Clear communication isn’t just about punctuation, it is also about making sure everyone has all the information they need.
If I have said it once, I will say it a thousand times more; communication is key. So many times in life we run into problems because we assume that the other person knows what we are talking about. Take my husband as an example; he will be telling me about his day and instead of using proper nouns, he jumps to pronouns. For some reason he expects me to be able to read his mind because we have been married for 30 years. He will be talking away about someone but never use a name, or state what that person was doing with the “it”. All I know is someone was doing something with an undescribed item of interest. It could have been a wild herd of elephants running amok in a daycare for all I know.
I have been working with a few new entities recently and they are putting together some events. In the process of sending out applications they are leaving out important information like how to reach them for questions. We get emails but no phone numbers. We don’t know how many artists are going to be involved or where the physical locations of things are going to be. I understand that I have a higher than average level of expectation for an event but lets be honest, it is easier to have faith in an organization when they have all of their T’s crossed and their I’s dotted.
When you are deciding to put something together, take the time to do some research. It isn’t like shows keep their information under lock and key. Places like Zapplication, Call for Entry, On line Juried shows and other places are free to sign up for and you can look at all sorts of prospectuses. Gather what you want from several, try on a few ideas and decide what works for you and your group. Then sit down and write your own prospectus. What is a prospectus? It is a written statement of what your organization is, the type of event it wants to put on and how it plans to do it. It lays out the requirements for the artists; fees, deadlines, hours of operations, set up times, teardown times and rules for the event that they expect the vendors to follow. It also outlines what the organization will provide for the vendors to do the event and what the vendors can expect for their time and investment. You also lay out your liability and what the vendors will have to cover. This is also the place where you can tell them about your organization and the history of your group.
You will modify it several times before you publish it, you will modify for several years after but; Do Not Modify It, after it has been published and before the event has finished!!! Here is the awful thing, open yourself and your organization up for critique from your vendors after the event. Never assume that everything went smoothly and there were no problems. There were always problems and someone always has an opinion on what you can do better next year. You can always throw out all of the suggestions if you want but you might be surprised by a gem among all of the chaff.
Now, as far as doing these new events with these budding organizations; sure I’m game. Everything starts somewhere and it is always best to try to get in on the ground floor. You never know where one of these small starts will go and I’m all for giving them a chance or 3. I like the little guy, there are too many of the big guys going under and we need new things to fill the vacuum they leave behind. Mistakes get made and it’s alright as long as they fix them. Besides, a lot of these first time things are only asking for your time, no fees. I can afford to give that, maybe even a sawbuck. Watch my feed, you don’t know what new event I might show up at next! Don’t worry, I’ll let you know the four Ws; Who, What, Where and When.