Art Licensing: A Very Successful 2012 Surtex Show!

When looking at the above promo video of the 2012 Surtex Show, you do not see many overly crowded aisles of manufacturers looking at art. From what I remember about the 2011 show, the traffic was much less than this year.  Although not all exhibitors have the same impression. According to Surtex management attendance was up 32% from last year.

But no matter if attendance was up or not, it did not matter because art directors were definitely looking at art to license and they knew what they wanted. Exhibitors reported that there was a steady stream of traffic looking not only at the art on the booth walls but flipping through binders and iPads, and requesting images be sent for licensing consideration. On Linkedin's Art of Licensing group page, exhibitors said that art director's showed up for their appointments (not always the case) and that they visited the booths at the back of the showroom (not always the case). Several licensors even reported that some art directors were ready to sign contracts at the show instead of the normal wait time of months. Another licensor said that she had art directors follow-up with her before she even had a chance to do any follow-ups. No wonder blog articles describing the show had adjectives such as amazing and fabulous! If the positive response exhibitors experienced at Surtex is any indication, this should be a great year in licensing art.

Many blog articles about 2012 Surtex and National Stationery Show have already been posted online. And, I am sure more will soon appear. Below are a slew of posts that I found including two very informative ones including notes on what the artists learned while attending the excellent conferences at Surtex. This year Surtex again offered a whopping ten conferences by licensing experts who volunteered their knowledge and time. Also listed are exhibitors describing their Surtex experience, and artists walking the show describing their impressions and the trends they saw.

Conference Notes
• Natalie Timmons "Surtex Conference Recap"

• Shelley Brown "Surtex: a learning experience"

Attendees walking the shows
• Liz Sacks consultant for artists and branding managers "2012 Surtex/Stationery Show Recap"

• Louis Gale "An afternoon at Surtex: Selling & Licensing Original Art & Design Show in New York City"

• Marilyn MacGregor " Trending towards the Warm - Surtex and Letterpress Printing"

• Shell Rummel "Impressions from Surtex & National Stationery Show -"

Exhibitors
• Beverly Dyer "Surtex 2012 New York City!!"

• Carol Van Zandt "Surtex 2012 It was a good one!"

• Jen Griggs Sebastian "Surtex 2012 was Amazing"

• Jim Marcotte agent for Two Town Studios "Surtex: the Good, the Bad"

• John Chester agent for Wild Apple "Surtex Report"

• Kathy Weller "Another Surtex in the books"

• Sharon Sowell "My art goes to the Big City"

• Ronnie Walter artist/agent for Two Town Studios "Back from the fabulous Surtex"

• Tara Reed "Surtex 2012 - adventures, impressions and more"

• Vita Mechachonis "Surtex 2012 recap"

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