Ringelstetter and Breyfogle spent eight weeks in Florida preparing for their tour. They went back to Wisconsin to readjust over the holidays before heading back down south to kick off their tour lineup. The first show they attended was one of the biggest on their list and they would be showcasing both Ringelstetter’s and Breyfogle’s art. Ringelstetter had participated in this event and done well in the past so the bizarre events that followed were quite the surprise. There were tons of people in attendance but few of them were actually walking into any of the artist’s booths. Atomic7 had approximately ten visitors all day, and it seemed as though the other attendees were doing no better. The second day of the show was canceled due to severe weather but our artists persevered through their frustration and got themselves ready for their next venue.
They were signed up for a boat show that would feature street vendors of all kinds and was sponsored by all of the big names in the industry, according to the event’s social accounts. This was the first time the artists had used their double booth set up to showcase both of their artwork, and they were ready to go. The food trucks had arrived shortly before lunch and it seemed as though everything was set in place, except for one missing thing…
There were no boats. After quite some time of waiting for a crowd, Ringelstetter found the promoters but received vague feedback and so he returned to the booth to stick out the show with Breyfogel, but no one ever came. By Saturday, many of the attendees were growing frustrated, especially the food truck owners who were guaranteed ten thousand people and now were each sitting on enough perishable goods to feed at least five thousand show-goers. They tried to speak with the promoter but it wasn’t long before these conversations turned into heated arguments and law enforcement was called in. The promoter told the truck owners that they could get their money back but they would have to take him to court and the officials gave out the information to do so before escorting the enraged truck owners out of the show.
Outside of this, the promoter had been going around the show all day exclaiming that “the boats are coming!” Almost hourly he would come through with his vapid reassurance, eventually leaving our artists wondering if this man was a lunatic. By midafternoon, the weather reports were forecasting severe storms and Ringelstetter, who had been following the event on social media, noticed that they were pulling down complaint comments from attendees saying they had prepaid for their tickets and were extremely unhappy with the turn out of the show. One of the vendors had called a big name sponsor on the flier for this event and was told that the company knew nothing about it.
At this point Atomic7 decided to pack up. They were one of three remaining booths and as they were loading up the van they were approached by a woman affiliated with the event. She apologized profusely, stating that this promoter had been one of the worst she’d ever worked with as he was unable to hold up his side of the event. She said she only had enough money to afford to pay three vendors back and since they waited out the show she would reimburse Atomic7. The artists accepted the offer and drove to Naples to get settled in for the next few months. They felt defeated, but are still optimistic that the future holds endless opportunities.
Darienne Keniece