Thread: Timber & Working With Wood Shows 2011 Ladies

As an actual "lady" woodworker I hate the "women in woodwork" thing and don't look at it on purpose. But that's just me.

Pyrography is a good idea, cos often it can make a partership with the woodwork. Maybe they could actually have things to pyrograph (?) there so that the "wives" are kept bust for a while.

I'd just like to see more women an the stands in general doing "real" woodwork! Not just working the cash registers. Although I guess that would mean the blokes might have to share their sheds. On the other hand, the wives might start "needing" those tools too. So they might start talking the blokes into more perchases.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

We see it so often the couple come into the show and the woodie is in seventh heaven and wants to drool over everything but the partner sees it as an obligation to just go along and support the woodie and get them out of the place before hurting the hip pocket too much..

am i lucky or unlucky? ... dianne tends to say: "pick up that as well" ... "that looks nice, why don't you get that" etc so i guess, liz and rick would want her to keep coming along with me

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

As a heads up we will be having a dedicated Pyrography demonstration, and have a go on the woodburners next year.
This will incorporate woodburning pictures etc and also embelishing your turning .
.

that sounds good ... i don't know enough about it but would it be possible to do similar for marquetry ... perhaps a simple pattern that could be done under supervision and taken away (paid for i mean too)

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

I know Rick & Liz will like your feedback as they are always looking at ways to improve the shows as shown this year by the number of dedicated demonstrations and the lounges have been very well recieved.

So go and ask your partners what they would like, remember the longer you stay at the show the happier you both will be.

di was happy to do a quick walkaround with me just to see what was there and then retire to a lounge with a book or her laptop and then another walkabout before we go to see any highlights and to check some things out in more detail herself

at melbourne she ended up on the steps ... it didn't daunt her but had they had some single chairs and tables where she could sit in comfort she would have preferred it ... she was probably just too polite but felt that she was taking up real estate that punters needed/wanted at the coffee lounge tables ... at canberra there was more of a "lounge" feel where she could sit and relax and just take up space ...


regards david

SWMBO and I have a "local rules deal". She doesn't come to woodie stuff so I don't have to go to horse stuff or shopping. Now when we we're traveling together this is harder to accommodate and she is exceedingly patient with me - much more than I am with her. This year I bought her a significant distraction (an iPad) so I could do things like spend half a day at a chainsaw museum or a Inside Passage woodwork school. She was more than happy to do stuff on the iPad while she waited. However I know this is not going to be a viable solution for everyone.

When I asked her about what she'd like to see at a wood show she said any wood stuff that bridges to other craft eg wood-jewelry or wood-art.

I know EEE have said they don't want to go into competition with the other shows, but I see Newcastle as the perfect solution to this.

My wife and I drive 2.5 hours to the Newcastle show. I walk towards the right to the wood show, she walks to the left to the craft show. Meet up for lunch, then return to our temptations. It really is a great solution.

Nathan.

Originally Posted by I_wanna_Shed

I know EEE have said they don't want to go into competition with the other shows, but I see Newcastle as the perfect solution to this.

My wife and I drive 2.5 hours to the Newcastle show. I walk towards the right to the wood show, she walks to the left to the craft show. Meet up for lunch, then return to our temptations. It really is a great solution.

Nathan.

Sadly Nathan they HAD a good solution they have decided there will be no show next year

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Sadly Nathan they HAD a good solution they have decided there will be no show next year

OK some clarification required here.

Who is "THEY" Wheelin'????

Something that would go down well with the ladies I am sure is a couple of marquees with ladies fashionware on sale.

Originally Posted by I_wanna_Shed

I know EEE have said they don't want to go into competition with the other shows, but I see Newcastle as the perfect solution to this.

My wife and I drive 2.5 hours to the Newcastle show. I walk towards the right to the wood show, she walks to the left to the craft show. Meet up for lunch, then return to our temptations. It really is a great solution.

Nathan.

Pairing with another show is prolly a good solution. They had Golf in the other shed at Melbourne.

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Sadly Nathan they HAD a good solution they have decided there will be no show next year

Oh no Ray!!! I found Newcastle to be a fantastic show. I always looked forward to it. I thought it was very successful (it looked that way).

I think pairing up with a 'ladies' show was a very very good idea. For a show much smaller than Sydney (maybe Canberra size or slightly larger???) they sure had heaps of people. Very well run by the local club.

Having a major attraction for both men and women is a major drawcard I believe. Perhaps a logistical nightmare - but seen to work.

Originally Posted by tea lady

As an actual "lady" woodworker I hate the "women in woodwork" thing and don't look at it on purpose. But that's just me.

I think the title "Woodworking Women" might be more apt.

Combined shows don't work. The idea seems to be good but for woodworking exhibitors it doesn't work very well at all.

The bottom line has to be profit (something that seems to be a dirty word to many here) there is no profit for the woodworking side of shows like Newcastle Craft Expo or Craft Alive. Been there done that on many occasions. Jim Carrol can attest to this having done one Newcastle show and with Jims stuff he can make a profit almost anywhere. Even the dedicated pyrography demo's at Newcastle didn't create all that much interest or sales.

Just about the only thing going to work for everyone is to move the brilliant Showgrounds venue to Jeffs Shed or somewhere else where there's lots of shopping, along with interesting things to see and do, in the general vacinity, etc, to create interest for those who don't want to stuck at a show they don't really want to be at.

One excellent example of a failed combined show is the Hands On Expo in Brisbane.

Myself and a few others were instrumental in bringing woodwork to the Craft Alive Shows a dozen or so years ago. Complete waste of time and energy. Had a lot of fun between ourselves but other than that......

The one thing missing in Melb that was at the others was the dedicated lounge areas where people could sit and read, use their iPad, recoup, chat, even have a snooze, etc without taking up valuable table space in the food areas.

The forum lounge was extremely well used but that was for members only not the general public.

Strangely enough one of the few things that may work with the WWWShows is a quilting show. But I can hear the outcry even now as I type this. The only other thing that may work is to bring it more in line with a Trade Show rather than a hobby show as it basically is now. I've spoken to a dozen or so of our commercial users since the show and all said they don't bother with hobby shows like WWWShow but most went to the trade shows like AWISA, Furntex, etc.

Originally Posted by watson

OK some clarification required here.

Who is "THEY" Wheelin'????

Nathan got the message

They "the club" decided.

Not run by the club any more but Craftfest and from what I hear (a week ago at Melb WWWShow) it's not only running but will go from 3 to 4 days, with out without the woodwork section. My info could be wrong but came from a pretty reliable source who's connected to the quilting side not the woodwork side.

However...... Craftfest, the organisers seem to have disappeared from the web (at least on my computer) so maybe it's true. I haven't had an official notice yet but am on their mailing list for info.

Hmmmmmm

Originally Posted by ubeaut

Not run by the club any more but Craftfest and from what I hear (a week ago at Melb WWWShow) it's not only running but will go from 3 to 4 days, with out without the woodwork section. My info could be wrong but came from a pretty reliable source who's connected to the quilting side not the woodwork side.

However...... Craftfest, the organisers seem to have disappeared from the web (at least on my computer) so maybe it's true. I haven't had an official notice yet but am on their mailing list for info.

Hmmmmmm

Strange then why this statement on the craft web site Following last year's successful launch, the annual Woodworking Hobbies Expo, presented by the Woodturners of the Hunter Co-op Ltd, will once again run in conjunction with Newcastle CraftExpo.
I recall the club took it over a couple of years back running the woodies side of things.

Neil there was an post/announcement somewhere on the forum just after this years show and if I recall on their web site at the time.

I went to the woodies club site to see if it was still there

I found the Craft site CraftExpo, Newcastle 2010 Show | Woodworking Expo | Woodworking Hobbies Expo 2010 1 TICKET = 2 SHOWS!! One ticket gives entry to both the Woodworking Hobbies Expo and Newcastle and it seems 2011 will be a goer but now August 18 - 21, 2011 Newcastle Entertainment Centre noted at top of page. The 2011 listed is Aucklands CraftExpo, Auckland 2011 Show | Expertise Xerxes 2.0 | Under Construction Sorry! I was unable to find the Auckland CraftExpo page you were looking for. This might be due to a bad although the others are there