Thread: FEEDBACK: Melbourne Working With Wood Show 15-18 Oct 2009

I think the good points have been pretty well covered.
The only negative thing I feel was the "massage area" and "worlds greatest invention" and perhaps the "heat cabinets" had nothing to do with woodwork and as such should be placed away from the woodie related exhibits.

Having missed last year this was my first visit to the show grounds. We arrived at 9:45 on Saturday ..... had no problem getting to the venue and parking was easy to get into and find ..... a quick walk to the entry found no wait and all working well. Good value parking ($5) and plenty of space by the looks of it. Given the out of CBD location it would be a shame to see the price of parking go up next year (hint ).

The building was very suitable for the show ..... large open space with plenty of natural light were a nice break from the stuffy, dark years at Jeffs shed.

Much has been said about the layout, seating areas were good and so too the outdoor area. I didn't get a chance to see many demos but from what I did they were well set up and easy to see/hear (unlike Jeffs shed). The seating areas and the open feel with the natural light made it easy to spend the entire day .....

Good to see that EEE had listened to the feedback given on these forums and it would be fair to say that from an organisational view it was without fault.

It would be good to see more club work / displays and possibly woodworking schools with past student work on display. There might be a chance for a Victorian high school competition??? Its good to be inspired by others and also a good way to promote woodworking.

Good to talk to the guy who made those wonderful sculptural pieces and the guys at the Fine Wood School who showed a lot of passion.

My downside ...... the number of exhibitors seemed to be down with many of the big ones either missing or with a very limited range. Thankfully I wasn't there looking for machinery as the range was very poor.

With any luck the ones that were not there ..... or didn't really come with a full strength outfit, will see how much the show had improved from the last few years and come back strong next year. To be fair given the gfc some may have opted to stay away until things improve.

Next year I will be getting a two day pass ..... one to look around and one to attend the demo sessions ...... too much for one day.

Overall ......
EEE 5/5
Exhibitors 3/5

We participated in two shows this year sydney & canberra, both were a success thanks to the organisers & FORUM MEMBERS. Its great to see passionate people supporting there passion.

Is there anyone that has been to a few different states shows this year to compare the diferences, i know if we werent busy trying to organise ourselves for next years National Tradesmans Expo we probable would of went to the Melbourne show as well

Vek it is not worth you coming down here as we have our own local suppliers selling the same goods as you.

Micheal the GFC had nothing to do with some of the machinery people not coming it was mainly their thoughts that they did not have a good show last year so will not attend this year.
Most had open days the week before which they thought would be a better way to do it.

As was seen there was great support for the show and I think most people had a good show from vendors and the public.

I think most of the relevant comments have been made by others.

I thought the atmosphere seemed much more relaxed than in the past - probably due to wide aisles and open spaces. The natural light helped also.

My only negative comment would be the lack of machinery from H & F and others as I was in the market for a thicknesser.

The visible presence of Mike Smith and staff was a good indication of the interest they took in the show. Mike stopped off at the Forum stand and said hello while I was there on Friday.

It was good to see Neil and Jim Carroll pretty busy most of the time.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

Micheal the GFC had nothing to do with some of the machinery people not coming it was mainly their thoughts that they did not have a good show last year so will not attend this year.
Most had open days the week before which they thought would be a better way to do it.

What do you mean most had open days the week before?

The lack of machinery/range at Carbatec/Timbecon/(and I forgot about H&F) was really my only gripe about the show.

(Without wanting to distract from the point of this thread,) what was bad about last year's show? Was it also organised by eee, or was this their first year? I think they did a good job, it was the individual exhibitors who let us down (unless they were hampered by eee in some was not visible to us).

Hi everyone,

The purpose of this thread is to provide feedback to the EEE team on issues that are within their control. While the displays held elsewhere have affected the show (and are an important issue for woodworkers) the organisers can really do very little about it other than make their show "the" place to be.

As the originator of this thread, may I respectfully request that issues beyond the control of EEE be taken to other threads so the purpose of this thread remains on track.

Otherwise we run the risk that the feedback will be diluted in a number of topics and perhaps issues that EEE can fix will be missed.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Groggy

While the displays held elsewhere have affected the show (and are an important issue for woodworkers) the organisers can really do very little about it other than make their show "the" place to be.

Fair point about the off-topic conversations.

With that in mind however, would EEE find it useful to understand why they held displays away from the show? If EEE understand the root causes driving that behaviour then they might be able to do something about it and encourage them to exhibit at the "official" show.

For example, if it was a cost issue, perhaps the cost basis for exhibiting at the show could be looked at?

Cheers,
Af.

Originally Posted by Afro Boy

Fair point about the off-topic conversations.

With that in mind however, would EEE find it useful to understand why they held displays away from the show? If EEE understand the root causes driving that behaviour then they might be able to do something about it and encourage them to exhibit at the "official" show.

For example, if it was a cost issue, perhaps the cost basis for exhibiting at the show could be looked at?

Cheers,
Af.

It is always a cost issue for all shows , as an exhibitor we always try to get the best value we can and hope the EEE crowd do their bit with advertising etc, it is then up to the public to come through the door. If you dont come then everyone starts to point the finger of blame at the organisers.

Last year the show was organised by DMG so the EEE crowd were stuck with what they had organised and with the new venue people were put of by the location and how to get there.

After the show the consensus was that it was not such a bad venue and that was shown by the increased numbers through the doors this weekend.

Good to hear an exhibitors perspective. Thanks for filling in the gaps for me Jim.

Glad it was successful from your side as well. It was my first show and I really did enjoy the atmosphere, location, etc. So all around, I think EEE has done a great thing with their organising of this.

Cheers,
Af.

Originally Posted by Afro Boy

With that in mind however, would EEE find it useful to understand why they held displays away from the show?

Yes, I believe they would if reasons were given by those who went elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Afro Boy

Why do people have to pay to get in? Would a free entry prompt more people to attend and therefore spend more money with the vendors?

Wouldn't have cost you a cent to enter the show if you'd claimed the FREE TICKET when your name was drawn out in the Daily Prize Draws.

Forum Special Deal $10 entry + $5 for parking is a pretty cheap day in anyone's terms.

Worst comes to worst if you paid full price it would have only cost you $20 including parking.

Would cost more than that just for parking at the Exhibition Centre

A few facts:
Many of the exhibitors pay tens of thousands of dollars to take part in these shows.
Many also have to carry enough stock to supply both their stand and their shop.
Many are away from their businesses for a week or more.

For us to mount a stand in Melbourne it takes:
Up to 4 weeks preparation, producing products for show as well as keeping up stock for distributors.
One week away from home and work with the factory closed and no production.
Couple of grand for accommodation, meals, etc.
Best part of another week or so to catch up with work that piled up whilst away, etc, etc, etc.
Oh yeah then there the cost of stand, walls, power, lights, signage, eft and internet connection, etc, etc.

You have to sell a ship load of polish to cover all that and we're one of the smaller ones. Exhibitors are stretched to their limit. For years most have covered their costs and not much more. Push them and there may not be many more shows.

For us to do Sydney or Brisbane you can add a further 40%+ Canberra and Adelaide add 20%+ and we'd most likely make a loss at both. The 2 Tas shows we did cost twice as much and we barely covered stand and accommodation costs.

We can stay home and make a lot more money than we do at a show. However doing that doesn't help to enlarge the customer base for our distributors.

It ain't all beer and skittles folks.

With that in mind however, would EEE find it useful to understand why they held displays away from the show? If EEE understand the root causes driving that behaviour then they might be able to do something about it and encourage them to exhibit at the "official" show.

Some just don't have the staff or wherewithal to mount a stand any more. Some appear to have issues with EEE (roumor is they don't know how to run a show) hehehe. Some may even be making themselves scarce because they haven't paid for last years show. Some are just getting too old for the hard slog that goes with it all.

For example, if it was a cost issue, perhaps the cost basis for exhibiting at the show could be looked at?

There hasn't been a price rise for 3 years. Thanks to EEE.

Gunna stop now but could go on for ages. Running this event and the background problems etc definitely isn't as straight forward and black and white as it all look to those who aren't in the know.

Righto you lot back to the feedback.

Originally Posted by ubeaut

Wouldn't have cost you a cent to enter the show if you'd claimed the FREE TICKET when your name was drawn out in the Daily Prize Draws.

Ahhh, I helped out at the stand so had free entry anyway. Am more than happy to pay, just curious and thought I would ask the question anyway.

And thanks for the background info. That's really really useful stuff as it helps people like me understand how it all works. Thanks for detailing it.

Originally Posted by ubeaut

Wouldn't have cost you a cent to enter the show if you'd claimed the FREE TICKET when your name was drawn out in the Daily Prize Draws.

Hey Neil.. Still waiting for mine to turn up in the mail.. I am glad to see Aus post are still providing a excellent service to the public