Why StallSync Isn't an Events Directory

The problem with directories

There are several craft fair directories out there. Some have been going for years, and new ones have popped up recently. They all suffer the same issue: they're trying to move people from where they already are, which is mostly Facebook groups, a list of events in an area, over to a directory, which is just a list of events in an area again. Often it's a nationwide list, which in practice means fewer events near you, not more.

The thing about directories is that they don't fundamentally change anything. You can bolt an application form, a booking flow and payments onto a directory, and some have, but the same routine remains: stallholders trawling through events, applying, waiting, finding out whether they've been accepted, and then going through the rest of the booking. There's a lot of work, a lot of uncertainty and a lot of wasted time in a process like that, and none of it is the part of running a stall anyone enjoys.

What an application form actually is

So, after much thought, I decided to turn the thing on its head. I began with one idea: what if stallholders were invited to events by the event organiser instead?

You see, in reality, the application process, whether it's a paper form or an online one, is really the stallholder telling the event organiser who they are. What they sell, whether they need electric, whether they have a gazebo and can trade outdoors. If the organiser already knows all of this, say through looking at a detailed profile page, then you're actually down to only two questions that still need answering:

1. How far is the stallholder willing to travel to an event?
2. Are they available on the day?

How the matching system works

So I built a system where stallholders fill in their availability and tell StallSync how far they're willing to travel. That's one side of the matching system.

The event organiser inputs the details of their upcoming event, the dates and times, and the venue it's in. Then they open the Matching tab and see stallholders already filtered against those two questions: everyone on the list is within travelling distance of the venue and genuinely free on the day. They shortlist the ones that fit their event and send invitations, and each invitation lands in the stallholder's Event Inbox, where they can read about the event and decide.

No one applied for anything, and no one trawled through a list to get there. You can see how it looks in practice on the features page.

So where are the events?

That's why there's no public-facing list of events on StallSync. A directory isn't needed for connecting stallholders with organisers, and adding one would just rebuild the trawling I set out to remove.

That doesn't mean nothing on StallSync is public, though. Every published event gets its own public page, with the pitch types and prices, the timings, and the venue on a map, and organisers share those pages on Facebook, Instagram or wherever their audience is. If you come across one, you can register your interest straight from the page, before you've even signed up. What StallSync doesn't have is a central list for stallholders to scroll through every evening, because the searching is exactly the job I'm trying to take off you.

What this means if you run a stall

You fill in your profile once, properly. You set the dates you're free and how far you'll travel, and you keep your calendar up to date. From then on, invitations arrive for events you could actually attend, and you decide which ones to take. The setup takes a little thought, and you get out what you put in, but you do it once, not once per event.

StallSync is free for stallholders until you book your first event, whether that takes a week or a year, and we don't take card details up front. If it never finds you an event, you never pay anything. If the invitation model sounds like the right way round to you, create your profile and let organisers start finding you.