|
Post by John Baguley on Jun 20, 2017 17:24:19 GMT
Hi Pete,
Hopefully most clubs will decide to carry on attending despite the reduction in club tickets but we will have to wait and see. I'll still be there with the N25GA stand. Finding stewards to man the stand for the 4 days may be a problem though if they find that they have to pay to get in.
John
|
|
|
Post by Cro on Jun 20, 2017 17:34:39 GMT
I have had a stand at the Midlands a couple of times now and found it a good show which is nicely located and easy to get to for most. I am suprised with the decision on club passes John but I do understand a lot of clubs take the P*** with it and get all/as many of their members in for free rather than actually helping with the stands and therefore the show.
Hopefully it will be a good show again this year with a few more competition entries as I feel that is what let it down last year.
Adam
|
|
spined
Active Member
Posts: 11
|
Post by spined on Jun 20, 2017 19:20:33 GMT
As in - cancelled this year.
|
|
|
Post by Jo on Jun 20, 2017 20:05:52 GMT
I have had a stand at the Midlands a couple of times now and found it a good show which is nicely located and easy to get to for most. I am suprised with the decision on club passes John but I do understand a lot of clubs take the P*** with it and get all/as many of their members in for free rather than actually helping with the stands and therefore the show. Problem is you really need two or three manning the stand all day so that they can interact with the visitors (and meet the call of nature needs) and of course very few members want to stay put all day, they want to go and look round. If you can get a dozen members you should be ok. But that is every single day of the show... And then there is the hassle of setting up and packing up afterwards... And returning the models to their owners.... Some shows like Brooklands you get some money towards the club costs of attending, other shows you don't and of course each member has their travel costs each day so normally it is difficult to get sufficient members to attend and they don't want to spend their hard won cash to attend twice. The days of model shows I fear are limited. Jo
|
|
|
Post by Cro on Jun 20, 2017 20:14:44 GMT
I have had a stand at the Midlands a couple of times now and found it a good show which is nicely located and easy to get to for most. I am suprised with the decision on club passes John but I do understand a lot of clubs take the P*** with it and get all/as many of their members in for free rather than actually helping with the stands and therefore the show. Problem is you really need two or three manning the stand all day so that they can interact with the visitors (and meet the call of nature needs) and of course very few members want to stay put all day, they want to go and look round. If you can get a dozen members a day you should be ok. But that is every single day of the show... And then there is the hassle of setting up and packing up afterwards... And returning the models to their owners.... Some shows like Brooklands you get some money towards the club costs of attending, other shows you don't and of course each member has their travel costs each day so normally it is difficult to get sufficient members to attend and they don't want to spend their hard won cash to attend twice. The days of model shows I fear are limited. Jo I think a dozen is a bit excessive, our club usually does Sandown/Ally Pally and we man a large stand between minimum 3 of us, usually set up and break down with 4 or 5 and we tend to have a variety of big and small locos. Problem is people can't complain about doing these things and complain about the shows getting smaller at the same time. Considering how large the hobby is a very small group of people contribute towards the show but MANY complain about them. Adam
|
|
|
Post by Jo on Jun 21, 2017 8:14:50 GMT
Considering how large the hobby is a very small group of people contribute towards the show but MANY complain about them. Adam I can tell you manning a stand on your own for two days running from 8am in the morning until after 6pm is not fun - I have done it year after year at Guildford but I won't be doing it this year as I will be in hospital. The year we had half a dozen of us manning it, it was a breeze in comparison. Jo
|
|
|
Post by Cro on Jun 21, 2017 9:04:21 GMT
I don't find it anywhere near as bad as you make out I must admit, both Midlands an Guildford shows I have done on my own and find it ok!
Either way if we want these shows to continue we have to support them and the organisers, we can't expect it all to stay the same year in year out espeically entry price, everything else goes up so why can't they put the price up too? They do it to the trade stands so why can't they do it for the public coming to see it?
Adam
|
|
|
Post by John Baguley on Jun 21, 2017 9:20:26 GMT
Three's a nice number of stewards to have. There's always one disappears for an hour or so 'to have a look around' so if there is only two of you that leaves one person on their own quite a bit. You can't expect the same few people to attend every day so you do need a lot of stewards.
I try and attend every day but it's a big committment. That means I'm there for 5 days including setting up and have an hour and a half's to two hours drive to get there before even starting. I usually leave home about 7am and often don't get home until after 7pm. By the end of the show I'm absolutely knackered! I enjoy it (must do, otherwise I wouldn't do it!)but I'm glad when it's over.
I know that some people do abuse the free ticket situation (one chap in our club used to put the same bare loco chassis in every show just to get a ticket) but you have got to give people some incentive to lend exhibits and to help man the stands.
I have to agree with Jo that the days of the exhibitions are numbered. It's all about money and profit now and the shows are suffering as a consequence.
John
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2017 9:28:47 GMT
I have to agree with Jo that the days of the exhibitions are numbered. It's all about money and profit now and the shows are suffering as a consequence. John I truly hope that it doesn't come to that John, I'd like to play a much more active role in the hobby, especially on the exhibition circuit. I'm not sure when my own club will next have a stand at an exhibition(any exhibition) but if they do I hope to be able to display 4472 now that she's finally getting towards something that may be worth looking at. Regards Pete
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2017 13:31:02 GMT
It will be interesting to see what happens at the forthcoming Midlands Exhibition in October following Mr Deith's decision to reduce the number of exhibitor and steward passes allowed to the clubs. My own club, NWLSME, has decided that they will not be attending because of this, although they have attended every one since the beginning, and I believe other clubs may be following suit. Hi Baggo Your club should have complained instead of just pulling out. My own club (Oxford) was told we could only have four exhibitor's passes this year, on the basis that only four of our members showed (admittedly large) exhibits last year. When I pointed out that our stand would hopefully return to its normal format this year, the number of passes was extended to a maximum of twelve. Stewards are another matter. There will only be one steward's pass per day this year, but then you only need one guy to switch on any lights, put leaflets out and do a bit of dusting. With potentially twelve people wandering around with exhibitor's passes, there will always be someone who can give the steward a break while he goes for lunch or a look round. If you want to see the exhibition die, pulling out is the right way to go about it.
|
|
|
Post by John Baguley on Jun 26, 2017 17:19:43 GMT
Yes, the secretary did write to Chris about it and I believe Chris did offer to swap some of the exhibitors passes for Stewards passes. Unfortunately, the club still decided against attending. It's not a decision that I agree with personally as the exhibition will suffer but it's the clubs call.
John
|
|
|
Post by Roger on Jun 26, 2017 17:47:52 GMT
Another thought about Exhibitions is that not everyone who'd like to exhibit is a member of a club that has a presence. Maybe it would be an idea to have a 'virtual' club stand, where 'independents' could exhibit their models, even if their club doesn't attend?
|
|
|
Post by Jo on Jun 26, 2017 18:04:40 GMT
You don't have to be a member of a club to exhibit at a show. I personally like to see all the models together on show rather than tucked in corners on club stands where they can be missed.
Jo
|
|
|
Post by Roger on Jun 26, 2017 20:12:54 GMT
Thanks for that Jo, I had no idea it was possible. I don't really have anything to show just yet, but I might one day.
|
|