The last feature I have not talked about yet is the discussion board.
On the site, there are several forums for members only:
- artists to artists,
- artists to retailers,
- retailers to retailers,
- announcements,
- ACRE,
- and a cool “ask Steve” where you can ask Steve Meltzer questions about photography.
And like all discussion boards, they can be a blessing and a curse.
From my artist point of view, the blessing is that we can discuss with other artists. Help and get help, share information and point of views, stay connected, vent…
The curse is that there are buyers who can access all the boards and judge you for what you ask or say.
The retailers who have access to the “artists to artists” board are those who wear two hats. Artist and gallery owner. But you will find mostly artists over there. Still, beware of the double agents!!
The “artists to retailers” board is like a mine field. Ideally, it could be great to ask feedback from retailers and exchange ideas with them. But in reality, you take the risk to be judged for your questions and your opinions. Beware of this area.
The “retailers to retailers” board is off limit to the artists, unless once again they are wearing two hats. And retailers can be double agents too! Ha!!!
We do know that retailers are using the R-R board to maintain a list of artists to avoid and to work with….
Which is frown upon by the artist community. We are paying good money to be on wholesalecrafts.com and we do not appreciate to have our efforts and reputations ruined by one vindictive buyer who can access the site for free. Let’s not forget that selling our work is our living… and that if a retailer has a problem, the best is to deal directly with the artists before trashing their names.
Something to note: unless this has changed, when you connect as an invited artist to just look around, you cannot access the forums. I do not know why…. maybe they do not want you to see the squelettons in the closet, or bother artists and retailers with questions while you are not member, or both… but this is pure conjecture of my part.
The announcement board is to announce new work, free shipping, clearance, etc… but it is not really visited.
ACRE board is obviously there to discuss about the show. Questions about lightning? hotels? shipping? juts go there and you’ll have answers.
Then you have “ask Steve”. We all know Steve Meltzer. He is a well known arts and crafts photographer, guest writer in many magazines like Art Calendar and the author of the excellent book “Photographing Arts, Crafts and Collectibles”.
Ask any question about photography in this forum and Steve will reply to you directly. And he is fast too!!
Next post will be the last one of the series: wrap up and my personal conclusion based on my own experience (so, take it for what it’s worth!).
A bientôt!
Patricia
