Thread: Brisbane 2012 - VISITORS FEEDBACK

OK folks, I know at least a couple of you went to the show. Howzabout you give us some of your impressions.

Feedback is nice good, bad or otherwise..... Good would be better than bad but not as bad as none and as for otherwise. What on earth is otherwise anyway?

Cheers - Neil

PS Moved the one above from another thread.

Please post in here and not other threads to keep it all in one place.

Another terrific show this year, although it seemed that a few stands were missing this year. I use Friday as my splurge day, and Sunday as my learning day. Plenty of great demonstrations with some hands on. As usual, Neil (u-beaut) gave plenty of instruction and help for us mug punters. His method and
products are just amazing. I'm on the forum stand Sunday 10 to 11. Enjoy the show guys !

Always love it but definitely seems like less vendors every year.

Highlights for me were mostly around timber prices. I picked up a heap for very little coin. Demonstrations were good again, especially turning and pyrography. Always good to see Stan Ceglinski doing his thing too.

It's sad to see some stalls were smaller than usual and some weren't there at all. Over the last few years we've seen some vendors simply stop turning up because they can't turn a profit. Now I'm certain it isn't a lack of potential traffic, because the show is always busy. I'm worried that unless the organisers can make it more appealing for vendors to show up, we might see a somewhat downsized show in the future.

Anyone thinking about going, do it. It's still a good show. My negative comments aren't meant to drive people away. Quite the contrary in fact. We need to support the show lest it diminishes to be something we no longer recognise.

Hi Guys
thanks for al of the comments re the show, and glad you enjoyed your visit. Had a great suggestion on email this morning - one woodworker suggested having designated public seating areas on Friday when the students come. So we are going to designate a lounge and lunch areas for public only - not students.
The show does have a few less exhibitors, but you know whats happening outside we are in a tough economy. we had a good day yesterday our numbers were 113 down, which i was ok with considering the economy - lets hope we pick those numbers up today. Better still last night at exhibitor drinks i had at least three exhibitors reporting their best Friday's ever.
It's 9am and we have people waiting already to get in!!! thanks for your support, will make sure i get down to the forum lounge today!! Liz

Fog and traffic aside - I had a great day - handing out pamphlets on the forum stand, having a yarn with some I had not met before and just the atmosphere in general.

Neil, Pauline and going hammer and tong most of the time with customers, lookers 2 - 3 deep at times.

I felt there were fewer school kids there this year - which was good from a demo viewing perspective but we need to remember that they are the future woodworkers.

Regards, and thanks to all,
Bob

......also want to say a particular thank you to Neil @ Ubeaut (I'm trhe guy with the old desk/ leather inlays) , the Padghams @ Padgham upholstery, Dave @ Howards, and Bob & others at this forums stand...great chatting, and great advice. Lawry

Yes it is a pity that it seems to be shrinking each year but still worth the visit. Had a great time.

I thought that it was a smaller show than previous years also. I missed some of the more specialised presentations that I had seen in previous years. eg the box maker/ veneering expert Forum member from the Gold Coast. (Forget his screen name unfortunately.)


Enjoyed spending a couple of hours at the Forum stand, meeting a number of forum members and Neil-da-boss as well as , alleged axe wielding mongrel.


It was pretty quiet when my turn came 3 pm - 5pm but it was good to chat with some other woodies at the start of the session. It seems that most people are gone by about 3 pm.


I went to the Carba-Tec shop today and spoke a staffer who was there yesterday, and will be there this arvo. He said that they seemed to be as busy and crowded as ever but then he also said that might have been because their display was smaller and that some of the opposition were not present.


I thought that the parking price was quite reasonable at $10. It has been higher for some shows in the past couple of years so I thought that that was a pretty fair price.


The only thing that puzzles me about that show is how people take home the big lumps of wood that are on sale in the outside section. I carried an armful of wood to my car in the car park but I would not want to be trying to take any of the big stuff, as much as I would like to.


Sure, there is a parcel pick up area inside the pavilion but how do you get it from the vendor area to the parcel pick-up area? You would need to bring in your own trolley for some of it.


I am told that the Maleny show is more convenient in that regard. Loved the range of timbers that are available, however.



.

I went on Friday and was disappointed with it overall. It was suppose to be a timber & working with wood show yet there were stands there that I felt not relevant. Examples were the steam mop stand, whipper snipper stand etc. If I want to see them I'll watch the home shopping channel.

I would like to see new and improved machinery and woodworking tools. It was the same old stuff trying to be flogged off year after year.

The range of timber was nice and the prices weren't too bad either.

I went to the show Saturday and worked for an hour at the Forum display. It was low key and great. I imagine a lot of new members would have been recruited. The forum display with the lounge was a really good set up and it was a pleasure to meet some of the members. I enjoyed my hour there.

Overall the show itself was a little different as there was not the displays that have been there on previous years and that was a little disappointing. But it might be an indicator that times are hard financially and people are not prepared to spend the money either as a displayer or as a visitor. Some of the displays were tiny compared to previous years. I only spend $18 this year as compared to $500 two years ago.

Maybe it needs a more village market atmosphere in a different location where more woodworkers can display their wares. Just a thought for what its worth

Hi All,

Spent a most enjoyable time at the Forum Stand today. Met some old friends, and some new ones. Thoroughly enjoyed my stint at the forum stand, and, all being well in 2013, I will offer my services again, and for a longer time if needed. Great to catch up with " ", Ian W, Gawdelpus and the Bunny.

There were not the displays this year as in the past, and some of the suppliers were missing, but maybe that is because of the current ecomonic situation. I really enjoyed seeing Ken Wraight wield his magic. Spoke to a lady turner at one of his displays and hopefully have procured another forumite. She comes from the Bundaberg area, and has invited me to visit her when I am up that way. Woodies are such friendly people.

Thanks to all for helping to make my day such a happy one.

Cheers,

Shirley

Great weekend so far.

Crowds have been good and the demos well attended and lots of questions asked and answered.

Regards

Went in today with my family (wife plus 2 daughters 7 and 9). At our first stop at Island Specialty Timbers, my youngest showed some interest in the wood and had to touch and admire all of the wood. Just as we were moving onto the next stand, one of the guys from the stand (sorry - didn't get a name) came over and handed her a piece of huon (after they had been given pencils, fridge magnets and bookmarks from the same stand). This set the scene for the rest of the day with the girls receiving chocolates from one stand, tops from the Ipswich turners (I think) and a small turned vase from another.

While we went back and bought some timber from Island Specialty Timbers, what struck me was that the 7 year old was still talking about her "huon pine" tonight after we got home. She even said it was the best part of her day as I put her to bed ! The gesture by the guys from the stand was appreciated and I suspect she will now get more and more interested in the woodworking (which can only be a good thing...). Perhaps there is scope to involve the younger kids in some simple construction exercise to start the ball rolling for them.

I liked the fact that there were some designated areas for sitting with lounges. With a couple of kids, it certainly helped to rest their weary bones.

Overall, while the stall holder numbers were low, I still thought this was an excellent day out. Economic times are tough and attending the shows is expensive for the exhibitors. However, as someone who looks forward to this every year, I am not sure what else you can spend $10 on for entry, walk around and learn lots, talk to very knowledgeable people and look at beautiful wood. Even if I don't buy anything from the show which is unlikely, it is still an excellent way to while away a few hours. Seems like the best $10 I have spent on "entertainment" so far this year (given that even a DVD movie could cost more than this and only runs for a couple of hours.)

Please pass this feedback to Island Specialty Timbers if possible.

Keep up the good work !!