Worst Art Market Experience Ever
Excessive heat with only one ceiling fan shared between two booths? Check.
Dirty table? Check.
Having to sit in front of my booth, rather than behind, to avoid direct sunlight in the morning? Check.
Low footfall? Check.
Weird tourists who decided to take my stools, move them to sit in front of my booth and block my goods, then reposition my fan to blow at themselves while politely telling me it's okay, they’re not interested in buying anything? Check.
But you know what? Those things weren’t what made this market the worst. After all, some of these things were beyond the control of both the organiser and the venue. So what went wrong?
Whenever I sign up for a booth I look for these things:
- Marketing by the organiser
- An environment that encourages visitors and/or spending
- Responsiveness
Let’s look at these elements one by one.
Marketing
The organiser had done several IG posts on the event, both before and during. However, the posts went up rather late and no opinion leaders or media were invited at all. The event wasn’t featured anywhere except the organiser’s social media, but could have been marketed as an activity for people to do during the weekend.
A conducive environment that encourages visitors
Here is where things go badly wrong. This was marketed as an Easter event. So I should see something to do with Easter, right? Easter eggs? Rabbits? Nothing. No fairy lights, no decor, no music (which would not be possible since there weren’t even organiser staff present). I even found out that it was the venue staff who made the signs and placed them around the location. It was also the venue staff who put up the tentage and installed the fans at their own cost. The organiser provided us with a table and two stools per booth. That was the extent of their effort. It was the makers themselves who were playing music to try and liven up the non-existent atmosphere. Also, failing to ensure that vendors do not leave early results in the market area looking like a ghost town for those who had every intention of staying until the end.
Responsiveness
Emails responses were either very slow or non-existent. And I can say with confidence that we were left to fend for ourselves once the event commenced, since the terms and conditions (which I only got a couple of days before the start of the event and long after I had signed up) stated that we would have to pay $50 if we required organiser staff to be on site to assist with anything. How on earth does someone organise an event, lease out space to makers and then demand a payment to be on site to help with anything? There’s laziness, and then there’s a complete absence of effort. This is the latter.
Conclusion
So let’s combine the above with other things I learnt during the three days I was there.
My biggest problem with the organiser is that they were contracted by a major company to run an event while performing minimal and ineffective support just to say they ticked the boxes (although the company liaison said that many boxes were not even ticked at all). Meanwhile, they also collected rent from vendors, earning both ways. According to our dialogue with the company liaison, vendors being present and operational during the event hours was a key requirement which the organiser said wouldn't be a problem. However, the organiser encouraged vendor operation not through creating a festive atmosphere that would attract footfall and hopefully generate sales, but by threatening a fine of $100 for non-compliance in any way. In fact, a festive atmosphere would have been impossible given that the organiser actually expected vendors to pay $50 if they wanted staff present to assist with anything. And these terms were only communicated long after vendors paid the rental fee.
It is already hard enough to be a creative in Singapore. An organiser who so blatantly puts their own needs first ahead of their vendors and who seeks only to take from, but not contribute to, the creative community is just demonstrating parasitic behaviour. It is one thing for event attendance to be low because crowds were somewhere else or just not interested in going out. It is another for an organiser to be so blatantly low-effort. I have boothed at events that were run by organisers who obviously put in effort, even if footfall wasn't the best. This one wasn’t just off the mark, there wasn’t even an attempt to try. I will do everything in my power to never work with this organiser again.
