They must have found enough gullible artists in Boston last time around because RawArtists.org has judged it worth while to make another visit. More spam from these creeps just landed in my inbox. As with all their spam, it contains an invisible 1 pixel web bug — these guys just exude class, don’t they?
It seems the "Herbalife of Arts Organizations" is back and having another bash on October 19.
In case you’re not up to speed on this outfit (see my earlier post) it’s a “pay to play” scheme, advertised by spam email, but with an interesting variation. You get to exhibit your work at a big party with bands. You just have to persuade your friends to buy tickets to the event. If you don’t sell a certain number of tickets you have to make up the value of the shortfall yourself. So it only costs you money if you can’t trick enough of your friends into going. But either way, someone pays for you to participate and it’s not the event organizers!
The organizer (Raw Artists) makes money. The venue rented out for the event makes money. You? Not so much. The bands performing at the event are also on their own dime. Promotion? As far as I can tell that’s D.I.Y. as well — other than the spam I received in June, I saw absolutely no promotion anywhere in Boston for the previous event. I’d guess the participants are the only ones attending, so if you’re planning to promote your art or your band to outsiders — ostensibly the whole point of this exercise — you can forget it.
Well, school’s underway and I’m teaching two courses this semester. I’ll be warning my students (and all the other faculty in the Art & Graphic Design Department) about this scam.
Further reading:
