Thread: Wood it work?

Originally Posted by Toymaker Len

The thing is that there are many excellent woodworkers spread far and wide across australia whose work is only gathered in a handful of galleries like Bungendore Woodworks and is only ever seen by a tiny percent of the population. Wouldn't it be great if there was one travelling show for these artisans ? One that wasn't too expensive to exhibit at. It would be obvious to attach it to the WWW shows and that might work. I did a WWW show in Perth a few years ago that had a lot of artist exhibitors showing and selling and it worked really well. Three factors for success were 1) Split level venue to seperate craft from machinery 2) State government support with a minister giving prizes etc. 3) Really good organiser.

Wouldn't that be great. But I do still think that "makers" arent' woodwork buyers. Would require a further effort to advertise to others who would be looking to buy very good quality wood work. But I guess its not completely out of the question. :Wanderingoffpondering:

That is right tea-lady, the woodworkers make really bad customers for makers so we need a show that is advertised to the general public as accessible high standard art made by woodworkers.this would benefit the woodwork industry by bringing in more potential converts from the general public and buyers of australian made high quality woodwork.

If something like this get’s off the ground, that is great, however if it does, then don’t even think of making it an annual event.

These things take effort, time and money, from those running it, and, those attending it.

At the very least it should be once in two years, but would probably have a greater survival possibility, if held every three years.

Many long-term specialist festivals in various parts of the world run to a two-year minimum to four-year maximum years between events, with three years found to be reasonably right for time between events.

Mick.

Originally Posted by Optimark

If something like this get’s off the ground, that is great, however if it does, then don’t even think of making it an annual event.

These things take effort, time and money, from those running it, and, those attending it.

At the very least it should be once in two years, but would probably have a greater survival possibility, if held every three years.

Many long-term specialist festivals in various parts of the world run to a two-year minimum to four-year maximum years between events, with three years found to be reasonably right for time between events.

Mick.

That's a good idea. If it is in conjunction with the wood shows maybe it couold be at 2 shows per year, cycling through to the other shows the next year.

Originally Posted by tea lady

That's a good idea. If it is in conjunction with the wood shows maybe it couold be at 2 shows per year, cycling through to the other shows the next year.

You should have quit while you were doing well.

Well if nothing else, this thread has provoked some thought, a bit of lively disscussion & a war to rival that in the ME.

There must be a bit of history between a couple of members on this thread because I heard the bang before I saw the flash.. still waiting to see the flash.


I love the WWW shows, but here in Adelaide, it's just a fond memory. Had to go to Melbourne to attend one last year & was Frigging amazed at how small it was. I had HUGE expectations of the Melboune show that were simply not fulfilled.

Still had a great time, but ...

The WWW shows are Dying, and unless there are some major changes, it won't only be Adelaide that has lost it. My wife Has never been to one & prolly never will, but she loves Craft Fairs. I have been known to tag along wondering how much longer I have to endure this & it seems to me that I am probably pretty typical of a large number of Husbands at some of these shows.

Wouldn't it be great If we, less interested people could say to our other half, Im just gona slip over to the next pavillion & have a look at the wood work show. I wonder how many of thoes people would buy someting small, a set of drills or a block plane kit. How many would happily go next year only to look at some more tools & watch a few demos

How long before they buy a small bandsaw to cut out those MDF shapes so their other half can paint them or whatever they do with them.

Next thing you know they would be buying woodsmith or some other mag, a few more tools & those suckers are hooked.... Just like we were. My first Wood Work tools were a Ryobi drop saw & a set of Stanley Chisels. The next tool I bought was a $1200 table saw. Prior to that, I thought the only way to join 2 bits of wood together was to bang a nail in each piece & weld the heads together.

IF the wood shows are to survive they need to combine. they need to expand, not shrink and the only way that will happen is to have more people there spending more money. This can't happen when the venues are charging the exhibitor huge stall fees and the entry fee keeps going up & up. Maybe the venue should give away the stalls & take a % of sales. This would at least give the exhibitors a reasonable prospect of making money. the bigger the show, the more of the public attend.

This would also give the guy that has a new dovetail jig a chance to show it off. if it sells then he is at the next show. if nobody buys it then it's back to the drawing board but al least he still has his drawing board.

And if the Adelaide / Melbourne ect., showgrounds want to continue to be greedy bastards and refuse to change with the times, then find another venue. Farmer Browns padock. Hell, if they get any smaller ... my back yard.

Steve

Phil, I think you should remove the word "Gentleman" from your title.

Ned.

Some general comments:

It's not just here:

• Many woodworking shows in the USA are not only getting smaller but in some instances did not run at all last year.

Craft alive:

• Travels the country and had a woodworking section for a couple of years. We did a number of them to help out when they first started. Waste of time and energy as they didn't want any machines especially lathes or sanders running and banished the woodwork from the main venue to smaller halls, meeting rooms, etc. Didn't work out too well at all. for any of the team of woodworkers who gave up their weekends on a regular basis for the shows.
• Pretty sure there is no longer any woodwork at these showswith the possible exception of some toys

It's all very well to want to run a shows like HandWorks but who's going to pay for it:

• The venues don't give their floor space away.
• Anyone who puts the money up front and organises it will want to make a profit.
• Philanthropists don't grow on trees and I'm sure won't throw money into something like a woodshow unless the profits were to go to a charity or similar.
• Stall holders will still have to pay to be there and make a profit or it will be a one hit wonder.

Timber and Working With Wood Shows:

• Have done everything possible to expand the shows appeal and make them bigger and better for all.
• There are now more demonstrations than ever before. Areas where you can learn ask questions try things out in a hands on fashion.
• Talk to manufacturers, inventers, innovators and get first hand information from those who really know their products instead of some self appointed club guru or neighbourhood expert who think they know.

If anyone thinks they have an idea that will help with making the wood shows grow and become more exciting or as someone put it "leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling" please post your ideas in this NEW THREAD: My Bright idea(s) to rejuvenate the T&WWWShows

Cheers - Neil

PS For 6 years Maine Woodworkers ran an extremely successful "Woodie Swap Meet" at my property at Welshmans Reef in Central Victoria. For 6 years we won accolades for that Swap Meet and for the same 6 years we had to put up with criticism from disgruntled people for that Swap Meet.

Moral of the story: Can't please all of the people all the of time and some you'll never please no matter what you do or how hard you try. Oh well....

Thanks for your comments on the reality of the situation Niel.

Sorry, I forgot to add this to my last post.

I agree wholeheartedly with Big Shed's decision made to move this into a new thread of it's own.

It was wasted on the back of the old 2012 show thread.

I can guarantee you that Liz Falloon and others from the organising team will see both this thread and the new one I started here Bright idea(s) to rejuvenate the T&WWWShows

I have made both threads sticky for now, so it will be seen by anyone who goes into this forum.

Neil