Gilded
Serpent presents...
A
Vendor's
View
by Artemis
Artemis
Imports began as a mail-order and event-vending business in 1983, and I would
like to
give some insight to the dance community about the vending
experience. While
festival attendees are making last minute adjustments to costumes and choosing
their music, vendors are finishing up on a process of packing and making
ready displays that often began months before. Everything that is displayed had
to be chosen and packed, decisions made as to which items to bring (often wrong,
as one cannot
know exactly what people will want), and how much of each to bring.
One
thing that makes vending a very stressful job is
that the booth fees for the larger events are now pushing
$1000, and sales income must cover that cost first, then
hotels, gas, food, and all of the extras needed to stay a
weekend somewhere.
Then, we
must somehow get to the event, which can be 400
miles or
even more away. Some vendors will drive from neighboring states, driving
13-18 hours or more. It is a joy when an event is within a 3 hour driving
distance! Since most of us drive vans, some quite large, you
can imagine the cost of transportation, due to the ever-increasing cost of
fuel. For vendors who don't drive, attending means obtaining airline
tickets, jamming full two suitcases to carry, and paying for the advance shipment
of the remaining inventory. When we
arrive at the event, it becomes about the “haul in.” For spring and winter events,
it is always
about rain: will it rain or not? Rain is awful to deal with! How
do we minimize water damage to our items? How
do we not come down with the flu, after having been soaked in
the
unloading process?
Some
wonderful events give us a few hours on the day
before to haul in, and we LOVE these events, because hauling in and setting up
a
booth in a 3 hour interval is about a 10 on the stress scale - but normally,
the 3 hours is what we get.
(This doesn’t affect the smaller vendors,
the one or two table people, as much as it does the larger
vendors, of course.) After the haul in, it then becomes about how to deal
with our allotted space - it is never perfect, but we have to make
it
work. It is at this time that most promoters get the biggest headaches,
since 90% of us will be unhappy with the space we are
given because our expectations were different, and we will express our dissatisfaction
to the promoters. But somehow, using a lot of “patchwork” technique,
we make that difficult space work. When
the festival begins, and dancers start coming by to shop, we are nearly ready,
but rarely completely
done. Our day will be 12-14 hours of standing, bending to get items, talking
to customers, trying to help everyone as quickly as possible, and answering questions.
We don’t attend “after parties,” because by that time, we are ready only for
bed! As vendors, we usually see most of the dancers
and hear most of the music, (we can tell what is really popular by how often
we hear it used), so, you might say, we really have a finger on the pulse of
the event. We at Artemis love talking to dancers that we only see at these events,
some only once a year - it is like long-term friendships being
re-validated.
Our goal
at these events is always to provide an array of fairly-priced items and
to give honest assessments of the music and DVDs that we carry. We
delight in being able to offer unusual items not seen elsewhere. At
most of the events, we have a great deal of fun and of course, it is always
wonderful when the promoters can offer us a dance spot, since dancing is
really what it is all about!
At the end of the event, when
dancers go home to relax, we have to break it all down, pack boxes, sweep up,
do a “haul out,” (about 3-4 hours) and then drive "home", whether that be a nearby
hotel or our own homes. This is when we are REALLY
tired. Some of
the difficulties
that we have encountered at the belly dance festivals are shoplifting, (which
always makes our guts hurt, because we have trustingly put the items out
for close examination), dealing with some “me first” customers, (who like to
interrupt us when we are writing up a sale or helping someone else),
temperature problems in the hall (makes one feel like fainting), complete
blackouts at an event, and promoters who are rude and use storm trooper behavior
to manage their events. Mostly, we deal with wonderful promoters, who are
willing to listen to complaints and try to solve the problems.
However,
now I want to get down to some personal comments. Recently Artemis has said “adieu” to vending at the
Rakkasah festival, both because of the culture of fear that has been
carefully cultivated amongst the vendors by the promoter, and because of
the inability of the promoter to behave without rudeness towards this vendor
of 23 years' duration at that event (that’s almost $25,000 in vending fees,
and that should buy some form of civility).
Vending is mostly a very
positive experience for me, and that is because of the wonderful dancers
that I get to chat with, the networking and information sharing between
vendor/vendor and vendor/dancer, and of course, because of the participation
in an event that promotes, what we all love—the dance. Twenty years ago, there
were a few events a year; now, every month there is a choice of events to
attend. Twenty years ago, the events didn’t have a glut of vendors such as they
all seem to have now - kind of a sensory over-load, when it comes to costumes
and such - but on the other hand, it gives dancers a larger choice, and
more bargaining power.
Promoters
need to respect their vendors, not just for fees that they have given
them, but because without the vendors lining the room, where is the color
(other
than on
the stage), and where is the “bazaar” atmosphere of the event?
I
think dancers are enjoying the small and medium sized events more these
days, and I have had
many dancers tell me it's because they don’t feel lost in the overkill,
and the vibe is more relaxed and just feels better. One very seasoned vendor/dancer
remarked that she felt that the hey-day of the “mega event” was on the wane,
because people have realized that they could have just as much, or maybe even
more, fun at a smaller event. The admittance costs are also an issue. Many
of the door fees at big events are so high now, that dancers must choose which
day they can attend, and, given the current economic climate, this
coming year will make this even more apparent. Whatever
event you choose to attend, you can take a different look at your vendors, now
that you know something of what we do to be there to offer you a great shopping
experience. We all share the dance, and some of us are dancers as well as vendors!
Artemis at Carnival of Stars Festival in Hayward, November 2007
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We at Artemis look forward
to seeing you at many events in the coming year; check out
our webpage,
www.artemisimports.com, to find
out where we will be next!
Have
a comment? Send us a
letter!
Check the "Letters to the Editor" for
other possible viewpoints!
Ready
for more?
3-15-05 Rakkasah
From a Vendor’s Viewpoint
Ah,
Rakkasah! For many years the highlight of my vending year! A
wonderful idea that has gradually faded over time….
9-13-02 Mailbox
Missives: Are You Helping or Hurting Our Vendors? by
Shira
Fortunately, very
few bad vendors exist.
1-28-08 The
Devil's Details, Show
Ethics for Professionals Part
5 - Beauty by
Yasmin
For
new dancers, mastering the art of glamour can be daunting. But take heart, while
internal sensuality requires character work, external beauty is easier
to fix
1-22-08 “Dancing
In The Streets; A History of Collective Joy”Authored
by Barbara Ehrenreich, A Book Recommendation by Delilah
In
her book, Barbara Ehrenreich takes one back to the original motivations
of dance along a historic journey of how human impetus to dance, has
been repressed by societal hierarchy, and religious zealots.
1-16-08 Backstage
with the Reda Troupe by Debbie Smith
Seeing
the company in performance six times was truly a wonderful experience,
because each time I saw some new detail or subtlety in the movements,
the costuming, the structure of the dances, and in individual performer’s
presences on stage.
1-15-08 Cairo’s
Streets Come Alive: Baladina Egyptian Dance Theater and Sharia
Mohamed Ali by Erin Crouch photos are by Adrian Fenty
October
13, 2007, Chicago, Illinois. A modern temptress steals a man away from
a traditional woman, who then finds a new man of her own. Perhaps a
necessity for a dance company composed of mostly women, men seemed
a hot commodity in the performance.
1-15-08 Photos
from " Hate the Game Not the Player" in Oakland,
California Photos by Liza Heider
A
day of dance by Bay Area's Award Winning Bellydancers Presented by
Shabnam and Mo on Saturday December 9th 2006
1-10-08 John
Bilezikjian Where Old World Charm Meets Musical Genius by
Elizabeth Artemis Mourat,
First
in the series- DANCING WITH LEGENDS…honoring the musicians who
shaped our dance world
1-9-08 Remembering
Lynn Zalot and the Creation of the Habibi Magazine by
Sadira
While
everyone knew of Bob Zalot, who came to so many performances sporting
his happy smile and booming laugh, many had no idea that his wife,
Lynn was the true guts, heart, and workings of Habibi.
1-7-08 IBDC
Part 2:- A Gilded Serpent tale, Alex in Wonderland, by
Amina Goodyear
Unfortunately,
the event did not draw the amount of vendors he had expected and, I
believe, because he himself had not yet made a reputation for himself
as a credible festival producer, he did not get the numbers of the
dancers he wished for. Belly dancers are special people and Alex personally
did not understand their basic nature.
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