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2010 ARTIST UPDATE LETTERS:

March 29

With about 4 weeks to go, things are moving quickly now for the show. I am still working on a lot of promotional ideas for the show and in the first week of May we will begin the distribution of the posters and rack cards throughout Denver. We have an half-page ad in the May issue of Denver Magazine and will have the full cover for the May issue of Downtown Denver News. There will be 70 five foot banners on the lamp posts along the 16th Street Mall for 2 weeks leading up to the show. We will be sending you a PDF image to send out to your email lists in the coming week. Many more promotions are being done so stay tuned….

I have a lot of important items to cover in this email so please read all of it.

Check out the updates on the website:
http://www.DowntownDenverArtsFestival.com -
Also, please put a link from your websites to the show site. This will help a lot with the search engines moving the site to the top. Thanks.

*For artists needing canopies to rent, please contact me ASAP so I can get those for you.
Also, I have one set of display (ProPanels) panels left to rent.

Let’s talk about booths. Booth appearance is important for a number of reasons. Your personal success will be influenced by how your booth looks. The public (and the press) judges the show in general not only by the best we have to offer, but also by the lowest denominator. Plus you will be judged at the show for a possible pre-acceptance into the 2011 Festival. Not only will your art be a deciding factor, but also the presentation of your booth (front and back). We have had problems in the past with how the storage looked behind the booths and since we are the invited guests of the Pavilions, we need to respect their ‘house’. If you have questions about this, please email me.

I will have more on this issue later but I did want to ask that you keep these ideas in mind when thinking about how your display will be done at this show. I have acquired free parking for most of the vehicles and they will be close enough to your booths that you can access them during the show to get more inventory.

Hotel Update: The Crowne Plaza had a special rate if you mentioned DDAF of $79 but it seems that rate may only be available for a couple of the nights. Check with them since it seems to change daily. An artist just got an $89 rate (AAA rate) at the Comfort Inn (next to the Brown Palace).

More news is coming soon but I think this is enough to digest for today. Please contact me with any questions – 303-330-8237 or email me.

I’m very excited about the show and am very impressed with the quality of the art. This should be a very impressive arts festival thanks to all of you.

May 8

Less than 21 days to go and I just wanted to touch base and give you a few updates. First of all, I have created a web page that has all of the letters that I have sent out so if you need to refer back to any letter you can go to this link:

http://www.downtowndenverartsfestival.com/artistsupdates.html

This is a hidden page on the site so you must keep this link to access the page in the future.


NOW THE REALLY IMPORTANT INFO:

I have a few items to cover with you today that are important so please read everything.

BOOTHS:If you have electric please make sure you have a 3-prong, 100 ft. extension cord with you and a power strip. Please note that the Pavilions do not want duct tape used on their sidewalks. Only gaffer’s tape is allowed. We will have that tape at the show.

Let’s talk about booths. Booth appearance is important for a number of reasons. Your personal success will be influenced by how your booth looks. The public (and the press) judge the show in general not only by the best we have to offer, but also by the lowest denominator. Keep in mind that you will be judged at the show for a possible pre-acceptance into the 2010 Festival. Not only will your art be a deciding factor, but also the presentation of your booth (front and back). We have had problems in the past with how the storage looked behind the booths and since we are the invited guests of the Pavilions, we need to respect their ‘house’. If you have questions about this, please email me.

PARKING: ARTISTS’ PARKING WILL BE IN THE TWO UPPER LOTS. There will be NO free parking downstairs at the Pavilions. You can park there but you will need to pay. The lot at 15th and Tremont will be for artists as well as the lot where the big tent is (15th and Welton). Please park smart and make sure you are not taking up more space than you need so we can get everyone in. Plus, if you are parking there for the weekend and not moving it, please tuck it back in a corner and leave the easier spots for the artists that come and go every day. Also, check the meters since most will be free on Sunday and Monday (Holiday). Please put your yellow windshield sign (in your packets) on your dashboard so we can locate you if we need to move a vehicle. You will want to get in during your set up time and empty your vehicle quickly so that you can get a good parking spot.

SET-UP: We cannot close the street before 6AM on Friday, May 28 but if you want to come earlier than that and drop your work onto the sidewalk by your booth and then park your vehicle, that would be helpful. (This is also really smart to get in early before the streets get jammed) I need you to contact me if you are willing to show up between 4 and 6 AM to do that.  (I’m actually on site at 3:30AM if you are as crazy as me, show up then!) If you have an oversized vehicle or trailer please call me to discuss options. Otherwise, the set up schedule will be as follows:

BOOTHS 48-77– Enter Glenarm at 17th Street starting at 6:30AM. If there is room to pull up to your space you may do that. If not, the West side of the street is closed from 1600 Glenarm (tall building) to 17th and there are no booths there. You can pull head first into the curb and unload and dolly to your booth. Please exit on 17th Street. We will have volunteers down there to point you in the right direction. Again, everyone needs to unload and move their vehicles immediately to keep things running smoothly and to be considerate of your neighbors.

BOOTHS 126 -148 –(BIG TENT)– The tent will be ready by 5AM. Enter the parking lot on 15th Street and park as close as you can and unload and dolly into the tent. No canopies allowed in the tent and there will be curtains hung between the booths. Unlike the street booths, you will have about 3 feet of storage behind your booth (plus your vehicle will most likely be right outside.).

BOOTHS 17-35 AND 90-111 - THE COURTYARDS -  DUE TO A NEW CONCRETE BARRIER IN THE MIDDLE OF GLENARM YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PARK AT GLENARM & THE COURTYARDS.

Because you won’t need the street closed to set up your booths, volunteering to come before 6AM is smart. Another option for you is to park right away in the downstairs parking garage and bring your work up in the elevators. (you will have to pay for parking while in the downstairs lot.)
Booths 27 – 35 and 100 – 109 enter Glenarm from 15th Street at 6:00AM. You will be need to drive into the alley on the side where your booth is to load through the hallways of the Pavilions. It is a shorter route but let us know when you show up if your work is large.
Booths 17-26 and 90-99 enter Glenarm from 15th Street at 8:00 AM. (See the above instructions for the alleys). Empty your work out to the Courtyards and move your vehicle to parking ASAP.

BOOTHS 1-16, 36-47, 78-89 & 112-125

* ALL BOOTHS AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE COURTYARDS WILL HAVE VERY LIMITED PARKING SPACE SO ARRIVING BEFORE 6AM IS RECOMMENDED.
Even numbers enter Glenarm from 15th Street at 6:00AM, unload your work and move your vehicles.
Odd numbers enter Glenarm from 15th Street at 8:30AM, unload your work and move your vehicles.

ALL ARTISTS:Your load in time is the earliest you can get into the site. You can come later but you may have to wait for an opening. If you wish to park off site and dolly in, you can do that at anytime. No vehicles are allowed to be parked on the sidewalks or on the 16th Street Mall. Vehicles need to be out of the street by 1PM. When unloading your vehicle, make sure you are pulled over to the side far enough that there is an open lane down the middle of the street. This load-in can be a bit tough at times so please make sure you have packed your manners in the van. Let’s play nice with our neighbors!

Everything is going very well and coming together for the festival. The posters and rack cards have been distributed throughout Denver, our print ads have begun and the PR program is in full gear for the festival week. Also, I will be sending you a PDF image to include into your own emails to your clients. I’ll have more on all of this later.

As always, thanks for your support of the festival this year. It should be an exciting event for everyone. Please contact me with any questions or suggestions. 303-330-8237.

May 11

Here are a few more updates (I didn’t want to overwhelm you the other day and add this to the set up info).

Our Check-in table will be in front of Jerry's Wine and Tobacco store at the intersection of Glenarm and the Courtyards.

Since some of you were not able to access the page on the website that has all of the artist letters for this year, I have made the photo of the crowd on the homepage a link to that page. Just click on the photo to access the letters. I have also added at the top of that page a PDF download that you can attach to your emails to your clients. (I will also attach it to this email but in case the attachment doesn’t work you can access it there.)

We have a new sponsor this year that will be helpful to a lot of you. FastFrames of Lodo will be around to give you 20% off coupons for your customers. They do great custom framing (their framer has 30 years experience) and you will be able to give a ‘thank you’ to your customers who may be buying your unframed work.

Due to changes to the Pavilions property, some of you (on Glenarm between 15^th and 16^th) will now have bike racks or street signs, etc. behind your booths that have not been there in the past. Please be ready to be flexible about these new obstructions. If we can move them, we will, but most of them are permanent.

Again, this year you will find a menu for Jimmy John’s sub shop in your check in packet. They are just a block away and you can call ahead with your order or they will deliver to your booth (have a good description of where your booth is since booth numbers mean nothing to them!)

May 19

I will have a final info letter next week right before the show but I do have a few items that you might need to know ahead of time.

SECURITY: We have a security team that will patrol the festival during the hours that the festival is closed. That said, I would still recommend that you take precautions to secure your booth. The simplest measure is to cable tie your booths zippers overnight (we will cable tie the big tent each night).

PETS: Pets are not allowed on the Pavilions property and it is also a good idea not to have them even if your booth is not directly on their property.

BOOTH SHOTS: Some of you have contacted me about using me to take a booth shot at the festival. Please let me know if you are interested in employing my services.

EMAIL UPDATES: Remember that to review all of the emails sent to you so far, just go to the website and click on the large festival photo on the homepage.

All of our promotions are kicking into high gear this week and next. We are expecting larger crowds this year due to our efforts and the other events going on downtown that weekend.