Following Directions; Pain in the Neck or Worth the Effort.

Following directions; pain in the neck or worth the effort?

I hate paperwork.  I hate submitting paperwork but, I love being in shows and being a part of an organization that is focused on my favorite things.  I will admit to being lazy.  I think we have gotten so used to things being simple that we have forgotten the importance of following directions.

When an organization or promoter asks you to do something specific, they have good reasons for it.  Many times, it is because the jurors are doing everything online and they need the images and information to come to them with an organization that helps them keep track of who you are.

Recently, I applied to a show where I had to make sure my pictures were a certain size (dpi) and no bigger than so many pixels on the longest side.  I had to label them a specific way and then; horrors, I had to send three pages of information.  It was as simple as copy and paste but they wanted everything just so.

Why is it so important to follow the instructions?  First of all, many organizations don’t have time to deal with a diva that has crappy follow through and following the instructions proves to them that you aren’t that way.  It shows you care and you are interested in doing things correctly.  Mainly, it is asked for in a specific way so that they can use your information easily when they accept you.  If they have invited 50 artists and they must go through and adjust each bit of paperwork so they can print each one individually and put them together in a specific place; they aren’t going to want to deal with someone who can’t get it right.  They will cut that one artist who messed it up because they already have enough work organizing everything.  If each of the 50 artists who submitted correctly have sent 3 paintings, that alone is 150 pieces of art that needs to be kept track of and handled with care. 

Collectors are going to want to know about each artist and if the paperwork wasn’t done correctly, they won’t find out the wonderful details about you and what you do.  They won’t be able to find you after the show or how to see more of your work.

Following instructions makes it easier for that organization to help you. Keep that in mind the next time you are doing your application.  I try to.