Frequently Asked Questions

SO, HOW DOES THIS WORK?
The Artisan Group™ participates in many high-profile celebrity gift lounges annually, and we want the best-of-the-best to participate with us.

There are many levels of participation for our celebrity gifting events. You can elect to have your product on display at our exhibit, giving you an opportunity to receive a professional celebrity photo with your product. You can also just gift your products in the celebrity swag bags along with your business cards, and forego the display option. Or, you can simply send us your business cards and we’ll include them in our celebrity swag bags.

We also have a Press Bag option available in which you send 10 smaller samples along with your business card which we will distribute to members of the press who visit our exhibit. You can add the Press Bag option to any other level of participation as well.

WHAT GOES ON AT A CELEBRITY GIFT LOUNGE?
Celebrity gifting suites have proven to be an amazing way to get your product directly in the hands of celebrities and members of the press. Prior to most major awards shows, hosting companies produce luxury gifting suites in honor of the nominees and presenters. Sponsors set up their exhibits with their products on display, and the celebrities are escorted around to each exhibit to hear a little about the sponsor, to receive a gift, and to pose for professional photographs holding the product.

DOES IT COST ANY MONEY TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ARTISAN GROUP?
At the moment, membership in The Artisan Group is free.

WHY IS THERE AN APPLICATION PROCESS TO JOIN THE ARTISAN GROUP?
Good question. We require all prospective members to complete an application because we made a commitment to the celebrity hosting companies we work with that we would ensure all participant products are a good fit for their high-profile luxury gifting events.

ARE THERE ANY TYPES OF ARTISANS THAT YOU CANNOT REPRESENT?
For legal reasons, we cannot accept any edible gifts for the celebrities. We're also unable to represent event planners or wedding planners, party supply businesses, tee-shirt vendors, or photographers that only offer local portrait services.

WHAT ARE THE MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS OF THE ARTISAN GROUP?
There are many benefits to aligning your business with The Artisan Group. For starters, we have fostered great relationships with many celebrities, the celebrity hosting group, business organizations, and members of the press so we are able to align our members and their products with the best fit in order to achieve greater success.

Just being a part of The Artisan Group has opened many new doors for our members.

Benefits of general membership include:

• Opportunity to get your product in the hands of celebrities and members of the press at high-profile celebrity awards gift lounge events.
• Opportunity to cross-promote and network with hundreds of like-minded small business artisans.
• Opportunity to contribute to special celebrity gift bags, as well as the numerous charity events we sponsor annually.
• Inclusion in our highly-publicized, categorized Pinterest Boards.
• Inclusion in our tweets, re-tweets, blog entries, and Facebook shoutouts  (over 3,000 Twitter followers; over 5,000 Facebook followers).
• Guidance in social media practices, public relations (including giveaways, contests, etc.), and increasing sales.
• Our exclusive Member Badge which our members can prominently display on their blogs, shoppes, Facebook, etc.

All event participants receive:

• Complimentary inclusion in our professionally-designed and printed Official Event Guide, distributed to all attending celebrities and members of the press. An online version is also included in all professionally-distributed press releases.
• Mentions in our official professionally written and distributed press releases, including a link to your online shoppe.
• Access to our Sample Press Release templates to help garner local press for your business, and overall publicity for your online shoppe.

CAN I JOIN THE ARTISAN GROUP EVEN IF I DON'T HAVE AN ONLINE SHOPPE?
Unfortunately, no. It would be difficult to market you without an online presence somewhere, i.e., Etsy, Artfire, Big Cartel, your own website, etc.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO PARTICIPATE IN A CELEBRITY GIFTING EVENT?
Here's a simple breakdown of our typical participation levels, and associated costs:

WOW, 100 ITEMS WOULD BE TOUGH FOR ME TO GIFT... DO YOU HAVE ANY OPPORTUNITIES TO GIFT SMALLER QUANTITIES?
Yes, absolutely! Our group also participates in other celebrity gifting opportunities where we each provide 30 gifts in honor of Earth Day and Mother's Day. All gifts are sorted and added to our official swag bags, and then gifted to A-list celebrities such as Beyonce, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Garner, Kourtney Kardashian, Tom Hanks, and Ellen Degeneres, to name a few. These smaller gifting opportunities do not include the possibility of a celebrity photo, but take a peek at a photo of Jessica Alba's daughter wearing one of the gifts we've sent.

DOES YOUR GROUP GIFT ANY TELEVISION SHOWS, OR HAVE YOUR MEMBER'S PRODUCTS BEEN SEEN ON TV?
Yes, absolutely! We often set up opportunities for our members where they can send one of their popular products to be considered for use by a television stylist on hit TV shows. Our member's products have been recently been spotted on the hit TV shows Dexter, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries!

WHY DOES THIS COST MONEY?
Good question. The Artisan Group pays the celebrity hosting group thousands of dollars to reserve our exhibit space in order to display our member's products. One individual person (or brand) typically can't afford this steep price alone, so we started this group as a means for many individual small-business artisans to band together and each pay a small portion so we all have the opportunity to get our art/products in the hands of celebrities and press.

I CAN'T AFFORD TO PARTICIPATE IN AN EVENT RIGHT NOW... CAN I STILL JOIN THE GROUP?
Absolutely! We understand not everyone can participate in every event. We have many different participation levels, sure to fit any budget. And, if you can't participate right now, there's always the next event!

IF I GIFT THE CELEBRITIES, HOW MANY PRODUCTS WOULD I NEED TO PROVIDE?
For the award-show gift lounge opportunities, participation in in the Display/Swag Bag Gifting option, you'll be responsible for providing 100 individually-packaged samples of your product or pieces of your art. These items can be hand-crafted jewelry, stationery packs, small candles, cosmetics, journals, or any hand-crafted item you happen to specialize in.

You'll also need a product to put on display at our designated Gift Lounge exhibit. Your display doesn't necessarily have to be the same product you've included in the gift bags. We do limit display participants to ONE display product, but if your products are small in size, you may send 2-3 small pieces to serve as a collection.

DO I NEED TO SEND A GIFT FOR EACH CELEBRITY SWAG BAG?
Yes.

HOW QUICKLY WOULD I NEED TO PROVIDE MY CELEBRITY GIFTS?
Our members handcraft high-quality products, and we know this takes time. We typically begin organizing an event 4-5 months in advance, and we're meticulously organized, so we'll help keep you on track of all your deliverables.

WILL I NEED TO ACTUALLY ATTEND THE EVENT?
No, The Artisan Group’s representatives will attend the event on your behalf and represent you and your brand.

HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHAT TO TELL THE ATTENDING CELEBRITIES AND MEMBERS OF THE PRESS ABOUT ME AND MY PRODUCTS?
Great question! We ask each of our participating display members to supply us with a bio about their business and their products. The Artisan Group publishes an exclusive professionally-designed and printed full-color Official Event Guide booklet to distribute to all attending celebrities and members of the press. This Guide is a listing of all our participating members, and includes photographs of each display item, and your shoppe URL. We also publish an online version of our Guide, which is attached to our professionally-distributed press releases. This service is provided to all participating members at no additional cost.

IF I PARTICIPATE, AM I GUARANTEED TO GET A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPH WITH A CELEBRITY HOLDING MY PRODUCT?
There are no guarantees we'll be able to get a celebrity photo for you. We cannot predict how receptive the celebrities will be, or if they are under any contract limitations that won’t allow them to be photographed with products. However, our reps are highly experienced in these events, and have been very successful in the past in getting many celebrities to pose with products. Our goal is to get at least one photograph for each artist, but again, there are no guarantees.

DO YOU EVER GET FEEDBACK FROM THE CELEBRITIES YOU GIFT AT THESE EVENTS?
Yes! Since we carefully select our members, we know the quality of gifts they provide to the celebrities will be a big hit. The celebrities love us and publicly tweet about the goodies they receive in their swag bags. We've had celebrities wear jewelry we gifted them on their TV shows and celebrities have personally contacted our members after events to make additional purchases!

I'M ALREADY A MEMBER OF ANOTHER CELEBRITY GIFTING ORGANIZATION, AND/OR I PLAN ON PARTICIPATING IN ON-SITE CELEBRITY GIFT LOUNGES WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. CAN I STILL JOIN THE ARTISAN GROUP, TOO?
No, unfortunately this would be a significant conflict of interest. In order to be a member of TAG, you cannot have any current or future affiliations with any other celebrity gifting organizations. Further, as long as you are a member of The Artisan Group, you affirm that you will not participate in any other celebrity gifting events either on your own, or with another group. To do so would cause a conflict of interest with The Artisan Group.

DOES THE ARTISAN GROUP EVER PARTICIPATE IN ANY CHARITABLE GIFTING?
Yes! The Artisan Group donates to many worthy charities every year, targeting the aid of children, animals, and the environment. Our mission is to help create awareness and to raise funds for many valuable ongoing programs.

Our members generously donate products from their shoppes, and we as a group then donate our exclusive swag bags full of handcrafted products, valued at over $800, to these charities to auction off during their fundraising efforts.

We have participated in annual fundraising events hosted by such charities as Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area, The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin, Summit Animal Rescue Association (SARA), and The National MS Society.

DO YOU HAVE ANY REFERENCES FROM CURRENT MEMBERS?
Yes! Our members greatly appreciate all the support and guidance we offer in the areas of improving sales, marketing, social media, and public relations. You can read our Member Testimonials on our blog.