Hi! A couple weeks ago I visited the Oasis Gift Show in Phoenix hoping to find out if this was going to be a place where I’d like to exhibit in the future.
In the US, there are only two trade shows dedicated to handmade products: BMAC (twice a year in Philadelphia and Baltimore) and ACRE (once a year in Las Vegas).
I think that Oasis could be another good venue for me. Not only it would allow me to connect with more buyers in the West, especially in Arizona. But it’s also a good and easy deal for me. No travel expenses, 15 minutes drive from home, it could not get any better.
Yes, I know it’s a gift show, with its usual load of imports, but I have been told that Oasis is better for handmade products than the other gift shows. So, I had to look into it… and here I am…
The show is now located in the new University of Phoenix Stadium, aka the home of the Arizona Cardinals NFL football team. This is a great location, easy to find, easy to park, much better than the Civic Plaza in downtown Phoenix. It is not a very welcoming place (too much concrete for my taste) but it’s new, it’s roomy and it’s clean.
Before entering the main floor, there is a separate area call “Gifts 2 Go” which made me run for my life. It was full of trinkets, mostly bad jewelry cheaply made overseas. Very crowded and noisy with bargaining conversations. Did not stay long here. Scratched that as a “definitely not for me” kind of place.
When I checked in with the show management, they told me that the show was mostly Native American, not much of contemporary work. I guess they wanted to prepare me to the shock….
And then they added… there is an area called “Handmade in America”. Just 4 booths, all taken by the same guy, a Native American. But they told me that buyers were asking to bring more exhibitors in this area. Were they trying to bring a sparkle of hope in my eyes?
Now wearing a flashy pink exhibitor badge around my neck, I entered the Artisans Showcase which is the area for handmade products. For the rest… geez, I did not know that even Kachinas dolls could be mass produced in China.
At the opposite of the Gift2Go area, the main floor was spacious, uncrowded and very quiet. My first impression was that it looks nice and upscale. Then, I realized… it is too empty and too quiet… it is scary. Oh, my goodness, where are the buyers?
The exhibits…
As expected, the ubiquitous Indian jewelry… a lot of Indian jewelry… more Indian jewelry… oh, turn around, there is Indian jewelry!
Add to that Kachinas dolls, Indian potteries, Indian blankets, Indian baskets, flutes and feathers and you get the usual Native American handicrafts market.
Most of the exhibit spaces were corners, as they were organized in islands with lots of space to walk around. Maybe in an attempt to hide that the show was mostly empty. Anyway, I thought this was nice.
I did not miss to give a good look at the way the booths were constructed as I am putting mine together for ACRE in May. I am always interested to learn from show business pros. Well, I was not impressed at all by the quality of the booths and displays. Odds and ends everywhere, fringed fabric, plastic boxes, old lightning (I even saw a spotlight that might have been scavenged from a construction site), home made desks covered with coffee cups and food. It looked like I jumped right into a Bruce Baker’s nightmare 
I know I can do better, and I will.
The Handmade in America section…
As indicated, the whole space was occupied by a Native American potter. Although we see those potteries everywhere here, I think they were nicely made. I say “I think” because it was difficult to see them as the area was decorated with flashy polyester red, white and blue drapes that I guess it was not permitted to cover with your own drapes. Not really made to showcase the art….
The exhibitors…
Lots of empty booths, unattended, deserted… some did not even got up this morning as some booths were still blocked with orange netting (not nice for the neighbors, by the way). And the few who were here looked deeply bored and desperate.
The Native Americans looked sad and angry, and quite frankly were giving me “ze bad look”. I do not know if their were angry just at me because I was wearing an exhibitor badge and had the audacity to stop in front of their booth, or if they were angry at the world for bringing down bad economy.
What else did I saw? not much. Exhibitors sitting in the back of their booth, reading, talking on the phone. One guy literally grabbed me from the middle of the aisle into his booth to show me his little boxes in stained glass. “He, look… it’s glaaaass. And look inside… hoooo… a mirror!”. Does he talk to all buyers as if they were stupid or was he just trying to be funny to make boredom and desperation go away? The neighbor next door came to my rescue, telling him “don’t you see she is wearing an exhibitor badge?”. So, the glass guy let me go free, ouff!! I took the opportunity to ask them about buyers and they said they had not seen any so far. Thursday there was a few…
The buyers…
After a while, I finally spotted a couple of them. I found out they were wearing blue badges. So, I started to look better for the blue badge people. They were difficult to find. Maybe an endangered species?
I had absolutely no difficulty walking the aisles, as they are empty. The only people I saw walking around and pushing me out of the way were, like me, wearing pink.
At the time I left the show, I saw more blue badges finding their way in. So, I left hoping they will bring a smile to the exhibitor’s faces.
My conclusion…
I think the show management tried to make efforts for the buyers. I noticed that, upon registration, buyers were given a red envelop with freebies. And the show Buyer’s Guide is beautiful.
I do not want to be harsh, I think this show may be a good venue for certain people. However, I honestly to not see myself over there.
A bientôt!
Patricia
© 2009 – Unleash the Spirit of Glass!
