Oh how things can creep up on you!
Entry posted by andyram
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I think the title of the blog sums things up at the moment. It does not seem that long ago that I was breaking up for the six week summer holiday and looking forward to a family break on the South coast. Now I am back at work, installed as part of the school's leadership team, and suddenly realising that the fourth Weston on Trent Model Railway show is now only a few weeks away. That is quite a frightening thought! In truth the show has been taking a back seat in my thoughts of late due to some building work taking place at the school. Due to an increase in school numbers the two large junior classrooms have had their sizes reduced so that the middle break out room can be made into a classroom. This has made three equal sized, but smaller, rooms. Whilst this work does not reduce the actual size available for the show, it does mean the footprint changes slightly. Until the building work was completed and the rooms fitted out I could not complete the floor plan to ensure everything fits. This will need to be done in the next couple of weeks.
At present there are 13 layouts confirmed, with another 6 or 7 still to return their confirmation sheets. We should have a 20 layout show by the time it all comes together. This year one of the rooms will be billed as the "interactive room" and will feature layouts that are available for the general public to try if they wish. I am not sure if there are many other shows that give over a whole room in this way, but hopefully it will prove to be a success.
Talking of the word "success" - I really hope the show proves to be so. The last three events have all been successful and well attended. They have also been a joy to organise. I have benefitted from so much goodwill and help. This has been the case again, with so many RMWeb members bringing their layouts and offering support. I really appreciate this help and support. Unfortunately there have been plenty of "speed bumps" along the way. No less than three traders have pulled out. All have been long serving supporters and their loss has made things difficult. One trader told me a while ago they were cutting down on the number of shows they were attending and ours, as a one day show, was part of the cull. This was disappointing, but understandable. The other two had double booked themselves which is very annoying, but happens I suppose. One of these traders decided to inform me of this decision by sending a message via my parents which offended me a little.
Thankfully I have managed to replace two of the missing traders and I am close to agreeing a third new trader which will give us a full compliment. I am just waiting for this trader to get back to me. It is a frustrating wait, especially as they promised to contact me over a week ago. I do seem to have spent a while awaiting replies and chasing people up this year. I have also been let down a lot, and I am pretty certain one layout owner is going to pull out due to ill health - we lost another due to illness earlier in the year.
I am sure many exhibition manager has had similar experiences over the years - this is my first experience of such hassles and problems. Hopefully I can bring things together in time. There is still so much to do, and my layout still needs a lot of work. I still need to find another layout, especially if my suspicions about the exhibitor prove to be correct.
More updates soon!
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