
Pottery Invitational.
The third very important lesson
that I learned was from the standpoint of an artist. Getting a chance to see
ACC and how it works had a great impact on my opinion of trade shows. We spoke
to artists that have been attending trade shows, specifically ACC Baltimore,
for years as well as some that were just starting out. I was able to talk to
them and hear about what they have learned, what they need for the next time
around and whether or not they think they will attend the show again and of
course, their reasoning behind it all. Hearing about their experience with
lugging their products and booth set up around and on road trips, how well
sales were going, what products sold better, if the show was going well in
their opinion and so on, allowed for me to really think about the positives and
negatives of trade shows as an artist. As a buyer I was also able to identify
the things that made transactions flow smoothly and the details that made our
experience better. Certain things such as booth presentation, the artist’s
attitude and having a paper order form or e-mail system made working with
artists and completing orders in the busy convention center much more pleasant.
All of these discoveries helped to prepare me for the possibility of being a
vendor at a show such as this one.
Overall, attending ACC Baltimore
allowed for me to learn a very important part of the gallery store business
that I had no concept of prior to attending. The trip taught me about being a
buyer as well as being an artist or vendor at a trade show. The amazing
opportunity that I had to be introduced to hundreds of artists and their work
was undeniably beneficial. If I had not attended the show I may have never
gotten the chance to discover some of the work that I saw. My fellow store
employee, Sarah and I were also able to see Candace’s approach to buying and we
were able to work hands on and actively participate and grow. We were put into
a setting that raised the right questions, ones that we would have never
thought to ask in another setting, and the three of us were really able to work
as a team to make the decisions that needed to be made.
