Organising Exhibitions

[61666]

I do not know if a previous thread like this exists, but I am interested in finding out what those who organise exhibitions feel about the current situation. First, a bit of background:

·      Currently, there are  a lot of them. Magazine diary pages show that September to November have well over 200 shows in three months. Indeed, only December is relatively quiet, with around 20, while even the summer months [fairly empty even 10 years ago], now average around 30 each.

·      A good exhibition is neither easy, nor cheap to organise. Chances are, a school exhibition hall will cost between one and two grand for the weekend, while a Sports Centre will be double or treble that. Any invited layout that needs a van is going to add a couple of hundred to basic fuel costs, while if overnight accommodation is required, then a further £40-£60 per head, per night needs to be added on. So, while a local layout, which travels in a car, will only incur expenses of £30 or less, a big layout travelling any distance will cost many hundreds of pounds to invite. Add on things like insurance, chair and table hire, catering, tickets & programmes etc, etc and the cost can really escallate.

·      Recouping these costs can only come from a limited number of sources. Sponsorship is one [if you can get it] & this is behind many of the larger shows for obvious reasons. Goodness knows how much it costs to hire Alexandra Palace for the weekend! The other two are entrance fees and income from traders. In the case of the latter, a medium sized show might have 200-300 feet of trade stands, which should bring in around £10 per foot or more for a two day show. So, £2-3000. Income from entrance fees is simply cost x those attending, so a show that gets, say 700 over a weekend at £6 a head will generate £4200. Add in trader fees and you have around £7000 to play with. Or you make a loss…

 

 So, my basic questions are:

·      How are clubs/organisations/individuals managing the process?

·      Who is making a profit/loss [and in the case of the former, how?]

·      How are organisers finding things in terms of sourcing quality layouts, given there is so much competition?

·      How are Traders faring? Which type of shows are best for sales and what can organisers do to make attending a show worthwhile for you?

·      What do visitors want to see at a show – though bear in mind here that one cannot please all of the people all of the time. I am talking generally, rather than specifically here.

·      In short, what should exhibition organisers doing to secure the future of good quality exhibitions

 

 I presume I will not be alone in being very interested to see what people think.

[Chris M]

For all shows trade exhibitors are important. Some people will only go to shows with the right trade support. Also I would agree that income from trade stands is in very broad terms about half the income for many shows.

The layouts need to be a mix of local and not so local to keep expenses in check while also bringing in something that the locals will not have seen before.

With club shows the time put in for free by the club members is what makes a show viable. If help has to be paid for the show will almost certainly make a loss. This applies right through from the smallest to the biggest shows.

I think many exhibitors do local shows, say within 20 miles, for clubs or charities and do not claim expenses. I don't claim in these circumstances although I would for a commercial exhibition. I'm sure this helps.

 

There are plenty of good exhibition layouts around at the moment so o don't think that is a problem. Of course one persons view of a quality layout will be looked upon as a poor layout by someone else.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Chris M

[andyram]

I am quite fortunate in relation to the show I organise. It is run to raise funds for the school it is held in and therefore we do not incur rental for hall, tables etc. We manage expenses carefully and do not book any layouts that need van hire. You can get some decent size layouts that come by car. We ensure that takings from the trade exceed layout expense costs. The profit pays for the provisions for the catering and refreshment stands. Paid adverts in a show guide are also a good source of income.

[Andrew P]

I am quite fortunate in relation to the show I organise. It is run to raise funds for the school it is held in and therefore we do not incur rental for hall, tables etc. We manage expenses carefully and do not book any layouts that need van hire. You can get some decent size layouts that come by car. We ensure that takings from the trade exceed layout expense costs. The profit pays for the provisions for the catering and refreshment stands. Paid adverts in a show guide are also a good source of income.

Will you still be doing the Weston Show this year Andy?

[andyram]

Will you still be doing the Weston Show this year Andy?

It has only just been decided, but yes it is on providing I can get the layouts in. Obviously things have got in the way of the organising this year. Could be my swan song as organiser of the event.

[61666]

Thanks for those who have replied, though I thought/hoped there might be a lot more correspondence on the subject - or am I in the minority in terms of being concerned that the number of shows is reaching saturation point and because of that, public interest is starting to wane?

[terrysoham]

I suspect that you are not getting replies because you are asking what is considered by many to be financially sensitive information.

[john new]

A long time since I was involved in local shows and my current input at York is on the web side, however, I have done planning and risk assessments recently for other forms of event so here goes with some notes..

 

Issues I do recall from the railway shows I ran/have helped run and which are still relevant across the board:- 

 

1) Access to the hall. (a) You need a really good floor plan during the planning phase AND always check before the show event that nothing has been modified by the venue operator. (Worst to date - one big hall split in two with a wall!, also new book shelves/units built around class room edges making them quite a bit smaller than when booked)

2) Access to the hall. (b) Always allow time to mark out BEFORE exhibitors arrive including shifting all the stuff that will be in the way. (Edit - how will you barrier, will you barrier, what kit might you need?)

3) Access to the hall. (c ) How will your exhibitors gain access safely and where will they park during and after unloading.

4) Access to the hall. (d) How will your visitors gain access safely, where will they queue and where will they park?

5) Publicity - local- a big bug bear as very few shops these days allow posters in windows and there are planning and highway restrictions/regulations on direction signing. Local radio/press etc not guaranteed for free as they are bombarded with events to plug.

6) Publicity - national - allow plenty of lead time for your listing to get into print copy. IDEALLY have a google maps link and directions on any website publicity. People have to find you.

7) Risk assessments - essential for two reasons (a) you've done your planning for what might happen, could go wrong and so that your power supplies are adequate/safe, your fire exits are clear i.e., all the blindingly obvious stuff and (b) your insurers will demand one.

8) Insurance - you need public liability cover and exhibitor cover (There are package schemes - can someone comment on who is currently providing please)

9) Catering - who to do and how? Part of your risk ass' if organising yourself is consideration of food safety standards compliance.

10) Stewards and door crew - how many do you need and where will they come from?

11) PRS licence - does the venue have one as if not you may need to restrict playing of commercially recorded music and videos. (Or gamble on not getting caught that is  your call!) Warley for example ban it I believe for PRS reasons but obviously the NEC is a big venue that might be checked on for compliance)

12) Electrical tests - your power feed loom and leads must be safe so get them PAT certified by a local electrician. Are you going to make RCDs mandatory for exhibitors or not (Need varies by venue).

13) Advance documentation - Make sure anything that MUST be complied with by exhibitors is notified to them in advance.

14) Obviously check everything with the venue you are hiring from especially for a first event and look for the things you might have missed - we once discovered after about four shows in a venue that what we had always thought was a potable drinking water supply (and were using accordingly) actually wasn't!

 

There are new regulations covering the entertainment industry generally and the above is only guidance but hopefully covers what you need to be considering. Basically it is thinking ahead/starting to plan well in advance, applying common sense and then documenting your common sense. Go to a show or two also and look at what others are doing and asking yourself why have they done that, do I need to do that, why didn't show X do??? etc....

 

Whether it ends up viable for you to do, or you are better off helping someone else, ultimately is your risk; you will be underwriting the first one so logically start small rather than by booking some massive arena!

 

PS My own view is you would be better off joining a club and helping the organisers of an existing show to gain experience before even thinking of  about flying solo and when you solo, if you do, make sure it is well away from existing events as a clash will harm viability of both events .

Edited June 13, 2017 by john new

[peterl]

61666 the only way you will really find out about organising a Show is to get involved in organising one. Joining a club and really getting involved will highlight all the problems, only some of which have ben mentioned by John New.

Too many Shows, well you might have a point but the UK is actually a reasonably large country and does have a lot of people who are interested in Model Railways so will visit a Show if not too far to travel. The big Shows are different. Also be vary careful of the terminology you use.  Most model Railway Show do not make a profit.  They may make a surplus however. And yes there is a difference!

 

Peter

[Penrhos1920]

I do not know if a previous thread like this exists, but I am interested in finding out what those who organise exhibitions feel about the current situation. First, a bit of background:

·      Currently, there are  a lot of them. Magazine diary pages show that September to November have well over 200 shows in three months. Indeed, only December is relatively quiet, with around 20, while even the summer months [fairly empty even 10 years ago], now average around 30 each.

Have you plotted their location on a map to see if a certain area of the country has less shows? I think you'll find there are less in the north east.

[john new]

Have you plotted their location on a map to see if a certain area of the country has less shows? I think you'll find there are less in the north east.

But they do have a strong quotient of preserved and miniature railways in the NE; perhaps a correlation of where active enthusiasm in the NE is directed.

Edited June 13, 2017 by john new

[David Bigcheeseplant]

The Risborough & District MRC run two shows a small one day show aimed at the local famillies and Railex which is a large two day show aimed at the modeller. I have managed Railex for the last thirteen years.We have always made a profit but this is because we carefully keep an eye on costs, the only income is through people through the door and trade income. Expences are too many to list, you need to ensure that you know what the break even point is and have this below your lowest attendence and hopefully it will work.

 

Even though the next Railex is eleven months away today I was working on the floor plan with all layouts confirmed for next year! 

 

To give an idea of our costs total expenditure for Railex 2017 was almost £19 000 which is a lot of money to lose if things don't work, hence in a month or two publicity will kick in for next year so people can get the dates in the diary.

 

As for traders most of those attending Railex are small specialist type aimed at the modeller I try not to duplicate what these traders do although in some cases there will be an overlap, I have a waiting list of traders who want to come so hopefully I am doing something right.

 

I don't mind paying for star layouts as this is want people normally want to see, would rather have fewer good quality ones than more average or poor ones. 

 

 

David

Edited June 14, 2017 by David Bigcheeseplant

[Tim V]

And good layouts can be booked up years in advance.

[terrysoham]

The Risborough & District MRC run two shows a small one day show aimed at the local famillies and Railex which is a large two day show aimed at the modeller. I have managed Railex for the last thirteen years.We have always made a profit but this is because we carefully keep an eye on costs, the only income is through people through the door and trade income. Expences are too many to list, you need to ensure that you know what the break even point is and have this below your lowest attendence and hopefully it will work.

 

Even though the next Railex is eleven months away today I was working on the floor plan with all layouts confirmed for next year! 

 

To give an idea of our costs total expenditure for Railex 2017 was almost £19 0000 which is a lot of money to lose if things don't work, hence in a month or two publicity will kick in for next year so people can get the dates in the diary.

 

As for traders most of those attending Railex are small specialist type aimed at the modeller I try not to duplicate what these traders do although in some cases there will be an overlap, I have a waiting list of traders who want to come so hopefully I am doing something right.

 

I don't mind paying for star layouts as this is want people normally want to see, would rather have fewer good quality ones than more average or poor ones. 

 

 

David

Do you really mean £190,000.00???

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Meant to put 19k

[Joseph_Pestell]

I do not know if a previous thread like this exists, but I am interested in finding out what those who organise exhibitions feel about the current situation. First, a bit of background:

·      Currently, there are  a lot of them. Magazine diary pages show that September to November have well over 200 shows in three months. Indeed, only December is relatively quiet, with around 20, while even the summer months [fairly empty even 10 years ago], now average around 30 each.

·      A good exhibition is neither easy, nor cheap to organise. Chances are, a school exhibition hall will cost between one and two grand for the weekend, while a Sports Centre will be double or treble that. Any invited layout that needs a van is going to add a couple of hundred to basic fuel costs, while if overnight accommodation is required, then a further £40-£60 per head, per night needs to be added on. So, while a local layout, which travels in a car, will only incur expenses of £30 or less, a big layout travelling any distance will cost many hundreds of pounds to invite. Add on things like insurance, chair and table hire, catering, tickets & programmes etc, etc and the cost can really escallate.

·      Recouping these costs can only come from a limited number of sources. Sponsorship is one [if you can get it] & this is behind many of the larger shows for obvious reasons. Goodness knows how much it costs to hire Alexandra Palace for the weekend! The other two are entrance fees and income from traders. In the case of the latter, a medium sized show might have 200-300 feet of trade stands, which should bring in around £10 per foot or more for a two day show. So, £2-3000. Income from entrance fees is simply cost x those attending, so a show that gets, say 700 over a weekend at £6 a head will generate £4200. Add in trader fees and you have around £7000 to play with. Or you make a loss…

 

 So, my basic questions are:

·      How are clubs/organisations/individuals managing the process?

·      Who is making a profit/loss [and in the case of the former, how?]

·      How are organisers finding things in terms of sourcing quality layouts, given there is so much competition?

·      How are Traders faring? Which type of shows are best for sales and what can organisers do to make attending a show worthwhile for you?

·      What do visitors want to see at a show – though bear in mind here that one cannot please all of the people all of the time. I am talking generally, rather than specifically here.

·      In short, what should exhibition organisers doing to secure the future of good quality exhibitions

 

 I presume I will not be alone in being very interested to see what people think.

 

We did have a thread similar to this a couple of years back.

 

I would prefer to see clubs combine to provide fewer but better exhibitions. But that is not easy to achieve.

 

Other than the total cost, you need to look at the cash flow. I used to manage by having the trade stand income paid up front so that I could cover the advance costs; Hall hire, publicity, etc. The admission money covered the layout expenses with, most years, a reasonable surplus.

 

Finding the right balance of trade stands so that they all have a financially-viable weekend is a bit of an art. You will gain a lot of brownie points by communicating fully with your traders and reassuring them that there is not going to be too much direct competition.

 

We saved a bit on van hire by doing a lot of the transporting ourselves but that was a nightmare to coordinate.

[peterl]

Meant to put 19k

 

Is that all David!  Sorry but I have just looked at some of the past accounts for a certain Show that I am involved with! And please:  You did NOT make a profit;  you made a surplus; see #9

 

Peter

[Barry O]

Yep you suffer an income higher than your expenditure, the Taxman likes investigating profits.....

To be honest anyone wanting to start a new exhibition these days needs to seek help from the medics. The paperwork is starting to grow exponentially.
Even for our Club Show I have to produce new risk assessments every year, check that we follow them etc.
With some of the bigger venues CDM is not just a "oh yes we do that" ..you must comply with it or suffer the consequences.
It's a full time volunteer job on its own counts.

If you don't have an excess of income over expenditure..and it does happen,, it can be an expensive business for the show organisers.

And the idea of "groups" shows does operate.. CMRA at Stevenage, Wales and West at Portishead, Scottish Clubs at Glasgow SECC.
While these have their merits it can cause some friction (especially if the output to the member clubs is low or negative)

Baz

Edited June 15, 2017 by Barry O

[lmsforever]

You have to be slightly mad to manage a show and have a good team behind you ,when I started Railex forty odd years ago I was extremely lucky to have such a group of people.Costs then were nothing like now but you could still catch a cold if you got it wrong ,and I determined from the outset that any layout had to be of a certain high level.Trade is an awkward area small traders are fine but at least one boxshifter is required but in my day small suppliers were thin on the ground.I managed to get a good deal from our local civic centre and had ten years of wonderful cooperation literally from Friday lunchtime the centre was ours to do what we liked with ,one year a member played the organ for a while to great applause something a bit different .I enjoyed my time in charge and the trips to shows all over the UK to find layouts but I was quite happy to pass on the baton after ten years and am very glad that the show has developed into the best in the south if not the UK . The current team are doing an excellent job and I hope that the show will get better every year.If you do want to run a show why not start  a small one in a local village hall its a good way to start ,how about a themed show that will attract the public so why not give it a go.

[Chris M]

Trade exhibitors are a very important part of exhibitions which is why I don't refer to them as traders. Many people seem to look down on "boxshifters" which is a shame because they are an important part of any exhibition; their attendance may even be the prime driver for some to attend a show. I love to see the specialist manufacturers and agree that exhibitions need to limit the number of stands just selling ready to run for the good of the exhibition and for the good of the trade exhibitors who sell these items but I also think we should treat those who sell ready to run with as much respect as anyone else. They are a very important part of our hobby and for some even quite well known shops the revenue they achieve from selling ready to run at shows is an essential part of keeping their business and shop afloat. Just in case you are wondering I am not connected in any way with any shop or trade exhibitor.

[David Bigcheeseplant]

This is a screenshot of our outgoings for Railex from our spreadsheet, I have not listed the costs but as previous it totals at nearly 19K, other shows may have other costs.  

 

Yes suplus rather than profit, if our members and helpers did not give up their time and charged the minimum wage we would not be running Railex and the same goes for all other shows.

 

I think we get the mix right although if people want more layouts and less trade then entry costs would need to go up. 

 

David

 

[MarkSG]

Trade exhibitors are a very important part of exhibitions which is why I don't refer to them as traders. Many people seem to look down on "boxshifters" which is a shame because they are an important part of any exhibition; their attendance may even be the prime driver for some to attend a show. 

 

I agree; living out in the sticks (at least as far as model shops are concerned!) the "boxshifters" at exhibitions are often the first opportunity I have to see a new model in the flesh, so to speak, before deciding whether I want one (unless they all sold out on pre-order, of course).

 

I wouldn't say that they're my main motivation for attending a show (as far as trade is concerned, I'm usually more likely to buy from the specialists and second hand dealers), but I certainly appreciate them being there and do buy from them every now and then.

[Mike Bellamy]

. . . . the Taxman likes investigating profits.....

 

 

Agreed. Many years ago after starting the Derby Show, our Exhibition Manager was named in the local paper in one of their usual 'Steam buffs chuffed again' type reports after the show. A few weeks later he got a letter from the local office of Inland Revenue asking how much he got paid for organising the show and why it hadn't been declared as income. After a few choice words in reply, they realised it was all done voluntary and no payments were made to individuals except for legitimate expenses. Problem was that the Revenue then contacted me for copies of the balance sheet and we had to pay tax on the interest we got from the bank - this was in the days when bank interest made a reasonable return. This went on for about 10 years until they eventually said we could stop sending a tax return as the amounts collected were insignificant.

 

Mike

 

.

[61666]

Many thanks to all who have contributed. I didn't mention that I am a model club chairman and have been part of organising exhibitions for many years. Nevertheless, it has been interesting to see that the procedures we use are similar to those offered.

 My main reason for posting was to see if there was a sense of 'too many shows', especially if it was resulting in reduced income [i.e. numbers of visitors], but that does not seem the case. However, I do wonder if the local catchment area can have a significant effect - not least because some communities have more disposable income than others - and if a 'local' show, then folk are not going to travel long distance unless they perceive there is something special [i.e. a particular layout or trader] they want to see. It also begs the question as to how one manages publicity. At my club, we have invested heavily in adverts in the main magazines & their diary pages, but it has made little difference to numbers attending, compared to other years when we have only used the free diary pages. Getting local families and 'non modellers' in requires a different approach, as they are not going to see the advert in BRM or wherever, because the don't buy it in the first place. Local press, fliers/posters in shops, schools etc would seem to be the answer, plus the local media [press, radio etc]. Recent shows have seen a drop off in the number of children and families attending [even though the former are free], so maybe more needs to be done in terms of attracting youngsters. 

 One trend we have noticed over the last few years is that around three times as many people visit on Saturday compared to Sunday. Are others finding this?

 We have always tried to maintain a high standard of layouts attending, with specialist traders, but the former can be very expensive and don't always recoup the expenses paid - several hundred pounds for each layout needing a van and overnight accommodation. Good, local layouts [that only need a car & no accommodation], which are cheap to invite aren't always available every year & the same goes for a club layout and/or any belonging to individual club members, so sometimes you have to invest in something more expensive and look at [say] a three year budget that smooths out any profit & loss, with hopefully the balance in favour of the former!

 I also know than suitable venues can be an issue. The best type seems to be where there is something else nearby [e.g. museum, shopping, sports, etc] to make a whole day worthwhile if travelling more than a few miles. More likely though will be the eternal conundrum of easy access, enough parking, sufficient catering/toilet facilities and also not forgetting enough power points for what seem to be ever more hungry layouts. Get that sorted and you still need to find a slot in the calendar which does not clash with other local shows, or indeed other types of event - though sometimes the latter may help to encourage the 'day out' mentioned previously. In my experience, there is no 'perfect venue', there are always issues somewhere or other & likewise, it is not possible to have layouts to please everyone. Occasional comments on this forum like 'too much continental/not enough modern image/no N gauge, etc' are [in my opinion], missing the point of a model show & just because a layout is not in your scale/gauge does not mean you can't be inspired or entertained.

 So, the moral appears to be ensuring one budgets layout expenses within expected income & regardless of the standard of layouts, traders and societies, as long as their costs don't exceed numbers on the door and income from traders, all should be well. Fingers crossed...

[David Bigcheeseplant]

The Saturday Sunday attendence is interesting at most shows it is normally two thirds Saturday one third Sunday, although we have found at Railex over the last couple of years it has evened up to almost 50/50.

 

As for adverts most of what we do is through the model railway mags and forums, we do not do too much local adverts a poster in the shops or notice board but not much else. As Railex is a modellers show that what we target. Although last year when we had Geoff Williams model of Aylesbury at Aylesbury we had a promo on the local TV news on the Friday before the show and had a record attendance.

 

We do have a exit survey which is useful to find out where people come from and how they heard about the show, normally people travel quite a distance and spend most of the day at the show, Magazines people found out about the show tend to be Railway Modeller and MRJ, I will have to go through this years forms to find out if it is the same as the previous years.

 

I have found having fewer bigger layouts is cheaper than more smaller layouts which take up the same floor area. Of course a smaller local layout is not going to cost too much but as long as the budget is ok then I will always invest in something that has quality over cost.

 

David

Edited June 16, 2017 by David Bigcheeseplant