Eli Broad is calmly cruising the fair. Casually, in a yellow cotton pullover, khakis and boat shoes,

Opening night preview reception at a recent SOFA Chicago.

hands in his pockets, he moves from booth to booth, without any of the urgency you might expect from the world’s top contemporary collector. But at the moment, his competitors are few—those invited to Art Basel Miami Beach’s First Choice.

First Choice is from noon to 2 p.m., before Preview, from 2 to 5 p.m., which is before Vernissage, the VIP-only grand opening bash, the night before Art Basel Miami Beach opens to the public. Ever wonder why those disappointing little stickers indicating “sold” are already on some works minutes after the fair opens? It’s because Broad and his world-class collecting peers have been there long before you.

This month, as the 2007 fair season kicks off with the Winter Antiques Show in New York, it will be no different. Even if you splurged for $300 patrons tickets for the gala opening night benefit, the collectors who paid $500 will be admitted an hour ahead of you, and the benefactors and philanthropists who paid $1,000 to $2,500 will be shopping the booths two hours before you check your coat. So, how do you step to the front of the line? Following are seven pointers on how to get the most out of a fair and shop as the VIPs do.

1. JUST GO
If you’re the type who’s always penciled fair dates into your annual calendar, you’ve probably noticed you’ve been using more lead over the past few years. Yes, there are more shows, especially satellite events clustered around the dates of the major international fairs. And then there are those gallery openings, design events, museum exhibition openings, art book parties … so much going on that you ask yourself, “Am I really missing something if I stay home?”
The truth is, yes, you are. In an age of gridlocked NetJets, people in the art, antiques and design worlds think nothing of crisscrossing the globe to do business, and it’s at the fairs that the murmur of “what’s next” bubbles to the surface.

2. TRAVEL SAVVY
Being a collector doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice all of your vacation time to accommodate the world’s fair calendar, but it is worth staying involved by attending at least one major fair a year.

Many of the most important, such as Art Basel Miami Beach and TEFAF Maastricht, offer packages through designated travel agents. Go to their Web sites and contact their organizers for details.

If you’re not booking through an agent, be savvy with your hotel choice. Headed to London during The Season? The Athenaeum, for example, has relationships with Olympia and The Royal Academy of Arts; they’ll secure complimentary tickets for you.

And don’t forget about major biennales or triennials, which can easily slip through the planning cracks since they don’t take place every year. This summer the art world will be headed to Germany for documenta 12, an important contemporary fair held every five years in Kassel. Then, collectors will be off to Muenster for Sculpture Projects, a spectacular event that happens once a decade.

3. DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH DEALERS
For many collectors, dealers are more than business associates; they become friends, and as they travel the world’s fairs, they become the collector’s eyes on the marketplace. Dealers are always looking for new clients, so don’t hesitate to tell them what you’re looking for, your budget and your long-term collecting goals. You just might get a pleasant surprise when, a couple of months in advance of a major international show, a dealer contacts you about the treasures that he’ll have in his booth that might be perfect for your collection.

If possible, invite a dealer to your home. When many international dealers are stateside, they make home visits to places like Washington, D.C., or Boston. The visit can be useful, because the dealer can see how you live with your collection or evaluate pieces you’re considering selling.
“I always send show tickets to my serious collecting clients,” says Bernard Karr of New York’s Hyde Park Antiques, author of the recently released Classic English Design and Antiques: Period Styles and Furniture: The Hyde Park Antiques Collection (Rizzoli). “The art world really is a remarkably small one.”

Top dealers like Karr also work closely with top interior designers such as Mario Buatta, Charlotte Moss and Albert Hadley, who understand how to shop for art and antiques as well as how to decorate with them and live with them.