I'm in the middle of my last show of the year and I'm feeling.......screwed and confused. I've never done a show with this promoter before (Metro Management in Illinois) and there were many openings immediately before the date, so I knew there was an element of risk. Setup was confusing and many crafters had their spaces switched, some more than 3 times!! Nobody could find anybody who had done the show before.....it turns out that it was the first time at this location (cities away from previous years). The promoter published that it was the 6th year there. Okay, strike one. The show began, but it was hard to tell because there were NO customers. Now, you can't guarantee a successful show, we all know that. However, the promoter had published expected turnout to be 12000 (how do you do that for a first show?) and "tour buses of eager shoppers" but the only thing that any of us saw were shuttle buses that nobody could find (the few customers that did show up)that dropped off the occasional shopper. Strike 2. In their defense, advertising was done. I saw it, people heard it on the radio and customers had newspaper ads. We were told we had to donate( $40 Plus) to a raffle benefiting a charity......apparently, the charity is registered nowhere, (strike 3)so we took our donation back (my DH is a stickler for donating to reputable charities only, and, having worked at the Red Cross, I am a stickler against fraud). So, of course, vendors were starting to get angry and some of them were leaving and it wasn't even noon, and the show had just started at 10. Then, a lawyer appeared handing out a sheet about the promoter being a convicted felon, with (implied) aliases and fraudulent claims. All hell broke loose. Lots of angry vendors, the police were called, a TV news camera showed up and vendors left in droves. I didn't and still don't know what to believe. If nothing else the promoter has misrepresented the show to attract vendors, but is she guilty of anything else besides betraying crafter trust? In any case, I and about 30 other vendors ( out of 240 or so) decided to stick it out, so I'm going back today. Mostly, I'm concerned about customers showing up and no one is there. Also, I must admit, I just didn't feel like breaking down during another snow storm, especially as my break down is 2 hours. So today will be interesting. What else could happen? Sorry I have rambled on and on......this has never happened to me before and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I would like to investigate the promoter further, but am not quite sure how to go about it. Any ideas? Not so much to convict her of anything, but to avoid any further dealings with her.( apparently, she has done previous craft shows under another name) Altho' I guess know your promoter or someone who does would be good advice to follow. My motto for the day. I'll keep you posted if anything interesting/disturbing/just plain wacko happens today.....