Organization starts at the beginning.
You get your work to the show with your work, you pull out your equipment and you realize you are missing a few things. The show opens in a few hours and you can’t break off to run home or even worse, find a place in a strange town that carries the things you use for weights/labels/price tags…. and soon you have uber drivers swooping in from all over and your overhead keeps rising.
I remember being told once that survival begins when you head for the door, so does organization. We don’t all start organized, how do you think I know what it is like? My mother used to travel with several people and a few of them had their own cars (rather like traveling with her own Uber delivery drivers). For a few years, they would be driving all over strange towns looking for needed bits and bobs. Eventually she ended up with a “tool box” with the necessary items. By the time I ended up doing shows myself, I had a stacking tool box that carried far more things but I work in a different medium than she does.
Organization isn’t just about a tool box that travels with me, it is about programs that I enter my inventory into as I work on my pieces, print my editions, gather my art materials, pay my bills. It is also about my storage for my art work and where I put my display materials. People who want to learn and understand what it is like being an artist sometimes come into my garage and are in shock by what I have and how it seems so organized. I must have gotten a bit more anal about it because it always seems a bit of a mess to me but the point is made to them. I have a place for everything and everything is in its place.
Anytime you want to consider doing an event, don’t let yourself lose your courage in solving the problems before you attempt it but, it doesn’t hurt to start making lists once you apply. I find it fun to purchase new tools to organize with like; a new binder, sticky tabs, fun pens and a spiral year calendar that I can keep with me. Until you can find the money to invest in programs for inventory and scheduling, make organizing fun.
Keep trying, sometimes the things you do to keep track don’t work. Ask others, ask artists; but not when their booth is full. Early in the morning when the show is slow is a good time to approach them about asking business questions. Only ask a couple, and keep it brief; they get bothered a lot and you are going to be the first. If they don’t want to answer questions, be gracious, say thank you and take no for an answer. If they are willing to answer your question, Pay Attention and don’t interrupt. If you don’t get the answer you are looking for, go to someone else. You are asking for their time and it is important that you don’t waste it. I tell people to call me after the show and ask me anything they want. That is a better time for me and I can give you more attention.
Ulitmately, keep trying to find a system that will work for you. The easier it is for you to find your things, the more professional you will look for the collectors. The better you are at this, the less butterflies you have; and the more time you will have to spend on the fun part of being and artist- Creating!