Thread: The Future of the Wood Show

I haven't been for a couple of years (once was out of the state; 2nd time had little interest) but did go this time. Main reason was to get a discount on the Sorby Pro-Edge and avoid shipping costs on it.

It did seem smaller; and quieter but it was Friday morning.

At one stage there were 5 turners demoing in one way or another which impressed this turner.

The scheduled turning demos also included a chance to try turning btwn formal sessions; a good idea.

One exhibitor said that the bigger machinery companies are doing it tough and have cut back on their marketing inc. at the show.

I wonder whether the future lies in expanding the hands-on opportunities.

I am not sure but I agree with your observations . Sydney moved to a different venue and I never made it this year and after some of the feed back apparently I didnt miss much.

My feeling is that its managed by the wrong people, by wrong I mean. Its set up to make a good return for the venue operator or it will be cancelled.These sort of events maybe better served by a symposium like approach rather the current events managment set up.

But certaintly things appear to be sliding away to zero. Maybe whats required is a massive woodworking event held at a major central spot, say Darling Harbour and other similar venues around the major cities. Comprehensive in its approach to cover a wide range of carefully choosen aspects of woodwork allowing locals access to display/sell etc coupled with some of the well rocognised experts in the relative fields. Show casing primarily local timber but including the exotic for added attraction Add to this the usual run of exhibitors with sales etc.

It would be a lot of work but several other industries do it often ie the packaging industry show, Sexpo etc and various infomercial type shows. The idea being to high light and put on the map woodworking in Australia and to draw attention to what we have and its potential

Please don't let it be so...............Speaking for myself, the last Wood Show I went to was Brissy. Being half way between its a toss up but also my be a second chance, if I miss Brissy its not a long wait to catch Syd. I haven't been to either for some years. Between health issues and money (lack of) at the actual time we just haven't got it together. I do lament not going! Locally we have the big green shed and a really good builders hardware but they don't have the specialist tools, timber etc etc that is on offer at the Shows. OK you can argue that I have access to the world with the internet but you can't compare that to face to face contact with products and the people who are on the stands.

I am determined to go to one Show next year and am putting aside a few sheckles when I can to make it possible. Either Syd or Bris requires us to spend a few days to a week to make the travel worthwhile. (Gone are the days when I would have gone down and back look at the show all in the one day.

Another thing that I might add is that maybe many people are at saturation level. You can't keep buying the same tools year after year. and that of coarse goes to major purchases as well.

I am like a kid in a chocolate shop when I go to the Shows. You see the names of the suppliers you have read about but here they are in the flesh offering YOU their stuff. Its great. I would not like to see them go.

I don't mind them being smaller and quieter as I dislike being jostled by hoards of people carrying around the latest useless house cleaning gizmo.
I realize these sales probably helps keep the shows afloat but if it's a choice between this and no show, I'll take the no show.

I must admit it's been many years since I went to a Melbourne show, but I did go this year, and only because I received a pre-paid ticket as a birthday gift. I would not have gone otherwise. I did make a couple of small purchases, but only because I'd received the ticket as a gift, and figured I had to come back with something. I could just have easily bought the same items from the exhibitor's on-line store at any time throughout the year.

Brendan what you say has some merit.

Have you appraoched the power tool companies as to why they did not attend.

Did you count the amount of retirered business that did not sell their business but merely closed the doors.

Do you know of any small business that should be at the show but have not given it a try.

The organisers welcome any leads to new business to come to the show,

If you take into account Mik, Timbecon, Festool, Makita, Bosch, Frameco, Veezy tools, Ozzie Jig, there is probably 1000sqm not getting used, where do you get new business to fill those spots.

You yourself gave it a go and found it was hard work and did not attend as a vendor this year.

The other shows have had a minimal decline but the Sydney show was a great show in the new venue.

Hughie unfortunatly woodies from all over Aus would not attend one big show because of the costs, most are retired and generally car pool to cut down costs of getting to the show.

You just have to ask David Dresher who runs a very good turnfest and with all the extra demonstrators and its 10th year could not put up the full house sign. As much as he tried and had a large database to work with from over ten years.
Also most of the big shows are business based so it works both ways as a business expense and also seeing new technology to further your business, as you know you have to keep up with technology to keep your business moving forward.

Retiress are past this and unable to claim on thier tax refunds health pursuits to keep me living longer and have a shed fund.

I am always open to suggestions for moving the show forward as I am sure the organisers are as well, but it still comes down to joe public getting to the show and spending their hard earned and proving to the vendors yes we do want this show and we need it to keep going. This is one of the main reasons there is no show in Adelaide, poor attendance and poor spending. They all said it was great for us to be at the show but very few put their hands in their pockets and spent any real money.

Brendan, the Auckland Symposium held just recently was a good event with Carbatec NZ and many smaller vendors displaying goods & timber. I think there were something like 250-300 people there so it was similar to a small Turnfest.

All of these events like the WWW shows are really stretching the business models for them, in that the promoters are making a living from a few shows or perhaps even just one & they use high profile venues. This makes stall space pretty expensive. Bit simplistic I know but that is basically it. In FNQ a few years back there were two competing Craft shows geared to women’s interests. The promoters of one approached the local woodturning club to attend to attract some men, & btw how about paying $2k. Now how can a not for profit assn afford that? Much better dropping the fees to attract more clubs to put up a stall, which in turn helps to promote the clubs, attracting more potential members who then become customers of these businesses. No woodies no customers.

Originally Posted by Mobyturns

Much better dropping the fees to attract more clubs to put up a stall, which in turn helps to promote the clubs, attracting more potential members who then become customers of these businesses. No woodies no customers.

This was the South Australian model, which eventually became their demise..

Their thoughts were that we are here they will come.
Unfortunatly they were wrong.

There is also a larger community out there that are not affiliated with clubs for one reason or another..So clubs are not the be all end all, they do help but not for everyone.

There has been a deliberate approach by some companies who do not attend the show any more to 'gazump' the Woodshow by holding events or sales approximately one week prior to the show. This takes away a number of customers from the show - why go to both?

There used to be a bit of a 'trade' element to the show, that disappeared a few years ago and now it seems to be the exclusive domain of the 'gentleman woodworker'. This may be a result of cheap imports and a reduction in local cabinetry businesses. Maybe someone with some marketing expertise could check this?

It may be worthwhile dropping to a two year cycle but the other groups who take advantage the week before would get bigger and more active in the 'off' year, so it probably would not work.

Perhaps running a show in the Eastern suburbs one year and the west the next year may work.

Unfortunately,I feel that this is happening with all industries in Australia at the moment.How many Wood Work suppliers do we have now days ?

I remember the first one I ever went to - What a real buzz - Second one was OK ,Next one ,I went for something to do..

But still enjoy going -

Greg

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

This is one of the main reasons there is no show in Adelaide, poor attendance and poor spending.

I was doing the best I could Jim!

I had planned on visiting Melbourne this year but family health issues shelved that idea.

I and so many others miss the Adelaide show greatly but I understand that good people like Jim & Irene, Ubeaut & Pauline etc can't keep showing up and running at a loss.

It may eventually come down to one huge show that runs a few days longer and we will all need to make the trek?

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

You yourself gave it a go and found it was hard work and did not attend as a vendor this year.

I'm glad you contributed to this thread, Jim because you speak with considerable authority on the issue.

However, your suggestion that I didn't attend this year because it was hard work last year is right off the mark. There were other reasons why I didn't attend but I will not be making them public.

There also seems to be a suggestion that I am getting stuck into the TWWW show by starting this thread; you did, after all direct a few questions to me specifically. I, like a lot of people would be very sad to see the demise of it and would like to provide some feedback to the organisers for improvement which is why I thought it would be worthwhile getting some feedback on the issue.

Brendan, I highly commend you for starting this thread, it takes a decent amount of gumption considering your status in the woodworking community. The validity of the Woodwork Show really does need to be discussed, and discussed openly.

I've just done a quick survey of my handouts comparing the 2011 and 2012 shows and the 2012 event was down close to 20 exhibitors. An alarming fact. We should be all asking why the likes of the Scobie's (who I dearly missed) didn't attend. The Scobies ARE woodworking. Brendan, why didn't Solid Works attend this year? Why wasn't the boat display there? Why doesn't Hare and Forbes go? Why doesn't Machinery Warehouse attend? Mens Shed? Chris Vesper? The list is endless.

Jim, is there any scope for the leaders of the Melbourne Woodworking Community to meet and discuss this issue? Is there any leadership on this? I honestly feel the Woodwork show is currently like a wet biscuit drowning in a murky cup of dishwater.

By the way Jim, your effort this year was sensational, thank you for all your effort. You were rewarded with close to $300 of my hard earned (Ken twisted my arm), darn you!