Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Being a Grown-up

-is so over rated!
As you all know, I've been prepping for the El Dorado Hills Art & Wine Affaire that's coming up Mother's Day Weekend. One of the things I've been told is that I need liability insurance, and while I'm glad I was told (I live in a freakishly litigious state, and for some reason it just never occurred to me), the process of tracking down the right kind of insurance is a real time-killer! I spent a couple of hours on that yesterday, when the plan had been to get into the studio first thing!


Additionally, doing the research made me realize that -duh- theft insurance is a must, too. I was reading this post from a gal whose entire trailer was stolen during the big hot air balloon show they hold in New Mexico every year, and it was very sobering. 


And when you post a story like that, everyone comes out of the woodwork to let you know their stories, how bad some hotel chains are about helping you out when your stuff gets ripped off, how FedEx and UPS might be ripping your stuff off, too, and on and on, ad infinitum.


Don't get me wrong; I needed to see this, since I'll be doing more outdoor art fairs in the future, and I suffer from thinking the best of people, while simultaneously not liking them (I'm a complex person. What can I say?). My go-to website, Art Fair Insiders, has been a wealth of all kinds of good information from people who have been selling at art fairs for a number of years, so at least I won't be a complete noob. (I never even thought I would need insurance for my stuff while in transit from my home to a show, but it turns out, I do!)


It just reinforces how shitty people, hotel chains, and lying insurance companies can be. *sigh* Humans are so disappointing, sometimes.


The down side of going to this site is getting sucked in to a couple of the ads. I am now convinced that I must have some of Pedestal Express's product. My current booth furniture takes up too much storage space, taking away from Hallowe'en prop storage, and we all know that therein lies madness. If I could stuff a bunch of lightweight pedestals into a box, and it will make my booth look more legit? That would be just the bee's knees, and worth every penny.


Now, will I actually buy them this year? Probably not. But those pedestals are on the list. A long, ever-growing list. After insurance.


Oh, well.


Have I mentioned how over rated being a grown up is?

6 comments:

  1. Can you get a rider with your current homeowners insurance for festivals? When I was vending in Oregon and Washington at festivals and sci-fi cons we used a now defunct event insurance company. My business stock took over a basement room so I had a policy for inventory and later a rider for shows on the road. Now that I have sold the business we still have an umbrella policy to protect against anyone tripping on our property and going all litigious on us. Mutual of Enumclaw has been very good to us over the years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Should have been born male. Guys get to be immature forever and everyone expects it!

    ReplyDelete
  3. geez, I didn't know about all that stuff either. makes you wonder if it's worth it tho', when the insurance company is going to rip you off anyway....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, to a point. But it's part of running a business, and it's good that I can learn from other people's misfortunes.

      Delete
  4. Reading the artist's story makes you wince. And what's with the hotel not handing over the tape? Awful.

    Those pedestals are pretty cool. I think they'd show off your work very well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You would think that they would have to hand the tape over the the police, wouldn't you? I would sue the daylights out of that hotel chain! Maybe then, they'd change their policies.
      And I love those pedestals! I really need to think about it...

      Delete

In order to protect my readers, I screen all comments. Spammers will immediately have their comments deleted, so please, if you are a spammer, just go away. I will promote your blog or site if I know you, but if not, please accept my invitation to the world.