Tomorrow is the Rockport PTO Holiday Fair and I will be a vendor. It can take some doing to reserve a table at this fair. It's fairly large and well-attended and some folks have been vendor-ing at it over a number of years. The first year I had to settle for half a table just to get a 'foot in the door'. Last year I got my reserve money in early and received an entire table...though not in the best of locations.
This year I was an early reserver once again. I'm not much in the spirit of the season, but I've managed to boost myself into getting prepared..
Today was busy with work and meetings. It was dark by the time I got to loading all my 'gear' into the Rav4 and hauling it all, and mom and 'A' and myself, up to the high school gymnasium to set up. The email that I had received, and the confirmation card that arrived in the mail, said that my payment of $50 and my donation to the raffle of one handmade item ($10 in my case) reserved an 8 foot table. Everyone's confirmations said the same thing.
There's a problem though. The table that I am assigned is only 6 feet. There are 12-6 foot tables. There are at least 34-8 footers, probably more. You better believe that I'll be mentioning this to the 'woman in charge', the woman who took my money, tomorrow (she kinda of disappeared tonight before I had a chance to air my grievance).
I figure it this way. $50 for an 8 foot table equals $6.25 per foot. My 6 foot table should have only cost me $37.50. (Same for the others stuck with those 6-footers) I am renting sales space and I should not have to pay a higher rate for that space than other vendors.
Did my ill-fortune end there? Oh, of course not. After I got back home and had some dinner I needed to go down to my workshop to glue on a set of keytops. This client had reserved the last set of standard off-white keytops available. The supplier no longer stocks them and this was the last set that I had. I can still offer off-white, but in a more expensive set. I got everything lined up ready to go and discovered that there was no A-A. Now to some of you this doesn't mean anything. Let me explain. A-A is the first note at the left end of the keyboard. It is a different shape than any other key and thus within the set of new keytops it is important to have that A-A (as well as a C-C for the right end). Still don't understand? Well, I'll just say that an important part of the set was missing and I can't get any more. Yep, short changed again.
I did make it work. I happened to have some spare off-white keytops accumulated from breaking up a set when a keytop got damaged and I needed a replacement. However, there was no A-A (of course not). I used a C-C (trust me it will be okay). I'll have to trim it to look like A-A and then I'll remove the 'C-C' designation at the back end of the keytop.
My evening has made a cranky me. Tomorrow better be a good one.
3 comments:
Vendorizing is never easy! Here's hoping all your knicknacks, trinkets and assorted gizmos and widgets sell before table size becomes an issue....
At least a C-C can become an A-A with a little work. I always thought piano keyboards were 27 notes too large anyway....
I'm following you Deb. :)
But, I'm surprised that you can't buy loads of A-A (or C-C) key-tops on their own? After all you could make any key-top you wanted from one of these by just making the correct 'cut-out'.
Just asking? :)
Cheers....Bernard.
PS I think tables should be hired on area. So much a square foot of display space. ie an 8'x2' table is smaller than a 6'x3' one. :)
Sharpy...I wish they would all sell, in the first hour, I'm too tired to hang out and be vendor-y for 4.5 hours.
Bernard...can't buy them separately, only in sets, and I can't get the same color anymore anyway.
Post a Comment