Exhibitor types were discussed at the Wednesday board meeting on Feb. 16. From observing members, there was a general expression to keep things simple as far as a plan for exhibitor fees. But, by a vote of 7-3 of non-board members, a 10% sales fee for sellers was favored over a flat fee.

So here is a summary plan for the exhibitor types and fees. When our plan is agreed to by the Exhibitor Jury, we can put some more words around it as necessary for communication and solicitation of exhibitors. Please comment.

Summary Plan for Exhibitor Types and Associated Compensation

Demonstrator

• Fee: No fee charged to exhibit.
• Permissions: Encouraged to demonstrate techniques, skills, services, and products of interest to the maker community. Allowed to distribute promotional materials for post-event profit. Allowed to distribute gift items. May not sell any items or accept payment for products or services during the event.

Seller

• Fee: Fee charged of 10% of gross sales made at the event. Sellers are expected to report event sales on an honor basis and make payment to Twin Cities Maker before leaving the event.
• Permissions: Encouraged to demonstrate techniques, skills, services, and products of interest to the maker community. Allowed to distribute promotional materials for post-event profit. Allowed to distribute gift items. May sell any items or accept payment for products or services during the event.

Sponsor

• Fee: Promotional compensation for Twin Cities Maker negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Sponsors are expected to negotiate a benefit to Twin Cities Maker of goods, services, or monetary exchange, prior to the event. Twin Cities Maker may offer reciprocal benefits as part of the negotiation.
• Permissions: Encouraged to demonstrate techniques, skills, services, and products of interest to the maker community. Allowed to distribute promotional materials for post-event profit. Allowed to distribute gift items. May sell any items or accept payment for products or services during the event.

looks good to me on 1st glance, will mull it over a few hours though.

that pretty much sounds like what the hive mind had in mind.

OK, I'm going to write up communication text around this so that potential applicants can decide how they want to participate.

Wayne what about a blog page? Not a blog post, a static page with the above text on it, and johns email. Can add linky to it from blog post.

-posted via Tapatalk on my G2 running Cyanogenmod 6.1.1.
pardon the brevity and bonus typos

Sounds reasonable. Perhaps Jon didn't see the discussion about an email, but in general - as I stated elsewhere before - I don't think personal email addresses should be used for organization business. If one person is going to be using it, i.e., treasurer@tcmaker.org for business transactions or whatever, fine, but it still should be an organization addrress.

Are these exhibitor types going to be in place for th 2012 Minne-Faire? Last year I created the text memo we sent to exhibtors and I belive it conveyed these exhibitor types. I don't know if the sorting of exhibitors was executed as planned last year though. I can create an electronic form for exhibitors, and will commit to doing it after details are settled.

Wammie

Only in an informal way. In my opinion.

That is I intend to suggest that exhibitors return something if they make something, but not require it.

While the type list was a good idea. We just are not at that point with the event.
We need a lot more traffic then we have shown to justify a formal charge procedure.

Well, there was general agreement last year that the Minne-Faire is an exhibition, not a sales event. I think we should stick to the notion - and make clear to exhibitors - that no sales will be permitted during the event, but that they are absolutely free to distribute business cards and contact informatiion to potential clients if asked. The thought was that we didn't want to have confusion among exhibitors and visitors, where some would think this was a sales opportunity, others remembered that we disallowed sales in the past, and others not knowing sales activity status.

I'VE BEEN RETHINKING THIS. I think "no sales" would be a turn off, and actually exhibitors did make sales in past years. I now suggest the following text for the blog post:
Note: This event is primarily meant as an exhibition and show to generate interest in maker activities. Exhibitors may display and sell some items, but we ask participants to refrain from excessive soliciting. We encourage distribution of business cards and contact information for post-event transactions. If some sales are made during the event, we request sellers to make a small percentage donation to Twin Cities Maker as a reciprocal gesture.

Jude, I've created a draft blog post for the Minne-Faire. I'll PM you with the draft.