Tuesday 15 October 2013

Exhibit at Bizarre Bazaar Christmas Craft Festival 2013


One of the most important aspects of our work is creating market access opportunities for craftpreneurs producing exceptional work, but lacking in individual capacity to participate at top notch craft events. Leveraging on the power of numbers, we encourage groups of craftpreneurs to share skills, ideas and resources in achieving their business goals.

In light of this, we would like to invite five [5] craftpreneurs to exhibit at the Craft Afrika tent this November 16-17 for the Bizarre Bazaar craft festival at Karura forest Nairobi.
In partnership with the organizers of the event, we are offering a special discounted rate of 7500Kshs per exhibitor for the 2-day extravaganza.
Included in this offer is a scheduled full day group session on 1November2013 [10-4pm] focusing on any business issues the 5 exhibitors may have - from pricing & costing to display tips & ideas.                                                                                                                                                                                    Are you eligible?
  • We are looking for fresh new designs in any sub-sector and in any medium
  • Your enterprise should have been in existence for three years or less
  • You must be available to sell your own merchandise for both days of the exhibition
  • You must have enough stock for sale
  • You must be a team player                                                                                                                                  Please note...
  •  Deadline for expression of interest is 25October13 at 5pm
  • You are responsible for all your logistical requirements- including transport to and from the venue as well as your display 
  • All monies accrued from your sales are yours to keep
  • Craft Afrika will be responsible for the overall look of the tent and will endeavor to drive foot traffic to the tent
  • Write an email to craft@craftafrika.org with the subject "Exhibit at Bizarre Bazaar". Make sure to include a web link so we can have a look at the products you intend to sell at the fair
  • We will notify successful applicants by 29October13

Friday 4 October 2013

13 Marketing Ideas Before Your Next Craft Event

 The last quarter of the year is a busy one for craftpreneurs. Christmas fairs are aplenty- big and small, churches and charity organizations alike... the pick is yours.
One of the things i have always encouraged is individual responsibility for creating buzz around an event.
Too often, we leave the work of hyping up an event [that we are participating in!] to the organizers.
But what if you were the only exhibitor? Wouldn't you let everyone on your different mailing lists, Face book and Twitter accounts know that you will be there? So imagine a situation where ALL the exhibitors did just that. What kind of numbers would we see walking through to the event?
As much as the organizers put up street banners and send out invitations, i am of the opinion that we would [individually and collectively] enjoy more success if we owned the event, and therefore did more to promote it.
In this article, the author discusses 13 great [and low budget] ideas that take you from passive bystander to active participant at your next event.
Here is a challenge for you- try at least half of them before your next craft fair.
It will make a difference.

 "13 last minute actions to promote an exhibition, event, craft fair, trade show, open studio..."

You have spend all your time preparing for a major event.  You made all your work. Spend ages on the presentation, finding the right plinths, the right lighting.  Been focused entirely on the making and creation of your work.
 And now, a week or on the day (!) of the show, you realize you need to do some quick fix promotion.
Some quick marketing techniques to get those punters in, to get visitors to attend your show, to get people to buy.
You might even be at a show and realize that it is a bit quiet on the visitors front …
This is a quick fix list of promotional activities that you can do – right now!  No costs or very low budget, and crucially very limited time involvement required from you!

For full article click here.