ACC Show Grows in Scope, Not Size

"We are consolidating, not expanding. For several years, we've had additional booths located on the upper levels of the convention center and in the Hyatt Hotel. What we're doing in Baltimore in 1998 is bringing those booth spaces to the main level, along with the food service and sitting area. The only thing we're increasing is the number of cross aisles. These changes, not more booths, will take up additional space on the main level. We're not increasing the number of exhibitors."

Consolidating all the booth space to one location makes sense. It is also a response to buyers' complaints. "People have complained bitterly that they've had to traipse all over the place to visit all the booths," says Monroe.

Another convenience wholesale buyers will find in 1998 is an increase in the number of wholesale days from two to three for all mediums. This change is taking place to accommodate wholesale buyers, many of whom, says Monroe, have complained that two days does not give them enough time to work in a meaningful way with the craftspeople. All their time, say several buyers, has been spent with existing accounts, leaving no time to find new artists.

While the increase in the number of wholesale days is designed to appease the buyers, it has raised concern among some exhibitors. (Note: At the Baltimore show, exhibitors can exhibit during the retail days only or during the wholesale days only, or both.) During the retail portion of this year's Baltimore show, 564 out of 650 exhibitors responded to a survey generated by an exhibitor questioning their interest in a third day of wholesale. Nearly 80 percent, or 425 exhibitors, said they would prefer not to have a third day of wholesale. One hundred thirty exhibitors responded in favor of an additional wholesale day, and seven had no preference. A majority of fiber artists and jewelers, who have traditionally had 2.5 or three days of wholesale, wanted to keep the same number of days, but artists in other media who have always had two days to wholesale their work said they did not believe there would be enough business to warrant the additional day.

The aisles "seem empty on the afternoon of the second day of wholesale," several exhibitors commented, although the ACC contends that doesn't mean people aren't generating a lot of business at that time.

Joe Sedeski, exhibitor and board member of American Craft Enterprises (ACE, the show's organizer), questions the validity of the survey because it was taken on retail days, when wholesale-only exhibitors were not there.

Floor plan of the expanded convention center.

At ACC's board meeting in Atlanta this year, exhibitor and ACC board member Deborah Papthanasiou spoke in favor of extending the wholesale days. "After doing the Columbus wholesale show last year, I experienced firsthand the advantage of spreading out the buying time. It gave me more quality time to talk to buyers, re- establish contact with old accounts and explain new work. My buyers also felt that I had given them quality time, and it paid off for me in more and larger orders."

Many craftspeople believe an additional wholesale day would cause economic hardships for the small studio craftsperson, in both lodging expenses and the hiring of a person to man the booth. The wholesale expansion, they believe, fosters the manufacturing end of the crafts industry. The individual studio artists are being given a back seat, say several craftspeople.

Sedeski disagrees. "Decisions are not made in a vacuum, nor are they made to hurt artists, buyers or the industry. If an issue is touchy, it evokes a passionate response. If someone believes having to be at a show for an additional day creates additional expenses, I can understand why someone would be concerned about that change.

"Arriving at a decision is a complex matter, and many decisions are often arrived at over a period of years," Sedeski continues. "The decision to increase the wholesale days was based on a comparison of the number of hours of other major shows. We realized we had fewer shopping hours and had to consider what impact that would have on a buyer's decision to visit our show," he explains.

"When Baltimore began, it was a seller's marketplace and stayed that way for 10 to 15 years," Sedeski adds. "Whatever we made, we could sell. Then it became a buyer's market."

"It's difficult to achieve balance between the wishes of the exhibitors and those of the buyers, but we need to accommodate the wholesale buyers," reiterates Monroe.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The 1998 ACC Baltimore show runs Feb. 17-22. The application deadline is Sept. 12. Contact the ACC at: 21 S. Eltings Corner Rd. Highland, NY 12528; (800) 836-3470; fax: (914) 883-6130

Robert Levine, who has participated in ACC Baltimore on and off since its inception, believes the exhibitors' concerns are totally misplaced. "Baltimore is a very easy show to do. It attracts lots of stores and galleries and is an opportunity for the artists. It's part of the maturing of the craftsperson to be there and make their business succeed," he states.

Will the additional wholesale day take business away from Buyers Market of American Craft in Philadelphia? That show's producer, Wendy Rosen, thinks not. "I don't see any impact on my show. Our goal has been to make buying efficient and easy. We do that by separating out media and providing buyers with descriptive material in the program. In February we'll have an indexing system that will help buyers spend their time even more effectively."

The paradox for ACC is in keeping the number of booths they have had and working with the Baltimore Convention Center, which, according to Convention Center Director Peggy Daidakis, is looking at the potential of having ACC grow and fill the entire space.

The ACC show is a very important part of the Baltimore community, according to Daidakis. In fact, she says people call the convention center in the summer to remind themselves when the show is taking place.

"ACC has been a solid mainstay in Baltimore, and we're very interested in doing everything we can to make the show grow for them and for us," says Daidakis. "This year it expanded into the new space, and we're going to accommodate them in 1998 with more space again. I'm not sure when it gets to a point when it's too big. That's for the show management to determine."

The Baltimore Convention Center was expanded to bring more business and more people into the city. Baltimore needed the additional space to remain competitive with other convention cities. The center was losing its market share because of its size, and the city was losing income from visitors.

The trend pointed toward the convention center's need for more space or more meeting rooms. Conventions themselves were growing from one- and two-exhibit-hall events to three-, four- and five-hall events. "We could no longer accommodate repeat customers because they needed more space," explains Daidakis. "Until the expansion, the convention center could run only one show at a time. We've built the center in such a way that we can host more than one event at one time. Anything we can do to rent every square foot of this space is beneficial to us, but is it quality at that point?" asks Daidakis.

"We have a very good relationship with the convention center and believe they wouldn't ask us to do anything that would not be good for the show," says ACE Director Joanne Browne.

ACC has earned the respect of the center, according to Daidakis. "We want to give them the courtesy of working with them first and then entertaining other groups, some of whom might not need exhibitor space, but suites," says Daidakis. "We're honored to be one of the few cities in which an ACC show is held, and we want to do what we can to provide the right venue for them to succeed."

What that venue will be in the future is unknown. But, speaking for the ACC's current board, Browne reiterates Monroe's statement that there are no plans to increase the number of booths. "We're quite happy with the size of the show," says Browne. "The wholesale has ranged from 1,100 to 1,300 exhibitors over the years. The retail portion of the show, with between 600 and 650 booths, is the size the public can comfortably deal with."

Loretta Radeschi is a Doylestown, Pa.-based freelance writer. She is the author of This Business of Glass.