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Frank&Earnest
24th June 2010, 03:46 PM
Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the WWW administration has declined to cooperate with Woodgroup SA, so they have parted ways.

The reason behind it, I guess, is that the SA market is small enough as it is, so if special concessions are made to the bulk of local woodworkers, there is virtually nobody left as genuine customers. Makes sense to me, but the Group has not been happy about it. All members are still going, as far as I have heard.

ubeaut
24th June 2010, 11:01 PM
Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the WWW administration has declined to cooperate with Woodgroup SA, so they have parted ways. Shouldn't open my mouth here, but....

Had Woodgroup SA done as I suggested a number of years ago and asked for sponsorship from businesses instead of thousands of dollars off the WWWShow then there wouldn't be a problem and they'd probably have received far more than they were getting in prize value.

The administration (EEE) is trying to save these shows after they were all but run into the ground. They are a family group and not owned by one of the richest people in the world so they are working on a realistic budget, unlike the last lot and Woodgroup SA who got the best deal by far with many thousands of dollars worth of free floor space and prize money. I hope they'll be very happy with their new arrangement elsewhere.

Let's hope for everyone's sake that this is a great show, otherwise I wouldn't be surprised if it was the last dedicated woodworking show for Adelaide. Doubt that throwing woodwork in with the Home Show will work too well as it hasn't in the past. Matter of fact some of the worst attended WWshows were the ones with the home show.

cheers :U

Frank&Earnest
25th June 2010, 12:05 AM
Yep, my guess was about right, then. I am really worried about certain attitudes in the Group, but with organisations run by volunteers, by necessity one has to be lenient when judging their management skills.

Tim the Timber Turner
25th June 2010, 03:50 PM
Sorry folks but you are all wrong.

The management of Woodgroup SA declined a very generous offer from EEE for prize money to run a competition as in previous Adelaide Shows.

Instead they elected to exhibit with the locally run Home Show.

The prize money offered by EEE was nearly double the amount of previous Adelaide shows and was equal to the amount on offer to the Canberra and Sydney Wood Show competitions.

The result of this is that South Australian wood workers (my self included) will not have the chance to compete for thousands of dollars prize money in cash.

The logo of Woodgroup SA?

"Promoting Fine Woodcraft"

I'll let you form your own opinions.

ubeaut
26th June 2010, 12:20 AM
Thank you for that info Tim. Differs somewhat from what I was told or maybe I heard it wrong.

As I said above I hope they'll be very happy with their new arrangement elsewhere. I also wish them every success with their display and exhibition. Seems strange they'd go with a home show and no prize money instead of sticking with the woodworking show that's supported them and so many others for such a long time. Guess they have their reasons.

Still reckon there's a heap of support out there for such exhibitions from sponsors, if it's asked for. We alone give over $4,000 a year in prizes to National Woodturning Exhibition and others.

Cheers - Neil :U

PS
Shouldn't open my mouth here, but... As in past dealings with that group.... Not my business.
I'll shut my gob now and pull my head in.

Jim Carroll
26th June 2010, 12:26 PM
Just my 2c worth

The home show works well for the woodies in that they display their wares to joe public and make reasonable sales, problem is they do not generate many new members as joe public are not that interested.

The wood show attracts all types of woodies and you always get asked where do we go to learn these new hobbies and you direct them to the guild stands and they help from there. Problem for the guild is they do not sell much of their ware as they are talking to the converted.

Is the guilds agenda to make money or generate new members, I would have thought members would be a high priority as we are working with an aged group who do have a high mortality rate.

My suggestion was to work with both organisers for both shows as they are a week apart.
Do the home show set up and at the end leave all goods there and later in the week come back and restock the shelves and have their competition. That way they can have the best of both worlds. There is only 1 day between one show closing and the next getting set up.

I am sure both companies would work together to further the interest in woodwork and make it better for both shows.

When we get inquiries at this show we will just have to tell the prospect that the guild are not interested.

rant over.

Frank&Earnest
26th June 2010, 01:40 PM
OK, with the necessary premise that I am only expressing my opinion based on hearsay (albeit following talks with many people), it seems to me that all the above is correct, from the point of view of the writer, but is only part of a complex issue.

Neil as an exhibitor and sponsor is prepared to be generous even when the return is at best marginal, but there is a point where commercial reality must prevail.

Tim, the professional woodturner, feels betrayed by an organisation that purportedly promotes fine woodcraft but in reality is more interested in fostering a membership that is now overwhelmingly comprised of retired hobbyists who realistically do not have the skills to compete with the likes of Tim.

Jim's logic is unassailable, whether the proposed solution is feasible within the existing constraints is another matter.

If the choice for Woodgroup SA is between a lump of money to run a competion that a few members can enter or the value of ample space and car parking facilities for all the clubs to strut their wares and skills to the population at large, not only to the converted, it is easy to see that there are good reasons for choosing the latter:

- because WWW remains a marginal commercial proposition, the risk of it disappearing again is real, so better stick with something that is more likely to be a long term proposition - last year there was no other option;
- woodworking is an attraction for the show, not the targeted customer base, therefore all woodworkers are "paid" for exhibiting as amateurs, as compared to some professional woodworkers being "paid" (through competition prizes) to exhibit to their less skilled colleagues who form the customer base;
- the man in the street is probably more likely to be interested in joining an organisation of amateurs than somebody who is already involved in woodworking. Look at this forum: as far as I know, Tim and I are the only members of Woodgroup SA, and we have our misgivings, who post here. When I asked some of the other Adelaidian forumites, they all said that they did not see much value for them to join.

As hinted earlier, the size of the market also makes a big difference. The pool of people to be enticed is much larger in cities with three or four times the size and a wider demographic spread than Adelaide.

Any further insights would be very helpful.