Market/Fair Demos
 

I am contemplating adding a little demo area in my display to do Glass bead making demos at Markets. I do Farmer Markets weekly and want to draw more attention to my booth.
Has anyone done this? I am thinking that it would help increase sales and traffic.

I would love some feedback.

I demo at every outdoor show we go to. Draws them like moths. i have seen people walk from 100 ft away just to see what is going on. Choose fast to make pieces. No more than 15 min start to finish. Talk while you work, explain the steps and why. Explain annealing and why it is important. You must have a barrier to stop peeps from touching your work surface. I set my table back from the opening in our tent, and use a barrier to stop anyone from getting close enough to touch anything hot.( just high enough that they cant reach over or under) I have seen plexiglass shields around other Lampworkers setup before as well. I also have signs that state "ANY thing on this table will cut or burn, please don't touch"
Make sure you have help to handle sales. When people watch you make something, they often buy one of your pieces. Buyer like telling the story of how they watched one just like this being made. I often have buyers want to buy the piece I just made. After I explain annealing they buy one of my other pieces, or return the next day to get the finished piece. My sales volume triples or better any time I am at the torch.
The down side is sometimes there are so many watcher that they block the area and potential buyers cant see your display. I set up my table in one corner as far away from display as possible.

Thanks for the feedback. What about annealing do you bring a kiln or do you use a fiberblanket. Typically, I don't have access to electricity. I am on my own so I was thinking of just doing small beads and handling sales in between.

You really will need help. You can't do both demoing and selling and something will suffer. People are curious and want to see what's going on. Great marketing if done right.