The exhibition circuit post-pandemic

[ColinK]

i’ve been exhibiting layouts for a very long time, but the covid break has changed my thinking, do I really want to be taking a multi-board layout to shows?  My current exhibition layout has just three boards, but its not just packing and setting them up, there are legs, stock boxes etc etc plus persuading friends to come along and help. It is very hard work.  The new layout which is nearly finished has 8 boards and should be able to be exhibited, but do I really want all the hassle to exhibit it when I can run it any time at home?

 

I’ve made a simple one-board layout which I’ve exhibited a few times. People seem to like it and it is so much less hassle.  Three minutes to set up and take down.

 

I’m thinking now of having big layouts for home only and ‘one board’ layouts that I’ll take to shows.

 

[TheSignalEngineer]

19 hours ago, woodenhead said:

The wife wants a new Yaris, if she orders now she might have one for Christmas.

My SiL has just taken delivery of an electric car which was ordered last July with an estimated October delivery 

[long island jack]

43 minutes ago, ColinK said:

i’ve been exhibiting layouts for a very long time, but the covid break has changed my thinking, do I really want to be taking a multi-board layout to shows?  My current exhibition layout has just three boards, but its not just packing and setting them up, there are legs, stock boxes etc etc plus persuading friends to come along and help. It is very hard work.  The new layout which is nearly finished has 8 boards and should be able to be exhibited, but do I really want all the hassle to exhibit it when I can run it any time at home?

 

I’ve made a simple one-board layout which I’ve exhibited a few times. People seem to like it and it is so much less hassle.  Three minutes to set up and take down.

 

I’m thinking now of having big layouts for home only and ‘one board’ layouts that I’ll take to shows.

 

I have to agree, really looked forward to getting back on the exhibition circuit, but have done 3 exhibitions now since they started running again, though i enjoyed them, the buzz has gone. 

 

   My American layouts are 30min setup/drop, I only have one reliable operator, who has other interests, i have a 4x1 layout Brewery sidings which doesn't get out, it's done a few exhibitions and had a few offers, but soon as i give them my location, the next question always is have you nothing bigger, obviously fuel, B&B are same expense for both, so they want more for there buck.

 Living up in deepest West Cumbria has it's benefits, but certainly not a lot of local exhibitions, that's me till September all other exhibition have been cancelled, so let hope the buzz returns and we get back to normal.

[john new]

7 minutes ago, long island jack said:

I have to agree, really looked forward to getting back on the exhibition circuit, but have done 3 exhibitions now since they started running again, though i enjoyed them, the buzz has gone. 

 

   My American layouts are 30min setup/drop, I only have one reliable operator, who has other interests, i have a 4x1 layout Brewery sidings which doesn't get out, it's done a few exhibitions and had a few offers, but soon as i give them my location, the next question always is have you nothing bigger, obviously fuel, B&B are same expense for both, so they want more for there buck.

 Living up in deepest West Cumbria has it's benefits, but certainly not a lot of local exhibitions, that's me till September all other exhibition have been cancelled, so let hope the buzz returns and we get back to normal.

And it is two lots of those travel & B&B costs as a 2nd small layout has also to be booked to fill the floor space. 

[Barry O]

We held our show in Leeds last October.

 

The cost of the venue didn't up much (the cost increase was down the table hire), numbers were down a bit but we had a lot of people attend who hadn't been to our show for a while. We always have wide aisles so the attendance would need to triple for the show to be "crowded".

 

Traders.. most attended. One couldn't due to a heart attack but otherwise all did well.

 

We did see a lot less families, but a lot of families had jetted off for half term (Jet2 had very good flight loadings that week).

 

After all of the concerns we were happy as a club so our next show this October is being progressed.

 

One of my concerns with some of the bigger non club shows is the reduction inthe number of layouts and societies at the shows whil the entrance costs have gone up. Really if it is a "model Railways show" it should be about all aspects of model railways. Or is that just my "old fashioned" belief?

 

Baz 

[37114]

Having completed a new layout during lockdown I went through the list of past shows I have exhibited at and the sad fact is there are at least 3 on the list where the key organiser has passed away and (as yet) no one has stepped into the breach. As has been mentioned earlier it seems that the 2000 people attending shows organised by mid sized local clubs do seem to be a rapidly disappearing breed.

[Chris M]

To me the exhibition scene seems to be very good at the moment. Yes there are challenges and changes but the exhibitions I’ve been to seem to be doing well. I think there is a good atmosphere.  Everyone I have spoken with at these exhibitions has been happy just to be there.

[Les1952]

One thing to remember at the moment is that situations can change at very short notice.

 

We have just held a successful South Notts Show on our usual weekend but..

 

1. Up to present we have not been charged for the setup day.  That will change next year as the hall is getting a lot of enquiries for Friday bookings and they will lose money if we continue to get Friday free.

 

2.  We had one layout withdrawn last minute due to Covid, and one assembled Friday and taken away again on Saturday morning when its owner tested positive on Saturday morning.

 

3.  We lost one trader to a heart op (hopefully he'll be back with us next year), one to an injury with less than a week to go, and one to illness the day before the show.  Nothing there that we could have done anything about, but none of us are getting any younger, and that includes the average age of exhibitors and traders.

 

We will have another successful show next year- the club still needs to fill its coffers after Covid....   Hopefully there will be fewer last minute panics as the virus recedes further into the background.

 

Les

 

 

[charliepetty]

On 10/04/2022 at 07:56, Barry O said:

We held our show in Leeds last October.

 

The cost of the venue didn't up much (the cost increase was down the table hire), numbers were down a bit but we had a lot of people attend who hadn't been to our show for a while. We always have wide aisles so the attendance would need to triple for the show to be "crowded".

 

Traders.. most attended. One couldn't due to a heart attack but otherwise all did well.

 

We did see a lot less families, but a lot of families had jetted off for half term (Jet2 had very good flight loadings that week).

 

After all of the concerns we were happy as a club so our next show this October is being progressed.

 

One of my concerns with some of the bigger non club shows is the reduction inthe number of layouts and societies at the shows whil the entrance costs have gone up. Really if it is a "model Railways show" it should be about all aspects of model railways. Or is that just my "old fashioned" belief?

 

Baz 

What are the date of Leeds this year ???????

Edited April 15, 2022 by charliepetty

[Barry O]

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd October.. just like we told you last year. Letters should be with traders shortly.

 

Baz

[RANGERS]

5 hours ago, Les1952 said:

One thing to remember at the moment is that situations can change at very short notice.

 

We have just held a successful South Notts Show on our usual weekend but..

 

1. Up to present we have not been charged for the setup day.  That will change next year as the hall is getting a lot of enquiries for Friday bookings and they will lose money if we continue to get Friday free.

 

2.  We had one layout withdrawn last minute due to Covid, and one assembled Friday and taken away again on Saturday morning when its owner tested positive on Saturday morning.

 

3.  We lost one trader to a heart op (hopefully he'll be back with us next year), one to an injury with less than a week to go, and one to illness the day before the show.  Nothing there that we could have done anything about, but none of us are getting any younger, and that includes the average age of exhibitors and traders.

 

We will have another successful show next year- the club still needs to fill its coffers after Covid....   Hopefully there will be fewer last minute panics as the virus recedes further into the background.

 

Les

 

 

Oddly enough I was discussing with a fellow visitor what the future might hold for shows in general whilst having a tea at Cotgrave, we’d both arrived at a similar conclusion that shows of this size would fill the void left by COVID for some time to come.
 

The bigger commercial ones excepted, those shows that fell into the large and mid-size range seemed to be a dwindling breed before COVID and as mentioned above in this thread, the organising teams are both two years older now and may not have the enthusiasm to re-engage with that side of the hobby.

 

I can certainly live with smaller shows, (more of them even!) but as I sit here typing this in our caravan on a pitch booked last year in anticipation of a trip to York tomorrow, I am mourning the loss of that particular show which is unique and after almost continuous attendance since 1976, it’s one I really do hope we can look forward to in 2023 (caravan pitch already booked! 🤞)

[Not Jeremy]

Yes, a great shame, possibly not men of sufficient faith in York🤔

[john new]

21 hours ago, RANGERS said:

… snipped..

 

I can certainly live with smaller shows, (more of them even!) but as I sit here typing this in our caravan on a pitch booked last year in anticipation of a trip to York tomorrow, I am mourning the loss of that particular show which is unique and after almost continuous attendance since 1976, it’s one I really do hope we can look forward to in 2023 (caravan pitch already booked! 🤞)

As a show director I can confirm the intention is to run next year.  There was a non-COVID threat to this year’s event which had not been resolved by February when we had to make the definitive go/no go call on 2022’s event. That reason was publicised at the time. It has now been overcome, but that barrier clearance was so close to this weekend’s scheduled event that our decision to pull the show was justified, even when viewed with hindsight.

 

If there is a threat to shows, of any size, it is the increasing age of baby-boomer era modellers meaning table shifting and other arduous  volunteer jobs will either not be done or will have to be done with hired in labour. In the latter scenario changing the economics of the show which might then make it unviable. The same situation also impacting on the supply of layouts as people have problems shifting the baseboards (why my H Dublo 3-rail layout was withdrawn from exhibitions).

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by john new
Typo spotted on re-reading the thread.

[cessna152towser]

The last show I attended was Glasgow in February 2020.    Previously I would have attended 3 or 4 shows per year, including our local show in which I was fully involved in several roles.    Due to our club age profile, shortly prior to the pandemic,  the local club relinquished our extensive clubrooms in favour of having a small railway room within our local Men's shed and we had already decided 2020 would be the last of our long running annual shows.  Events were to prove that 2019 would in fact be the last.

My wife is a cancer survivor and I am now 70 so we are still keeping a low profile and I have no plans to attend any model railway shows in the foreseeable future.

[Gilbert]

2 hours ago, john new said:

As a show director I can confirm the intention is to run next year.  There was a non-COVID threat to this year’s event which had not been resolved by February when we had to make the definitive go/no go call on 2022’s event. That reason was publicised at the time. It has now been overcome, but that barrier clearance was so close to this weekend’s scheduled event that our decision to pull the show was justified, even when viewed with hindsight.

 

If there is a threat to shows, of any size, it is the increasing age of baby-boomer era modellers meaning table shifting and other arduous  volunteer jobs will either not be done or will have to be done with hired in labour. In the latter scenario changing the economics of the show which might make then it unviable. The same situation also impacting on the supply of layouts as people have problems shifting the baseboards (why my H Dublo 3-rail layout was withdrawn from exhibitions).

I wish you well for next year John....my hotel is already booked for Easter 2023....and the way things were in York this evening I may need to book my restaurants too!

Chris

[Les1952]

6 hours ago, Not Jeremy said:

Yes, a great shame, possibly not men of sufficient faith in York🤔

 

York's bankers seem to be the ones of insufficient faith if the reports are correct.....

 

Les

[Les1952]

4 hours ago, john new said:

 

 

 

If there is a threat to shows, of any size, it is the increasing age of baby-boomer era modellers meaning table shifting and other arduous  volunteer jobs will either not be done or will have to be done with hired in labour. In the latter scenario changing the economics of the show which might make then it unviable. The same situation also impacting on the supply of layouts as people have problems shifting the baseboards (why my H Dublo 3-rail layout was withdrawn from exhibitions).

 

For exactly the same reason I sold on Hawthorn Dene, and decided that Croft Spa's replacement will be on two Grainge & Hodder lightweight boards of 4X2 feet each, which are much kinder on the back..   HD needed two just to lift it and ideally 4 to bring it into a show or carry it a distance.  Bregenbach (built on the new standard boards) is a 2-person lift due to size rather than weight but only needs two to carry it any distance.

Edited April 15, 2022 by Les1952
reads better with punctuation

[john new]

8 minutes ago, Les1952 said:

 

York's bankers seem to be the ones of insufficient faith if the reports are correct.....

 

Les

 

Ah, faith, hope and charity.

 

The first two we had a plenty all through 2021, but by mid-Feb 2022 charity was unavailable! The financial mill was grinding on towards a result but far too slowly. Faith and hope do not underwrite bills.

[Chris M]

I do know that the Warley National Show at the NEC is on this November. Over 80 layouts have been invited and agreed to attend. Most of the usual trade exhibitors have requested space and advance tickets are available from the Ticket Factory. So, all systems go for that one.

 

Meanwhile I’m getting excited about my first time exhibiting this year as it starts to get close. That will be May 7 & 8 at the Severn Valley Railway. I always love the buzz I get leading up to exhibiting a layout at a show. There’s always those questions in my mind such as how will the layout run, what will visitors say about it, etc etc.

[Not Jeremy]

Jeez

 

All this "too old to be able to carry big layouts" jive has always been with us - find a nipper to carry it for you!

 

Joking apart, the sort of exhibitions that would be produced by expediency and a strict following of "common sense" as espoused above would be, frankly, boring.

 

Without wishing to ruffle feathers, the hobby needs new ideas and new entrants for it to survive and prosper, and exhibition organisers who are worthy of the name should be thinking beyond strict practicality.

 

If your club depends upon a show for its finances then fair enough, and if enough local joes can be brought through your doors then fair dinkum, but you won't be attracting anyone looking for something interesting or different. I won't be attending, unless it's on my doorstep, and even then I might not.

 

Yes I know, you won't miss me etc....

 

Too often we sink into "gloom and despondency" mode I think, the hobby is in very good shape, the wretched plague has even put up sales (talk to Peco if you don't believe it) and there are lots of new ideas and methods about - 3D printing at home - who of us saw that coming?

 

And before you practical and sage old guys lean out of your zimmer frames to shoot me down in flames, ask yourselves this:

 

Is Warley being at the NEC "sensible"?

 

Can "Heaton Lodge Junction" even exist? Let alone be put on the road and exhibited?

 

Let's be positive and get creative!

 

And if we can't stand the heat then we should get out of the kitchen.

 

Not Jeremy

 

[Chris M]

7 minutes ago, Not Jeremy said:

Jeez

 

All this "too old to be able to carry big layouts" jive has always been with us - find a nipper to carry it for you!

 

Joking apart, the sort of exhibitions that would be produced by expediency and a strict following of "common sense" as espoused above would be, frankly, boring.

 

Without wishing to ruffle feathers, the hobby needs new ideas and new entrants for it to survive and prosper, and exhibition organisers who are worthy of the name should be thinking beyond strict practicality.

 

If your club depends upon a show for its finances then fair enough, and if enough local joes can be brought through your doors then fair dinkum, but you won't be attracting anyone looking for something interesting or different. I won't be attending, unless it's on my doorstep, and even then I might not.

 

Yes I know, you won't miss me etc....

 

Too often we sink into "gloom and despondency" mode I think, the hobby is in very good shape, the wretched plague has even put up sales (talk to Peco if you don't believe it) and there are lots of new ideas and methods about - 3D printing at home - who of us saw that coming?

 

And before you practical and sage old guys lean out of your zimmer frames to shoot me down in flames, ask yourselves this:

 

Is Warley being at the NEC "sensible"?

 

Can "Heaton Lodge Junction" even exist? Let alone be put on the road and exhibited?

 

Let's be positive and get creative!

 

And if we can't stand the heat then we should get out of the kitchen.

 

Not Jeremy

 

A bunch of amateurs from an average size model railway club putting on an exhibition at a big place like the NEC has never been a sensible idea. I was there when it was first suggested and we were all a bit shocked but hey Ho, it seems to have worked. I was very involved in the early shows at the NEC but I’ve managed to get myself on the sidelines nowadays.

[toolongtoremember]

I saw the comment above about younger people providing help for elder folks in setting up. 

I totally agree, and shouldn't be a barrier to exhibitors/clubs. As a relatively young exhibitor I'll arrive early, set up my layout, then offer my services to the host clubs as an additionally abled body. We got to work together, there will surely be a time where I need to ask for help from a more experienced person to help with knowledge on model railways, it's just good karma.  

[john new]

The recent comments above about new blood etc., etc., are not wrong and I concur it is needed. What they overlook though is that across the board existing organisations are finding it harder and harder to attract new blood as volunteers for several reasons; however, it appears to be a given that within the generations born post the baby boom there is a far smaller % of people wanting to get active in what have been traditional volunteer roles.

 

Life/society is evolving, the outcome is that some activities are as a consequence withering - within railway modelling one example is the afore mentioned steady decline in volunteers for roles like table shifters, floor measurers, car park stewards, club/society officers etc., that many clubs and groups are facing, whilst at the same time there is a massive rise in video coverage of the exhibitions.

 

That Warners and Hornby Magazine are now organising some of the larger events is probably also an indicative example of how things are changing, as one sector of the hobby (volunteer led groups) is in decline commercial interests are moving into the resultant void.

 

The hobby is by no means dead - it is just evolving.

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by john new
Typo

[AY Mod]

3 minutes ago, john new said:

one example is the afore mentioned steady decline in volunteers for roles like table shifters, floor measurers, car park stewards,

 

Few clubs seem to harness volunteer power e.g. Scouts, cadets etc in return for a donation. You could even maybe get some younger interest longer term as a result.

[john new]

21 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

Few clubs seem to harness volunteer power e.g. Scouts, cadets etc in return for a donation. You could even maybe get some younger interest longer term as a result.

We do at York (Scouts).