The 2006 GEWA Fall Craft Fair, Greenbelt, Maryland
October 24, 2006

(Originally written on October 24, 2006)

Today I worked at a vendor at a show that was the most disasterous one for me. I didn't sell anything at all. Zero, zilch, nada. It was even worse than the 8.13 Festival back in August (where I sold only one necklace).

The only reason why I hadn't mentioned this fair before today is because it was open only to employees of NASA and its contractors. That place has security guards all over the place and I actually had to submit my car to a brief search on the outside by a bomb-sniffing dog before I could get my temporary badge and enter the facility. (That's what it's like for a non-employee to enter a secure facility in the United States after 9/11.)

It all started when my husband learned through his job at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that there was going to be this craft show held especially for NASA employees right on site and the organizers were looking for vendors. He forwarded the information to me and I saw that the show would be held on a Tuesday between 10 a.m. -2 p.m. and it was scheduled at a time when many employees would be on their lunch break. Between regular employees and employees of NASA contractors his particular NASA facility has thousands of people work directly on site during the week. This show seemed like a sure thing to me so I paid the $22 fee and arranged my schedule so I could work there.

Well, that turned out to be a mistake. Even though NASA has thousands of people working at that facility, not too many people visited the craft show. If I had to guess how many people I saw milling about and if I was being generous in my estimate, I would guess 200 people. However, I wouldn't be surprised if fewer people actually visited. Of that amount, a small percentage stopped by my table, looked at my wares, and moved on without buying anything.

Another vendor who was located at a table near mine said that he had been working this particular show for a few years and he said that this show is always slow. (He said that the only reason why he continues to work this show is because he said that he's retired and it gives him something to do.)

On top of that, the auditorium where the show was held was freezing, and there was this music piped in that was basically sleep-inducing Muzak. The only good things I can say about this show is that it was held indoors so I didn't have to worry about bringing my canopy and tables and chairs were provided so I didn't have to haul my own portable tables and chairs.

Sales were so bad for me that I began to pack my things at 1 p.m. and I was gone by the 2 p.m. closing time. All I can say is that I'm not going to work at that show again.

I managed to take a couple of photos of my own setup but that show was basically a bust for me. (Click on any of the photos to see a larger version open in a new window.)

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