Achingly ACRE

Cold coffee in the New Orleans skyline mug, "Taking My Business Elsewhere" by Richard Thompson for music. Two-fold reason for the Richard Thompson choice: Tonight he is playing at the Variety Playhouse with Loudon Wainwright and I am going! That's the happy reason. The not-so-happy reason is that I am beginning prep for the ACRE show in Vegas so I read through the exhibitor services manual this morning and was brought to a screeching halt by the following section:



CES, which stands for Champion Electrical Services (our Exhibition Services provider for the show) is driving the bus on these rules--they don't have anything to do with the Las Vegas Convention Center, or the union labor used by the convention center. The critical sections for me are the"Requires labor to install and remove materials: Installation of lighting fixtures, track lights..." (labor is $92 per hour). They do say that "Exhibitors... are allowed to hang up to six (6) single light fixtures on track lights in their booth. This is meant for light fixtures that hang on the back or side wall where the electrical cord drops to the floor and plugs into the power supplied with your booth package." Well, we use 8-10 fixtures per track, and what about extension cords? Do they count as the electrical cord dropping to the floor and plugging into the power supplied? If the tracks are not on the back wall but out a foot from it and the cord goes back to the wall before it drops is that considered "distribution"? What IS distribution? I had better hear back from someone soon about this issue or I may be making other plans for (not) showing in Vegas.

I asked the wholesalecrafts.com staff for clarification on what we would be able to do this year after the show last year when we had such a furor with the electricians (I really wanted to have information before paying for this year's booth if I wasn't going to be able to do the show because of increased electrical charges). I never got an answer, but I signed up and paid anyway. Then I asked again when I saw them at the BMAC in February, I was told someone would get back to me. Then I asked again when they called me about something else the end of February/beginning of March and was told absolutely someone would get back to me... So far there has been a deafeningly silent action in someone-getting-back-to-me.

But let's end the post on a more positive note as I really don't want to think about driving out to Vegas so I can close up shop there and bring my work and display home. Yesterday was Noah's last private lesson in glass studio and I let him pick what he wanted to do. He chose vitrigraph and glass blowing. I need to experiment with the vitrigraph a bit more to get consistent results (flow rate and color), but we ran through 3 lbs of scrap in about an hour and a good time was had by both of us. Then he made a flower and a paperweight with Lee in the hotshop.

This afternoon Jessie's girls scout troop will come back to clean up the front garden at the front of the studio and to plant flowers. We did an exchange back in February--I provided them with all the glass and tools to each make a Valentine's day plate and they are working in the garden to pay for it. I love barter. Now off to get a kiln load in--really!