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Gauge O Guild Kettering Show 2018


MarcD
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I don’t think there is a need for a new team even if candidates were available.

Hi Phil

I don’t blame the society for a poorly attended exhibition.

Event disrupting snow is not common in a 21st century winter let alone march.

The no insurance thing is forgivable given the ‘unlikleyhood’ of it happening, it’s not happened before, lesson for the future.

poor comms is poor. It’s about skills and understanding. This is important and the GOG need to learn this. Forums, the web site and RMweb are incredibly powerful tools. Good communications is important for event promotion, explaination, and engagement with your customers. The group must control the communication ( that means commenting, explains and responding) . Fail to do this and the rest of us fill in the gaps and have field day like they did here today.

What I personally consider unforgivable is the ‘free rider’ accusation (untrue and irrelevant) the claim that ex members are nob heads and no further apology for these rude (at best) statements.

The society needs to either retract those insulting claims or explain to us why the individuals were not representing them he societies views. silance can be seen as agreement.

Andy

Well said Andy

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No offence taken or criticism seen in any postings so no apologies necessary people.

 

Just explaining the detail decision making process and the difficulty of making such a decision.

 

It was a very tough day.

And very helpful it is and a model for others to follow. None of the traders, including us, were contacted or consulted by The Guild. We had to pull out as our main base was in the South Wales Red Zone. 

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probably one of the quietest shows ive ever attended, if i was able to drive, i would never attend it at the distance from me to travel and the pre show build up on this thread didnt help my confidence in the show either, but since i was hitching a ride with a friend also attending, i went,

 

ive been a member about 3 or 4 years and had a look into the forum back then but it just didnt quite look like it had the same kind of lively community worth contributing to as we have here and ive only gone back on it in the last few days to see the show thread,

 

At the show, on the way in before the show opened there was a bus stuck in the snow and ice spinning its wheels on the wrong side of the road at an angle, and we had to mount he opposite pavement to get round it with less than an inch to spare, the bring and buy stand was predictably very quiet, many people turned there noses up at the 2 4F's just because they are lima, they were modified by a skilled modeller Ray Clasper and are great reliable runners, it was dis heartening listening to people rejected good cheap models just because they are of a lesser quality as if they are some elite that only allow the best, where as i go under the doctrine that it doesnt matter quite as much what it looks or sounds like as long as it runs well. my 2 mains purchases were postponed due to the traders not being there and that is perfectly fine and understandable they are snowed in

 

but i do really feel for the traders that have made a loss, little or no profit with no apology, if the guild doesnt learn its lesson from this, if it happens again, the only way to make them see would be to boycott the show but that only works if everybody does it which would be very unlikely

 

i havent yet seen for myself properly all of this elitism and people often talk of about the guild as i grew up with friends that are (were i.e. passed away) brilliant people but also guild members and its only in these last 3 years ive been attending guild shows

 

maybe i should get in on the guild forum and share my workbench where theres not a single etched brass kit in sight and show them some real modelling

Sam,

You should definitely start posting some of your work on the Guild's Forum. 

CK

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I think you may wish to re-visit those last two paragraphs... 

 

just out of plain curiosity what is it about those paragraphs that needs revisiting,

 

its difficult writing this reply without sounding like im trying to defend myself but im really not i dont care im free to my opinions and your free to yours, were all equal and democratic whatever may be wrong with what i said, i'll happily accept it but its still my opinion

Edited by sir douglas
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Whoa there, easy tiger. Just that some might view your comment about sharing your workbench on the Guild forum and showing some real modelling a la brass kits in itself carrying a whiff of the elitism you alluded to in the previous paragraph. Hope you enjoyed the show chap!

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Andy,

 

You are reading something that is not there.

 

At no point did I ever say I was a member of the G0G committee.

 

 

I merely said I joined a committee. (It was our local model railway club.)

 

So it would have been improper of me to apologise explain or retract something over which I have no influence or control.

 

The point about the committee was very much tongue in cheek, and should have been seen as a mildly amusing contradiction in the way that peoples attitudes change as they swop sides of the clubroom. It was lobbed in Chris's (2MS) general direction and by his reply which directly followed my post was not in the least offended.

 

Do I warrant an apology for being accused of something I'm not?

 

Then, I apologise

 

I've re read your post and see the reference is to 'a' committee rather than 'the' committee

 

sorry again

 

Andy

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And very helpful it is and a model for others to follow. None of the traders, including us, were contacted or consulted by The Guild. We had to pull out as our main base was in the South Wales Red Zone. 

 

I believe that my F-in-L (Electrifying Trains) was contacted by someone

from the events team.

They were trying to convinced him to attend, as it was 'definitely going

to be okay', he didn't go!

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I've always thought it would do the Guild well to release some of the gold from its vaults and invest it in a small, permanent full-time team with the skill sets and authority to undertake (no Guild pun intended) those tasks with which it regularly struggles. A marketing/communications/events/web team; it could comfortably be self-sustaining after a couple of years and start turning a decent profit for the Guild off its own bat. I've done this in the public sector, it would be a breeze for an organisation like the Guild. But is the will there?

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The main roads in the area are largely passable but are bearing the strain of several days of the heaviest snowfall in many years and the consequences of traffic diverting from other routes which aren't passable. A further couple of inches yesterday and into the night has added to the problems local services are having to maintain them in a useable state. One of the major issues has been the volume of traffic who have been ignoring appeals not to travel for other than essential journeys, concentrated on those routes which are passable, this has impeded efforts to fully clear and grit the roads to ensure they continue to be passable. Similarly the local medical services have been under immense strain in dealing with a significantly higher level of casualties, and that on top of Kettering General's A+E already being one of the most overcrowded in the UK.

 

Without getting into the rights and wrongs of going ahead, or the underlying reasons for it, I guess the local services will be thankful the number of attendees at the show will be significantly reduced, a sizeable increase in traffic adding to already creaking road infrastructure which isn't getting the chance to recover would certainly not have been welcome. Hopefully all goes well and there will be no need to rely on services who's resources could better used for those in real need but maybe, just maybe this is a wake-up call to organisers to ensure they take full responsibility for their own events, recognise the realities of what can and does go wrong, take the necessary precautions to cover their risk and don't rely on others to pick up the pieces when it all goes wrong.

 

You're kidding right?  I went (in a rear wheel drive car!) and the A14 was merely wet, totally clear and as deserted as I've ever seen it.  So much for "creaking road infrastructure.   There's been an awful lot of hype about the weather and conditions surrounding this exhibition but I can honestly say around Kettering on Saturday

it was fine.

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You're kidding right? I went (in a rear wheel drive car!) and the A14 was merely wet, totally clear and as deserted as I've ever seen it. So much for "creaking road infrastructure. There's been an awful lot of hype about the weather and conditions surrounding this exhibition but I can honestly say around Kettering on Saturday

it was fine.

What about further afield, there was no issues where I live but our local supermarkets were all missing lots of items especially bread.

 

This isn’t about the roads around Kettering

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When I first joined the Guild I had the impression it was for all 0 gauge modellers steam or diesel but soon realised if I modelled steam I fitted in diesel not it seemed like I was joining the masons so I did not renew my membership if you don't want non members to come then advertise it as members only like I said in my other post I will not be going to any others.t-b-g the comment you put it's the in thing if you can do better you do it childish comes to mind all it needs is the Guild to wake up things have changed there is younger people doing 0 gauge and not everyone likes steam.onto the weather it was predicted to be bad all other Exhibitions cancelled so no excuse you put other people's lives at risk just for the Guild can have half day.

Steve

 

All fine and I agreed wholeheartedly with you Steve until your last sentence.  The Guild didn't put anyone's life at risk by continuing with the show. We're 

all adults and free to make our own judgements about whether it was safe to travel based on the situation in your own area. That decision lay with the

individual not the Guild. No-one was putting a gun to anyone's head and making you go.

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What about further afield, there was no issues where I live but our local supermarkets were all missing lots of items especially bread.

 

This isn’t about the roads around Kettering

 

On the contrary, Rangers post references "The main roads in the area" and "Kettering A&E". So I'd have to disagree with you there.

 

I was simply saying the major roads I used to get to Kettering were very very empty (so probably safer than normal), ice and snow free and only wet at worst.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-43285368

 

"The weather is being blamed for some traders being unable to get to the site."

 

"But for some of those who paid £22 to get in, there simply weren't enough of those mongers."

 

"Organisers say they're now offering a 50% discount to next year's event for everyone who bought a ticket."

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  There's been an awful lot of hype about the weather and conditions surrounding this exhibition but I can honestly say around Kettering on Saturday

it was fine.

That's the problem, though, & IMO, the issue that was overlooked - it might have been fine in Kettering, and the main roads clear, but I expect that for this event, as opposed to a small, local Exhibition, people - especially Traders -  come from a far wider area than just the East Midlands. Further afield things weren't so good on the roads, especially side roads, and there was still the threat of things freezing again once it got dark; i.e. for people's homeward journeys.

And side roads are an issue; most people have to use them to get to the main roads.

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Not just further afield. I live in the East Midlands and our local roads looked like this:

 

post-6675-0-58751300-1520269297_thumb.jpg

 

That's normally a two-way B Road, reduced to a single car with, very slippery and with drifts in places as deep as a car.

 

Certainly not a figment of my imagination. 

 

Edit - 2 days later, after some fairly heavy and persistent rain, we still have the remains of some sizeable drifts. 

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Not just further afield. I live in the East Midlands and our local roads looked like this:

 

attachicon.gifrps20180302_191016.jpg

 

That's normally a two-way B Road, reduced to a single car with, very slippery and with drifts in places as deep as a car.

 

Certainly not a figment of my imagination. 

 

Similar scenes here in Hampshire.  I would have had to drive 7 miles on roads in that condition to get to the A303 (my nearest major road) - and when I drove home on the A303 Thursday evening we were down to 2 lanes, driving on snow, at 30mph.  In fact, it was only Saturday morning I ventured out to the local petrol station (2 miles, 20 minutes) where roads were still like that. Some drifts were still around this morning although today's rain may well have sorted most of them out ... now we wait for the floods :)

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I've always thought it would do the Guild well to release some of the gold from its vaults and invest it in a small, permanent full-time team with the skill sets and authority to undertake (no Guild pun intended) those tasks with which it regularly struggles. A marketing/communications/events/web team; it could comfortably be self-sustaining after a couple of years and start turning a decent profit for the Guild off its own bat. I've done this in the public sector, it would be a breeze for an organisation like the Guild. But is the will there?

I don't think the Guild has a pot of gold. Who would "employ" such a team...warners do it for themselves. Clubs can't afford to employ people to run and publicise their shows....

 

I am just glad that despite everything that was done/not done everyone attending seems to have got home ok

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-43285368

 

"The weather is being blamed for some traders being unable to get to the site."

 

"But for some of those who paid £22 to get in, there simply weren't enough of those mongers."

 

"Organisers say they're now offering a 50% discount to next year's event for everyone who bought a ticket."

News to me about the discount & I'm a member?
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A cheese festival with no cheese?

 

I can just imagine a sketch with John Cleese and Michael Palin at the GOG Kettering show.

 

JC: Ah, my good man, I would like to negotiate the purchase of an etched brass locomotive kit.

 

MP: Sorry, chief, we're out of etched brass kits.

 

JC: No matter, Do you have any whitemetal wagons?

 

MP: Not until the end of the week, Guv'nor.

 

JC: I see. How about gearboxes?

 

MP: No.

 

JC: Track components?

 

MP: Not as such.

 

JC: Paints and weathering materials?

 

MP: Usually but the weather's been a bit chilly, see.

 

JC: Then it's not much of a model railway trade show, is it?

 

MP: I'm very sorry, Sir, I have been completely wasting your time.

 

JC: Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to shoot you.

 

BANG!

 

JC: What a senseless waste of human life.

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