Thread: Perth woodshow

I see the PWSG (Perth Wood Show Grumps) are getting in early this year.

While it's not my cup of tea either I do see some WWF people there and I know other people who are regulars and they seem to like it. The usual WWF member suspects are Boringgeoof on the hand tool preservation stand, Derek Cohen on Chris Vespers Stand, Interwood has done demos for Triton, and a couple of others like myself and LarryM helping out on the FWWA WW competition display.

I don't claim to know anything special about what goes on behind the scene but I do know that staging anything in WA costs $$$$ so it does not surprise me that it costs what it does. No one forces anyone to go and you can always go the movies instead.

I'm not that fussed about it being held in conjunction with the craft fair. In fact we have had quite a few people visiting the FWWA competition display who came to just see the Craft Fair but wandered down to the Woodie section and they were quite surprised and said they would come again next year.

I tried really hard to buy something last year but could not even buy a something from the Mcjing stand which I have done most years.

Hi Bob, it does have some good points.
The FWWA exhibition is allways good, I was a member for 2 years or so and exhibited furniture at a couple of shows.There used to be quite a few guys outside selling timber but none last year.
I think that the fact there seem to be fewer exhibitors each year speaks volumes.

I also think deciding to charge for parking without advertising the fact may have angered enough people to affect the gate revenue this time.

What you are describing has become rather common at woodworking shows.

A friend was going to take a job with one of the vendors for a woodworking show.

Basically he was to pay for all of his travel, lodging and food. His pay was a pittance plus 20% of the gross sales, split among the four working the booth.

The rental for booth space for a weekend is about what a brick and mortar can be rented monthly but the store is 8 or 10 times the square meters.

Based upon the above, being a vendor doesn't seem to be a lucrative proposition.

Then there is the Internet. We all shop the internet because goodies can be had for less on the internet. Most of the specialty (woodworking) retail stores have lowered their prices to match Internet pricing. This tends to cut the value of the woodworking show for most woodworkers and the show vendors.

In the Los Angeles area we used to get two or three shows a year. Now we're lucky to get a show every other year. The shows have decreased in size from two full barns (county fairgrounds) with the included alcove to barely filling a building half the size of a barn. A lot of the vendors have just stopped trying to sell through the woodworking show venue.

We used to have two competing woodworking shows. These merged into one smaller show. The ownership of the merged show seems to have passed through several hands. What I've heard is that an actual woodworker now owns the merged show. Some have said that this owner will make the show "fly" again. I have the opposite view based on the premise that your hobby should never be your business.

Also, times are changing and the woodworking show concept just doesn't seem to be able to adapt to the marketplace changes. I think that in 5 years the woodworking show as we know it today will die. If I could figure out how to change the show concept to fit the 21st century I could be the next Bill Gates. Also I could win the lottery if I buy a ticket. Personally I think that winning the lottery is better odds.

As for the sharing concept with the crafty types, the garden types and the extreme outdoor barbeque types has been a dismal failure at the AWFS show in Las Vegas. (Association of Woodworking & Finishing Suppliers) The inclusion of the crafty types created too much useless traffic in the woodworking halls. Everyone (Organizers, vendors and attendees) was screaming about the inclusion of the crafty types. The home and garden halls were a ghost town and were only there once. The Barbeque folks are tolerated because they are cooking outside in the parking lot.

The AWFS show has changed to be aimed at the very large shop owner and wood manufacturing companies. The little blokes like you and I don't really get a lot of benefit from the AWFS Fair. I generally go on the first day, accost vendors and get information about their products. In simple terms, educate myself. Besides, SWMBO loves to go to Las Vegas.

I guess the real message is: "Don't put your retirement savings into the purchase of the woodworking show business."

Unfortunately Imhave experineced shows from both, perspectives, I think all trade shows suffre from the same problem.

I exhibited at the Period homes and interiors exhibition in London over 20 years ago and the first day coincided with the outbreak of the first Gulf war.I didnt get a single sale or any follow up from that show. I have also done several antique fairs in England.I think I only made profit at one of them.

The only people who make any money are the organisers, you cant tell me they pay a lot for venue hire as these places seem to be very litlle used for most of the year.

The simple fact is that the majority of visitors are just tyre kickers and apart from paying entrance fees all they buy is crap coffe and luke warm pies.

I do woodworking professionally and my main reason for going to the Perth show is to look for nice timber but there seems to be not a great deal of that around.

I could exhibit my own work at the Perth show but the costs are just too high.

Originally Posted by rrich

What you are describing has become rather common at woodworking shows.

A friend was going to take a job with one of the vendors for a woodworking show.

Basically he was to pay for all of his travel, lodging and food. His pay was a pittance plus 20% of the gross sales, split among the four working the booth.

The rental for booth space for a weekend is about what a brick and mortar can be rented monthly but the store is 8 or 10 times the square meters.

Based upon the above, being a vendor doesn't seem to be a lucrative proposition.

Then there is the Internet. We all shop the internet because goodies can be had for less on the internet. Most of the specialty (woodworking) retail stores have lowered their prices to match Internet pricing. This tends to cut the value of the woodworking show for most woodworkers and the show vendors.

In the Los Angeles area we used to get two or three shows a year. Now we're lucky to get a show every other year. The shows have decreased in size from two full barns (county fairgrounds) with the included alcove to barely filling a building half the size of a barn. A lot of the vendors have just stopped trying to sell through the woodworking show venue.

We used to have two competing woodworking shows. These merged into one smaller show. The ownership of the merged show seems to have passed through several hands. What I've heard is that an actual woodworker now owns the merged show. Some have said that this owner will make the show "fly" again. I have the opposite view based on the premise that your hobby should never be your business.

Also, times are changing and the woodworking show concept just doesn't seem to be able to adapt to the marketplace changes. I think that in 5 years the woodworking show as we know it today will die. If I could figure out how to change the show concept to fit the 21st century I could be the next Bill Gates. Also I could win the lottery if I buy a ticket. Personally I think that winning the lottery is better odds.

As for the sharing concept with the crafty types, the garden types and the extreme outdoor barbeque types has been a dismal failure at the AWFS show in Las Vegas. (Association of Woodworking & Finishing Suppliers) The inclusion of the crafty types created too much useless traffic in the woodworking halls. Everyone (Organizers, vendors and attendees) was screaming about the inclusion of the crafty types. The home and garden halls were a ghost town and were only there once. The Barbeque folks are tolerated because they are cooking outside in the parking lot.

The AWFS show has changed to be aimed at the very large shop owner and wood manufacturing companies. The little blokes like you and I don't really get a lot of benefit from the AWFS Fair. I generally go on the first day, accost vendors and get information about their products. In simple terms, educate myself. Besides, SWMBO loves to go to Las Vegas.

I guess the real message is: "Don't put your retirement savings into the purchase of the woodworking show business."

Interesting what Rich has to say about the shows in LA. I always thought it would be different, but it seems it is not that different from what we have here in OZ. The main difference is that the stores in the USA are much cheaper than here but then the average wages are also lower. Us good folks here in OZ like to get some of those USA bargains from time to time (read - when the $AU is high against the $US).
So I guess the moral of the story is that us simple woodworking types are no longer getting the great shows and bargains that come with it.
Regards
Les