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Just received an email from Phoenex Exhibitions regarding the new format. I presume others have got the same email.
Instead of just wood working there will be, as listed in the email;
luthering, painting-sculpting-school arts, air brushing, black smithing, glass blowing, pottery-ceramics, coopering, leather craft.
Just wondering what others think of the new format and whether you think we may see a decline or increase in woodworking equipment company participation?
Cheers
I like the idea as I'm interested in a number of those things. I think we will still see the woodworking equipment companies as there is a very good chance that there will be many more people than at a show with the old format
I think more people will attend as it covers more crafts. So for someone that is into one of the other hobbies will be exposed to wood working and vise versa.
My thoughts also - can only be good. At least Candice is attempting something to liven up the event.Quote:
Originally Posted by Christos
Hey, ANY CHANGE would have to be an improvement over what we have suffered through for quite a few years now.
People have already mentioned that a lot of us also dabble in the other crafts that will be joining.
I do a little blacksmithing, knifemaking/bladesmithing and leatherwork myself and have had an interest in a few of the others.
I think that the organizers are on the right track. I have seen some criticism on facebook that their problem will be that they do not have the advertising budget to make the show work. Firstly - how do they know this? and secondly if they keep bagging the show on social media they are creating an undercurrent of interest and publicizing the show for free for the organizers and they won't need to spend much on advertising. Their target market will all know all about the show and will go along to see what the changes are.
I have the show dates entered into my google calendar ensuring that I keep the date free. I am really looking forward to seeing how it goes. The 2018 Melbourne show was the best one in a long time under the new owners, despite having been left a legacy of dates and venues from the previous organizers, which they have already fixed for 2019.
I think that the thrust of the show will remain timber. As they said in the email:
Quote:
We are also very proud of our heritage in woodworking and as the new name suggests, the shows will remain strongly connected to this heritage and continue to have a prominent timber and wood craft presence.
I think it is a great idea.
Wood working is a craft and lots of my friends like myself have more than one craft.
Some of us could go together and make a day of it.
A fair number of my projects over the years have incorporated other skills as well as wood work.
The use of resins recently has meant woodworkers learning new skills.
All the exhibits mentioned in the email are well related and to wood working.
I have already marked the calendar and looking forward to the experience.
Cheers
John T
Put me on the doubters list. However if there is a good list of woodworking exhibitors I will certainly attend
From when I talked with Candy who was in charge of the sydney show the shows will always be timber focused. They were looking at running more try woodworking courses and specialty courses. They ate wantibg to work with all the other timber shows and not compete with them so wont have something in qld and sydney on the same date. I did raise the question of wheelchair access and the likes for mobility impaired people and they are going to look into it. I tried to get a survey from them with their vision to see what everyone likes and to get some feedback from everyone on hear but i never got anything as they were quite busy. If anyone wants to pm me feedback to pass on to the organisers i am happy to put it in a email and send it to them. Cheers Pat
I think the days of niche special interest events are numbered. The numbers of actual "hands on" attendees are shrinking with the majority of potential attendees wanting to be entertained rather than informed or actually seeking to purchase tools / machinery. The revised format seems to be addressing that need / want. At Maleny the hands on make it sessions seemed to be oversubscribed which bodes well for growth.
I'm all for the shows growing and working well. One of the main drawbacks seems to be advertising and getting the word out not only to the woodworkers but with an expanded show to everyone.
It's a huge cost to saturate advertise each show. There is a Timber and Working With Wood Show forum here which Candice knows about and said they would use but to date I haven't seen anyone from Phoenix post in there.
It costs them nothing and gets amazing exposure.
To date there are more posts in that forum for other shows than for T&WWWShows now Timber Tools & Artisan Shows.
Pauline and I did 24 years of the shows in Melbourne and 20 years of the other state shows and supported them strongly with help from the forums and personal help as much as possible.
Have to admit the couple of times the old and even older owners of the show tried to diversify were the worst shows ever had a stand at. With that in mind I really hope that the new format takes off and goes brilliantly. I would love to see content from Phoenix posted here on the forums along with the special discounted entry for Members which we used to have.
As much as we would love to be doing the shows again we just can't handle them any more both stamina wise and financially.
Most sincerely - Neil :U
That absolutely nails it as far as I can see. The problem that arises then is the cost to the exhibitor / profit for the organiser equation. Too much of a loss on either side of that and it's doomsville.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mobyturns
I have no problems with the diversification, especially as it seems likely to me that this is needed for the show to survive in any format long term. (And I have interests in a few of these other arts, so it's a bonus for me.)
But the days of seeing major machinery suppliers? Nope. Gone, apart from a few, and I'm guessing that they're present more for PR and a chin-wag than to make any sales.
I think that the halcyon days of the old woodworking shows we so fondly remember are over.
The internet has killed them.
People browse on-line, looking for the cheapest possible prices for what they want, then complain when they actually attend a woodworking show and don't find the same machinery as low or even cheaper. I've heard just such complaints from people who should know better.
I like woodworking shows because, like many others, it means I can actually physically inspect whatever I'm interested in... but, also like many others, I won't necessarily buy big-budget items there. Instead I'll go home and start browsing... :-
This does not support the businesses who made the effort to attend. Sadly, however much I'd like to spend big $$$ there in support, the bank says No. :no:
Me culpa. But at least I'm not whining about the change.