Return of the Rain! Here are some comments on the Rain article…
Awnings –- Fred’s Canopies from Seattle, WA makes a 2 ½ foot awning that attaches to any brand 10x10 tent. I have not seen them much in the northeast yet, but apparently they are spreading like wildfire out west! They roll up and collapse down for transport after providing protection from sun and rain. You can order directly from Marvin at Fred’s Canopies at 800-845-5067 or http://www.canopiesbyfred.com/ or buy one in the EventLister.com online store. They are $65 and ground shipping is abt $10, from WA.
Tent Types – Someone urged me to let y’all know about the arched or domed tents available as opposed to the 10x10 pyramids that are so popular. I have yet to find a supplier of them that will let me resell their line or that wishes to advertise with me, and as you can find a supplier in moments on any search engine, I will not single out and mention one here that I have no personal knowledge of.
Rather then being a singe-piece collapsible unit, these domed tents are made up of many pipe segments you need to assemble. The resulting structure is heavier, sturdier, and its arched top prevents rain water from collecting anywhere. Because of the way the top is arched, even when the top material starts to sag w/ age, the sags all still direct water off the top, whereas in a pyramid tent, there is a metal beam perimeter around the top of tent under the edges of the top that allow sags to form pools of water, exacerbating the problem. These tents can run from about $800 - $2000, much more then the collapsible 10x10’s. I usually see them used by artists with paintings or sculpture or other high end items. They are undoubtedly superior in performance, but might take a toll on your pocket and setup/packup time.
One vendor called to tell me that Lowes sells a kit for anchoring things to pavement/concrete. It has a masonry drill bit and 4 anchors that you can screw in and out of the holes you drill. I have no idea how the holes hold up as far as not becoming bigger, but he said it holds his tent down well. I’d like to ask any promoters that have seen this done on their sidewalk, parking lot, etc. to give me feedback about how the holes fare over the years. Vendors, if you do this and have been back to the same spots to see the after results, send me a quick note or call! I know my Church’s grade school parking lot has big top type tents anchored w/ large stakes for a yearly festival and they never became potholes, possibly a road would be different...? Is there even a filler you can use afterwards to make this a non-issue? A tar of some type? If they don’t have a tendency to become potholes, this could be a great anchoring system. Rather then carry 100-200 pounds of weight with you, all you need is a portable drill. Please send me feedback to share!
I’ve mentioned before how I am considering buying many generic street signs in bulk that have an arrow on them and room for you to write the event name and optionally the date and more. I’ve gotten a quote and with the metal wire frame they fold over to go in the ground they would be about $2-$3 each. Think election signs… You’d be able to select how many straight, left, and right arrowed signs you want. Can I please get a show of hands of how many total signs you would DEFINTLY buy within 6 months if I were to do this? I need to know if anyone would want them. I would need to buy about 500 of each type to offer those prices…. If I don’t get enough responses, this idea will end here for now.
Promoters, don’t grow your event too fast! Just because you can get twice as many vendors this year, does not mean you should!!!!! Your customer-base is unlikely to grow by leaps in bounds despite additional advertising you may do, all vendors will loose out in the long run. Please take this into consideration.
Promoters, Mention EventLister.com on your application.
Artists and Crafters, Mention EventLister.com to all promoters or add any events you know of, rate & comment on events, keep track of your event history online (adding to the weekly sales average above), link to us from your site, or use our one line of HTML code to add your listings to your site
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