Exhibition cancellations (not much to do with that anymore!)

[woodenhead]

6 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Price up the screens and I think you’ll be baulking at the cost to be passed on

 

Plastic curtains would be cheaper and probably as effective, I did find it odd the first time in Aldi, but I am used to them now.

[PaulRhB]

 

43 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

Plastic curtains would be cheaper and probably as effective, I

And what’s holding them up? It’s all got to fit in an exhibitors car or if a club did it store it all somewhere too that’s why only big clubs have barriers and Warley use several groups barriers for their show. 

[MarcD]

Unfortunately the only people who learn lessons from history wear uniforms as they don't like being killed in the same way twice. 

Unfortunately none of our leading political figures have been at the pointy end of anything more dangerous than a pencil.

Marc

[PaulRhB]

Just now, Furness Wagon said:

Unfortunately the only people who learn lessons from history wear uniforms as they don't like being killed in the same way twice. 

Have you read the WW1 methods of attack in 1914 and the Allied organisation at the start of WW2?  

They ended up in trenches because cavalry couldn’t get through machine gun fire and in WW2 the French HQ didn’t even have phone communication and relied on hourly messengers, hence their reactions were too slow to Blitzkrieg. They learnt fast in both cases but certainly not from history. 
It’s because we are humans and like insurance and taxes we don’t like paying it unless someone makes us. Uniform, politics and economic power have little to do with it  

[John M Upton]

A lot of the problems are due to the popular press pandering to the lowest common denominator of stupid who are champing at the bit to get McDonald's, KFC and Gregg's reopened and football restarted. 

 

If I had my way, they would  be the very last things to be reopened!!

[john new]

1 hour ago, PaulRhB said:

 

And what’s holding them up? It’s all got to fit in an exhibitors car or if a club did it store it all somewhere too that’s why only big clubs have barriers and Warley use several groups barriers for their show. 

Storage is an issue even with what shows and societies/clubs have now, for example one reason why York uses the Warley barriers, the old York Show store in Acomb (used when we still had our own dexion panel barriers), we had to vacate a couple of decades ago, possibly even three decades back now.

Edited May 9, 2020 by john new

[JohnDMJ]

Controversy alert!

12 hours ago, John M Upton said:

A lot of the problems are due to the popular press pandering to the lowest common denominator of stupid who are champing at the bit to get McDonald's, KFC and Gregg's reopened and football restarted. 

 

If I had my way, they would  be the very last things to be reopened!!

 

You wouldn't be, by any chance, offering a pop at 22 overpaid actors chasing an inflated pig's bladder around a bit of grass, would you?

 

Apologies for the deviation from topic!

[bart2day]

I have come to the conclusion after keeping up with the posts on this thread that model railway exhibitions are incredibly unhygienic. 

[Barry O]

6 hours ago, bart2day said:

I have come to the conclusion after keeping up with the posts on this thread that model railway exhibitions are incredibly unhygienic. 

Any gathering of people is unhygienic..how do you think the virus spread in the first place?

[Barry O]

Having talked to a couple of "small" traders they are still very busy. The lack of shows seems to be having the opposite effect on them to some of the theories stated by some...

 

I wonder if they will decide not to bother going to shows any more?

Baz

[PaulRhB]

12 minutes ago, Barry O said:

 

I wonder if they will decide not to bother going to shows any more?

Baz

Possibly if they have a strong net presence that keeps their shop up the top of searches but I suspect that will tail off, if shows resume as normal, because people will go back to making up lists to pick up at shows. It’s back to visibility again whether online or in person that gets someone to look at your wares. I’ve had to do some quite detailed searches to find certain items and then found the initial ‘in stock’ is actually an archive web result not an actual result.
As an example I tried finding Wills plate girder sides and when I finally found them in a small business about three pages into a third search phrase I placed the order. Next day I got a nice polite email saying sorry but the website was out of date and stock had gone! The big boys like Hattons, Rails and Antics dominate searches and usually have the advantage of big stocks making them a one stop so you often save on the items and single postage fee. The small guys are getting an advantage as the big shops supply dries up but as Peco opened up last week and others Chinese supplies resume slowly I suspect the status quo on searches will mean page 1 of the searches will provide the goods people want. If they can keep their shop on page 1 good luck to them. 

[Barry O]

9 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Possibly if they have a strong net presence that keeps their shop up the top of searches but I suspect that will tail off, if shows resume as normal, because people will go back to making up lists to pick up at shows. It’s back to visibility again whether online or in person that gets someone to look at your wares. I’ve had to do some quite detailed searches to find certain items and then found the initial ‘in stock’ is actually an archive web result not an actual result.
As an example I tried finding Wills plate girder sides and when I finally found them in a small business about three pages into a third search phrase I placed the order. Next day I got a nice polite email saying sorry but the website was out of date and stock had gone! The big boys like Hattons, Rails and Antics dominate searches and usually have the advantage of big stocks making them a one stop so you often save on the items and single postage fee. The small guys are getting an advantage as the big shops supply dries up but as Peco opened up last week and others Chinese supplies resume slowly I suspect the status quo on searches will mean page 1 of the searches will provide the goods people want. If they can keep their shop on page 1 good luck to them. 

The people buying items from specialists know what they want and know where to get it.

 

If it costs less to stay at home and sell items ( as in they dont have a physical shop than attending an exhibition they may not venture out unles it is a specialist show.

 

Not sure that lots of visitors have a list at shows...

Baz

[PaulRhB]

28 minutes ago, Barry O said:

The people buying items from specialists know what they want and know where to get it.

 

If it costs less to stay at home and sell items 

All true and the existing ones do but several traders I know in the NG field always considered the shows as their shop window to new customers rather than a major part of the actual revenue. Like you say once you paid travel and for stand space it eats up the money.
We used to do just a couple of specialist NG shows each year with my friends business purely for the visibility too. We averaged just £3-500 minus the fuel and stand so you can knock at least £50 off that. It kept a steady stream of orders coming in and even though the name is well known in specialist NG circles we still had people discover us at shows or comment they’d wanted to see them in the flesh before spending large amounts. I doubt anyone outside the NG interest has even heard of Dorset Kits or would find Kev without a very specific search for prototype and scale  

Those odd show discoveries can net large orders that pay for several years show appearances when someone stocks the whole layout. 

I can only go by what the friends in the trade find works for them but we’ve been rocking up and sitting next to them for many years and find it worth it for the social and business sides.

I suspect there will be minor shifts both ways if life returns to somewhat normal but nothing radical because hosting a website that gets hits at the top of searches isn’t cheap either  

[John Harris]

7 hours ago, bart2day said:

I have come to the conclusion after keeping up with the posts on this thread that model railway exhibitions are incredibly unhygienic. 

 

I've been to many shows and events over the years, there are always people who are best to keep downwind.

 

I'm guessing that hand washing is still a novelty for them.

 

jh

Edited May 11, 2020 by John Harris

[Pete the Elaner]

5 minutes ago, John Harris said:

 

I've been to many shows and events over the years, there are always people who are best to keep downwind.

 

I'm guessing that hand washing is still a novelty for them.

 

jh

 

I would find that amusing if it wasn't bluntly true.

[Joseph_Pestell]

For a small business, doing shows has huge costs beyond the stand fees and travel costs. The days spent getting ready for the show and then putting the stocks back in place after the show are a big disruption to the day-to-day running of the business which is a big cost in itself.

 

To do shows well, one needs to reach a size where one can run a semi-independent show set-up with extra staff and stock. This is what Fox Transfers and others have done. If the business to be had at shows does not merit this, I can fully understand the decision of a business such as Wizard/Comet/51L to stop doing shows.

 

From the customer viewpoint, I still find new items at shows that I would not otherwise know about.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

Another aspect is that I think clubs may need to reconsider the way they are financed. It seems to me that too many clubs rely on exhibition income to make the club viable. Maybe they will need to rearrange their finances so that they are less reliant on exhibition income in the future to balance the books.

[Dunsignalling]

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

The people buying items from specialists know what they want and know where to get it.

 

If it costs less to stay at home and sell items ( as in they dont have a physical shop than attending an exhibition they may not venture out unles it is a specialist show.

 

Not sure that lots of visitors have a list at shows...

Baz

You soon notice if you are next in line behind someone who doesn't.....

 

John

[Pete the Elaner]

1 hour ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

Another aspect is that I think clubs may need to reconsider the way they are financed. It seems to me that too many clubs rely on exhibition income to make the club viable. Maybe they will need to rearrange their finances so that they are less reliant on exhibition income in the future to balance the books.

 

Membership fees have rightly been mentioned, usually as part of the Tresurer's report, at every AGM I have been to, whether this is a model railway club, national association (DEMU for example), local snooker or darts league.

 

The discussion is often as short as a recommendation not to change it followed by a vote, but this depends on current finances & a missing exhibition will naturally affect this.

I am sure many clubs also keep a reserve for "unexpected circumstances". We seem to have one now.

[PaulRhB]

1 hour ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

Another aspect is that I think clubs may need to reconsider the way they are financed. It seems to me that too many clubs rely on exhibition income to make the club viable. Maybe they will need to rearrange their finances so that they are less reliant on exhibition income in the future to balance the books.

Yes if they do, neither of the groups I belong to does though. The show income has allowed nice to have purchases like a projector and extras for layouts. 

[RJS1977]

13 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

All true and the existing ones do but several traders I know in the NG field always considered the shows as their shop window to new customers rather than a major part of the actual revenue. Like you say once you paid travel and for stand space it eats up the money.
We used to do just a couple of specialist NG shows each year with my friends business purely for the visibility too. We averaged just £3-500 minus the fuel and stand so you can knock at least £50 off that. It kept a steady stream of orders coming in and even though the name is well known in specialist NG circles we still had people discover us at shows or comment they’d wanted to see them in the flesh before spending large amounts. I doubt anyone outside the NG interest has even heard of Dorset Kits or would find Kev without a very specific search for prototype and scale  

 

 

Which is why traders like Dundas and N-Drive are prepared to come all the way down south for ExpoNG, and even for smaller events like Pewsey.

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I hardly need to post this, but for the record, Aly Paly in August cancelled.

 

 

[john new]

11 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

 

Which is why traders like Dundas and N-Drive are prepared to come all the way down south for ExpoNG, and even for smaller events like Pewsey.

I guess for the same reason societies do some shows as loss leaders. People need to know you exist and see what you offer. 
 

Edited May 12, 2020 by john new
Punctuation error.

[John M Upton]

9 hours ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

I hardly need to post this, but for the record, Aly Paly in August cancelled.

 

 

Where is the official statement please?

[TEAMYAKIMA]

I had an email last night from the exhibition manager as I had been invited to take my layout in August