AniaR
05-02-2013, 05:11 PM
Had an experience I thought I'd share,
A woman was pretty aggressively persuing me to appear at a local event. I skimmed the email for the dates and realized I already have two gigs that day, but from the jest of it, the event sounded neat so I told her I'd see what kind of scheduling I could do. She kept emailing me several times. I finally just got my times confirmed for my other two gigs so I went to write her back so I sat down and read through the email carefully, and all the forms she attached.
In the email, she wanted me to essentially donate my time for 4-6 hours in costume outside dry. She said I'd be an official "sponsor". Sponsors typically get free advertising in any papers they hand out, banners, media, etc. This was not the case, but she still used the word sponsor. Then I come to her attachments. Sponsors MUST provide a door prize, must pay 150$ for their space, must pay a 50$ fee, must NOT tear down from the event before a certain time etc etc etc. I'd pay all this money, provide a door prize, not have MY requirements met (shade, water, place to change, breaks etc) and for what....? "exposure". Well, I am booked solid until October 2013. So I don't need the exposure ;) I simply wrote her back and let her know I was too busy that day with clients who had already paid deposits. Which is true. But still...
I get 100's of emails, I tend to skim through because it takes a huge amount of time to separate the legit booking inquiries from the other stuff. The first thing I look at in legit emails are the dates/times to see if I'm already booked. Since I was already booked I didn't give this one that much thought, but wow was I so shocked when I finally read all that stuff.
Moral of the story? Always read the attachments and fine print. I might of jumped at the chance to get this "exposure" a few years ago, but really.... if you're donating your time and services especially outdoors for a long time- you should not have to pay a darn thing.
A woman was pretty aggressively persuing me to appear at a local event. I skimmed the email for the dates and realized I already have two gigs that day, but from the jest of it, the event sounded neat so I told her I'd see what kind of scheduling I could do. She kept emailing me several times. I finally just got my times confirmed for my other two gigs so I went to write her back so I sat down and read through the email carefully, and all the forms she attached.
In the email, she wanted me to essentially donate my time for 4-6 hours in costume outside dry. She said I'd be an official "sponsor". Sponsors typically get free advertising in any papers they hand out, banners, media, etc. This was not the case, but she still used the word sponsor. Then I come to her attachments. Sponsors MUST provide a door prize, must pay 150$ for their space, must pay a 50$ fee, must NOT tear down from the event before a certain time etc etc etc. I'd pay all this money, provide a door prize, not have MY requirements met (shade, water, place to change, breaks etc) and for what....? "exposure". Well, I am booked solid until October 2013. So I don't need the exposure ;) I simply wrote her back and let her know I was too busy that day with clients who had already paid deposits. Which is true. But still...
I get 100's of emails, I tend to skim through because it takes a huge amount of time to separate the legit booking inquiries from the other stuff. The first thing I look at in legit emails are the dates/times to see if I'm already booked. Since I was already booked I didn't give this one that much thought, but wow was I so shocked when I finally read all that stuff.
Moral of the story? Always read the attachments and fine print. I might of jumped at the chance to get this "exposure" a few years ago, but really.... if you're donating your time and services especially outdoors for a long time- you should not have to pay a darn thing.