Friday, January 7, 2011

The true cost of ACC.

Breaking it down:

Bare bones booth fee: $2095
"Facilities Fee": $65
Required membership in the American Craft Council: $40
Bringing a cargo van or a trailer? "Let" us move that in for you: $300
What do you mean I can't use my own cordless drill? :$80
Electricity: $120
How many electricians does it take to screw in a light bulb? :$120
Wanna tighten your belt? :$45
Are you using your own legs to do that walking? :$100
No, you need to use one of our unionized ballpoint pens: $50
Is that Baltimore Union 486 air you're breathing? Hmmm...$$$
(okay, so maybe I made up those last four...)

I was fortunate enough to know all this going in so it's no surprise to me, but it still hurts a little. Oh labor unions...I will bite my tongue. We are fortunate enough in the south to not get ass raped like this at most of our facilities(pardon my bitter language.) But, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Cheers!

5 comments:

Tracey Broome said...

Dude, I been there! I used to set up showrooms for the furniture markets in Atlanta and San Fransisco, I would have to ask the union if it was ok to piss! Good luck, hope the show is good at least!

cookingwithgas said...

ouch!
Keep us posted- it should not cost 1/2 a body to do a show!

Sandy Miller said...

Yup, totaling up Craft Boston too.
I used to use the formula that the booth fee should 10% of my gross. Not sure I could even that much in my booth, but I do have friends who have done it.

Is there a potters union?

Anonymous said...

Being a beginner in pottery, never have had to deal with it for pottery but was trade show manager for a here unnamed electronics company. J.K. Javitz Center in New York was the worst. I had to carry a pocket full of cash to ensure that my booth set-up went smoothly and that we got packed out without problem. Had a $50K computer workstation "disappear" at that show one year. Guess I pissed someone off.

Brian said...

I was hoping to transiton into the crafts circut with my work, but this makes it sound very expensive and hectic to deal with all that. Maybe Ill just stay in Houston lol.