lovearts.net - contemporary art shows

It is with much regret that we are announcing the cancellation
of both Manchester & Harrogate Art Shows in 2008.

The decision to cancel has not been taken lightly and is
primarily due to a lack of exhibitor applications.

Clearly any art show is only as good as its exhibitors and although the applicants we received were
of the highest calibre there simply werent enough to make either show viable.

Additionally, the current economic downturn has dramatically reduced the opportunity to secure
sufficient levels of financial backing to successfully market and promote the show in these
difficult economic conditions. Until very recently we were in talks with several possible sponsors
who have unfortunately been forced to withdraw due to the current commercial climate.

After taking on board your many comments from 2007 and implementing the changes
we believed were needed to achieve greater show success
it is with genuine sadness that we make this difficult decision.

Best Regards
The Love Arts Team.

lovearts.net - contemporary art shows

It is with much regret that we are announcing the cancellation
of both Manchester & Harrogate Art Shows in 2008.

The decision to cancel has not been taken lightly and is
primarily due to a lack of exhibitor applications.

Clearly any art show is only as good as its exhibitors and although the applicants we received were
of the highest calibre there simply werent enough to make either show viable.

Additionally, the current economic downturn has dramatically reduced the opportunity to secure
sufficient levels of financial backing to successfully market and promote the show in these
difficult economic conditions. Until very recently we were in talks with several possible sponsors
who have unfortunately been forced to withdraw due to the current commercial climate.

After taking on board your many comments from 2007 and implementing the changes
we believed were needed to achieve greater show success
it is with genuine sadness that we make this difficult decision.

Best Regards
The Love Arts Team.


Love Arts Manchester 2007 Exhibitor Feedback Response - Sat 12Apr08
Dear All Thank you to those who took the time and trouble to either complete our feedback questionnaire or spoke to Steve, Jayne, Teresa or myself personally at Love Arts Manchester in November 2007. Below are a number of bullet points that summarise feedback on the show. The issues concerning the show are pretty much concentrated around 3 key areas, these being: 1. Show Name 2. Website 3. Marketing It is fantastic to see that almost everyone who gave feedback was positive about the show, its future potential and the positive relationships being established and developed between exhibitors and ourselves as organisers. 1 - SHOW NAME - whilst the majority of exhibitors appreciated that we are trying to develop a number of shows across cities within the UK and therefore require an over arching brand name to point potential visitors towards (particularly online) – it was strongly felt that the ‘Manchester Art Show’ name should lead in all forms of marketing, PR and advertising of the show. There is belief that some positive heritage in ‘Manchester Art Show’ as a name remains and by returning it to the forefront of all communications will help to leverage that heritage for future shows. 2 - WEBSITE - a number of points were raised concerning the website these being: o It was a little late in being launched. o At times difficult to access and a little complicated in its functionality. o Some of you found it difficult to download information. 3 MARKETING – although as a business we invested more money in marketing than at any previous Manchester Art Show the effectiveness of the marketing was questioned. A considerable investment in press through negotiating a marketing partnership with the Manchester Evening News was achieved, outdoor media through JC Decaux and street lamp post media were executed, street marketing through the employment of city centre street teams handing out leaflets for the 3 weekends before and including the show was also undertaken. A consumer/trade magazine advertising programme e.g. Art of England Magazine was also executed. Local radio mentions and a competition to win a piece of art to the value of £1,000 was promoted across all media together with a series of PR executions through an independent PR Consultant were also achieved. The marketing was intended to try and create as much general public awareness as our budgets would allow, however, feedback issues concentrated on the following; o Too little too late in terms of listings/what’s on sites o Lack of direct marketing to businesses in the region o Although we made a considerable effort in trying to secure a sponsor this was not achieved and it was felt that would have helped the profile of the show o Securing of a celebrity to open event would have raised profile of the show o There appears to be 2 views and a split decision on the use of a catalogue verses the Z card used at the last event. Some exhibitors felt that a catalogue was more suitable to an art show whilst others liked the style, ease of use and retention potential of the Z card. o It was recognised by a number of exhibitors that targeting serious art buyers is difficult and takes time but more focus must be put on this activity going forward. o The quality of the materials we produced for marketing purposes was recognised as high by most exhibitors. • GENERAL - other points that were mentioned in isolation and therefore not major issues included: o Standard of work by some exhibitors was not seen as high enough quality for a contemporary art show and there was evidence of variation from the rules. o Although the quality and construction of the stands was well liked, a couple of exhibitors had issues with lighting. o Quality of the canteen was an issue for some. o Request for more trolleys for load in and out has been highlighted. Upon reflection and this being our first Art Show we felt that a lot of positives have come out of the event and we have developed many positive relationships with exhibitors, local media and suppliers which will help us to improve on the event and move it forward. We do take your comments seriously and are grateful for your offers of help and support which we will be calling upon in the future. We can confirm that the 2008 shows will be entitled The Manchester & Harrogate Art Shows respectively and that we will only use 'Love Arts' as a promoter title, very much secondary to the show titles. It is clearly important that our marketing attempts to reach as big an audience as possible, however, a genuine focus on targeting businesses, what’s on and listings will be made in readiness for 2008. We immediately began the search for a potential headline sponsor after the show last November. We are pursuing various possibilities currently and hope to be able to make an announcement in the very near future. If you know of any potential sponsors we would, of course, love to hear from you! Work to improve access and use of the website has already begun – but we are sure that you all believe the need for a website is crucial to the future prosperity of our show. I hope you have found this response to your feedback useful and we very much look forward to working with you and supporting you in 2008 and beyond. If anyone has any further comments or would like to discuss the above in more detail please do not hesitate in contacting us … and of course any further pearls of wisdom or useful contacts to exploit are most welcome. Kind Regards, David Andrews Marketing Director

Click for more details
  
Home Manchester Harrogate Exhibitor Contact Visitor Contact Tickets FAQ News