How often is a exhibition layout not 'ready to go' at 'doors open' at exhibitions?

[F-UnitMad]

2 hours ago, Ben B said:

officially they're High Fidelity Medical Patient Simulators.  She takes a low view of sci-fi references. 

How about references to the classic Top Gear "Ambulances Challenge"..?? 🤣🤣

 

(apologies for thread diversion...)

[Red Devil]

I've had numerous minor mishaps like everyone else over the years.....

The worst was probably when I nearly didn't get there at all.

Generally speaking whichever direction I'm heading off in will involve moorland roads, if you've ever done a 540 deg spin in a van loaded with layout, stock and all the paraphernalia due to black ice then you'll have an idea of what I'm on about!

 

Early Sat morning start heading to the M1 I did just that, I'll be honest and thought I was completely going to lose it and be careering down a hillside. Hit the kerb on the opposite side of the road with a fair clout which just about saved me.

I always run on winter tyres and am pretty used to driving in poor conditions but this was just unavoidable. 

 

Some damage to layout, stock but mainly underwear. Managed to get there after a coffee and 10 smokes break at very reduced speed. Was up and running (ish) by opening but it doesn't diminish the fact that travel to and from the exhibition can and does possibly have issues beyond running late for traffic etc.

 

Sometimes those on the paying side of the barrier have no idea of the problems that can arise and personally I'll never call anyone who may be having a bad day.....it happens.

 

[newbryford]

On 29/09/2023 at 15:00, newbryford said:

Putting some of the above comments into practice, let's see if Deadmans Lane is up and running at Wakefield by 0945 tomorrow!

 

 

 

Despite getting into the hall about 45 mins later than anticipated due to circumstances beyond our control, DL was quickly set up and tested with some stock Friday evening. There was wire that had been pulled off, but that was  a two minute fix, so was scheduled to be fixed Saturday morning. Access to the hall Saturday was at 9am. By the time 0945 came round, about 90% of the stock was on and running, so yes - good to go.

[kevinlms]

On 11/09/2023 at 05:32, SR71 said:

I never cease to be amazed by people who turn up at a show with box of untested locos and stock with dirty wheels.

 

Enough goes wrong by itself without setting out to test the limits of possibilities.

It worked last time it was exhibited!

[kevinlms]

On 11/09/2023 at 11:13, BR60103 said:

Our club's first two shows were in a hotel in downtown Toronto on the umpteenth floor.  The elevator we were using on Saturday morning was the same one that room service and housekeeping used. 

 

You ever tried fixing a phone in a lift while it is still in service? You go to do up a screw and the lift moves every time, trying to keep up with a moving object to put it back together isn't easy.

 

You could say, it has it's ups and downs!

[Chris M]

My plan for the weekend after next

From now to next Wednesday - run layout and check locos

Wednesday - put stock into boxes in a logical order ready for loading to storage sidings at exhibition

Thursday get all the bits ready to go. Get paperwork for van ready.

Friday. Pick up van at 9:30, wait for colleagues to arrive, load van. Set off on what should be a 2.5 hour journey. We can have lunch first. It will Friday afternoon which is a bad time to be using the motorways in the UK. In my experience some Fridays you just zoom along at 70 and some Fridays what should be a 2 hour journey takes 5 hours. Arrive at venue circa 17:30 and set up. We like to set up slowly and carefully. All being well at 20:00 retire to hotel. Must remember to book a meal - or maybe not - there is a 'spoons just by the hotel. Have a few beers.

Saturday. Early breakfast, over to the exhibition, give everything a run and sort out any issues that mysteriously appeared overnight. Have a nice day chatting to people while my colleagues operate the layout. Find a place for dinner and the odd beer. Would you believe Aldershot doesn't have a Miller & Carter?

Sunday. As per Saturday except at just after 16:00 start destocking layout and carefully packing stock away. By closure at 16:30 there should be just two trains running. at 16:30 cut the power and dis-assemble layout. Target time is 45 minutes so should be on the road by 17:15 or thereabouts. All being well the Sunday journey will take no more than 2.75 hours so back to my house at around 20:00. Unload van and have dinner with a glass of wine while colleagues go home.

Monday. Return van before 9:30. Spend rest of day being knackered.

Tuesday. Re-assemble layout. Check it works and do a detailed survey for damage. Its just over 5 weeks until the next exhibition.

 

On reflection I should have arranged to pick up van at 10:30 but never mind. 

Edited October 3, 2023 by Chris M

[kevinlms]

On 12/09/2023 at 15:38, Chris M said:

Hers's another simple tip for making sure you are ready to go when an exhibition opens - check and repair your layout (if necessary) as soon as possible after getting back from an exhibition. That way any little issues that arose at the last exhibition are still fresh in your mind and can be looked into with the maximum amount of time to fix them. I've just done that and have a list of mostly very small jobs to do, some the sort of job I would forget if I hadn't given the layout a good check over now. I have got a whole 4 and a bit weeks to these jobs before the next exhibition so I won't be too rushed. Oh, and I have a holiday during those four weeks as well so time will vanish if I don't plan things. That's the point of a post exhibition check, you give yourself time to get things sorted. This can be especially important if you need to buy an item or two. 

 

After the exhibition in October I will have the luxury of a whole six weeks before the next one! At the moment nothing is planned for 2024 but the layout will still be thoroughly checked out and fixed if necessary on its return from exhibition in November. 

The list is a great idea - but it requires people to fill the thing out with problems that arose.

No good the layout being put back up a couple of weeks later and opening the book and finding it blank or near to.

 

So you think that went well, then members start popping up with, 'I think such and such didn't work, or was it there'. Absolutely useless.

 

[kevinlms]

On 15/09/2023 at 16:59, Chris M said:

I guess we are lucky in the UK. The norm is to get actual travel expenses, hotel accommodation if you have travelled a long way and lunch. Also free tea and coffee all day. The biggest N gauge show in the UK doesn’t provide lunch or drinks to exhibitors. In the past I have just added the cost of lunch and drinks to expenses. The last time I was invited I turned them down because of the lack of refreshments during the day. This show is put on by a business so they are making a profit out of me giving my time for free. 

In Australia most clubs will billet visiting layout operators, if they've come a long distance, or even sleeping bags in the exhibition venue. My now late club, could never have been in a position to pay for hotel accommodation.

[kevinlms]

On 16/09/2023 at 03:21, Gilbert said:

It can be tempting to wind down when during the last hour the only viewers of the layout are from other layouts.....

The 'last hour' is always the problem. Since not many come into the venue in the 'last hour', the thought is often to club members that this time is not required, so in planning the next exhibition the call is to close an hour earlier!

If you do that, the new 'last hour' is going to be quiet, so do you close another hour earlier the following year?

 

As club treasurer at the time, I thought it was my duty, to stamp out that idea!

[Gilbert]

Just now, kevinlms said:

The 'last hour' is always the problem. Since not many come into the venue in the 'last hour', the thought is often to club members that this time is not required, so in planning the next exhibition the call is to close an hour earlier!

If you do that, the new 'last hour' is going to be quiet, so do you close another hour earlier the following year?

 

Your comment is spot on but I do wonder about one or two shows that have a relatively late afternoon finish - I think 5.00pm is quite acceptable unless a specific later evening close has been advertised - as with one or two shows that open on Fridays.

Chris

[kevinlms]

On 29/09/2023 at 04:45, ColinK said:

Lunchtimes can be a bit poor for visitors. For example, at one big show with lots of large layouts, while the operators went for lunch en mass, many layouts, including one with a four track main line, just had one operator who had no idea how to run it.

 

Lunch arrangements for exhibitors are important - just one sitting for a hot meal doesn’t work.  The arrangements I find best are where there is a hot water urn tucked away somewhere for exhibitors to make drinks as often as they wanted and lunches are simply sandwiches to be eaten when convenient - but not while operating.

In Australia the go to for lunch catering is often the BBQ, but rarely exclusively. Always the urn is going.

[john new]

25 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

The list is a great idea - but it requires people to fill the thing out with problems that arose.

No good the layout being put back up a couple of weeks later and opening the book and finding it blank or near to.

 

So you think that went well, then members start popping up with, 'I think such and such didn't work, or was it there'. Absolutely useless.

 

Does work for me but then my layouts/stands are/have been solo or only one or two other people who tend to be the same one’s.

[Pete the Elaner]

3 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

The 'last hour' is always the problem. Since not many come into the venue in the 'last hour', the thought is often to club members that this time is not required, so in planning the next exhibition the call is to close an hour earlier!

If you do that, the new 'last hour' is going to be quiet, so do you close another hour earlier the following year?

 

As club treasurer at the time, I thought it was my duty, to stamp out that idea!

 

I have been to shows where the last hour is ridiculous. These are usually ones which stay open later.
The CMRA one at St Albans stayed open until 6pm in January. I was there a few times as an exhibitor & it was often totally dead from 5pm, with nobody other than exhibitors wandering around waiting for the show to close.
I also exhibited at the Bristol (Thornbury) show once & that stayed open until 6.30pm. Like St Albans, after 5, it was only exhibitors walking around.

Some organisers need to realise that most exhibitors are volunteers & exhibiting can be tiresome but socialising is an important part of the weekend. Staying open late when they are not getting any more visitors can put people off from exhibiting (I have refused for this reason before now).

It works differently for different shows though. I have exhibited at Warley, GETS & Modelrail Scotland, all of which do stay busy until 6.00, but most do not.

[john new]

20 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

In Australia most clubs will billet visiting layout operators, if they've come a long distance, or even sleeping bags in the exhibition venue. My now late club, could never have been in a position to pay for hotel accommodation.

When I first started exhibiting in the 1980s that was also the Uk norm for many club shows with a Saturday night buffet the host club would organise. It has changed over the time since then. 

[Pete the Elaner]

7 minutes ago, Gilbert said:

Your comment is spot on but I do wonder about one or two shows that have a relatively late afternoon finish - I think 5.00pm is quite acceptable unless a specific later evening close has been advertised - as with one or two shows that open on Fridays.

Chris

 

All day Fridays attract those who do not work.

I have exhibited at a show which was Friday evening. It was about 2015. It was a complete waste of time & made me wonder what the point was.

I concluded that Friday evening shows are an old fashioned concept. They attracted those who finished at lunchtime on Fridays. This was a common thing for factories but not so any more, so the market for these is small.

For those working even until 4pm, they would get home, have dinner then how much time would they have left? If you can't spend a couple of hours at a show, wouldn't you rather wait until the next day when you can? It seems most people do just this.

[Pete the Elaner]

1 minute ago, john new said:

When I first started exhibiting in the 1980s that was also the Uk norm for many club shows with a Saturday night buffet the host club would organise. It has changed over the time since then. 

 

Saturday evening is the best part of a weekend show. It gives you a chance to relax & socialise with other modellers.

The only club I can remember who arranged a Saturday night buffet was Croydon. I really enjoyed it.

 

[kevinlms]

On 30/09/2023 at 17:18, Neil said:

 

Many years ago when I lived in York I helped with the Easter show at the racecourse. Each year we followed the floorplan drawn up by the late, great Mike Cook, an overlay on the architects plan. Each year we struggled with the same corner of one of the floors. After three years of struggling to mark out for the layouts and getting the barriers to fit in this small section, I measured and compared reality to the architects plan and found that they didn't match, reality being about four feet shorter than it should have been.

One year we had our exhibition in a new venue, which was in 2 halls belonging to the same owner. It was awkward but everything fitted. One of our members suggested that his kids schools hall was bigger, so why not use it next time? So we agreed.

It wasn't until the exhibits were being planned into the floor plan, that we realised that the idea that this hall was bigger, was a complete LIE. We had to cut a couple of exhibits from the exhibition at short notice - very embarrassing!

[kevinlms]

31 minutes ago, Gilbert said:

Your comment is spot on but I do wonder about one or two shows that have a relatively late afternoon finish - I think 5.00pm is quite acceptable unless a specific later evening close has been advertised - as with one or two shows that open on Fridays.

Chris

Yes, we had 5.00 closing on Sundays, it was that that some wanted earlier & earlier. Personally I was there right to the bitter end anyway packing up - except for the time I was treasurer, when I left after the public closure, because I had some considerable time counting up ahead of me.

 

I do remember a member from another club telling me, that after a thursday afternoon set up, then all day Friday, Sat, Sun and Monday 6.00pm close, they used to offer a 'help exhibitors take layouts home service'. For some strange reason, that idea didn't continue for long!

[john new]

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

Saturday evening is the best part of a weekend show. It gives you a chance to relax & socialise with other modellers.

The only club I can remember who arranged a Saturday night buffet was Croydon. I really enjoyed it.

 

I can remember with certainty Leamington, Weymouth & York. (Socials). Shepton Mallet (caravan at the venue) Weymouth & Bristol both staying with members and Fareham option to stay in the hall. The latter might have been a Wessex Assocn show but I definitely indoor camped in the venue the year I did a show in Fareham. Exhibitors on site a presence for security IIRC. Excellent bacon butties in the morning. Sorry for thread drift.

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by john new

[2E Sub Shed]

1 hour ago, john new said:

and Fareham option to stay in the hall. The latter might have been a Wessex Assocn show but I definitely indoor camped in the venue the year I did a show in Fareham. Exhibitors on site a presence for security IIRC. Excellent bacon butties in the morning. Sorry for thread drift.

 

 

One hopes that suitable showering / bathing facilities were provided, else we might be in another RMWeb exhibition thread.

[kevinlms]

One year I was late to our exhibition to help set up our HO layout, which was a roundy with 16 modules I think. It was a Friday evening with doors not opening until the morning, so plenty of time.

I got accosted at the door, with panicked cries of 'we put it up, but it doesn't work'!

 

So I had a lengthy demonstration of what did and didn't work, with me trying to say OK, I'll take a look, to see what I can do - being the person who had wired at least 50% of the layout up and it had worked fine 3 days prior. I actually didn't want further demonstrations, because if something was shorting, I didn't want more damage to occur.

 

So once I got left alone, I went for a crawl under the layout and found, one plug and socket not connected at all and another that I thought was not possible to plug in incorrectly. But no, these other members HAD managed to incorrectly plug it in to it's socket! From memory a 3 row plug/socket was out by 2 rows!

 

Once I corrected the errors, I gave it the smoke test and all worked perfectly, not even a fuse blown! Took about 15 minutes, less time than the demonstration of what was wrong with the layout.

[john new]

35 minutes ago, 2E Sub Shed said:

 

One hopes that suitable showering / bathing facilities were provided, else we might be in another RMWeb exhibition thread.

Not sure exactly which year but possibly around 2003 or 4 as I had to borrow my wife's car (Probably her 03 reg Agila) . About the only two clear memories from that show other than the indoor camping (the only show I've ever done that at) were the cracking bacon butties and struggling to fit my photo display stand into the smaller of our (then) two cars as for some reason I couldn't use the bigger estate car that weekend. I don't remember toileting/washing being an issue. The stand had gone into it before but not with the extra load of sleeping bag, clothing change etc.

 

The latter a similar issue to one posted up thread of where when the actual show weekend arrives the expected car isn't available! 

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by john new
Extra points

[PaulRhB]

On 28/09/2023 at 19:26, 009 micro modeller said:

I wonder though if there is an argument for announcing that all the trade stands will close a bit before the end, giving them time to start packing up before the show closes and staggering it a bit so that not all of the exhibitors and traders are trying to pack up and leave at exactly the same time.

No because some punters have paid to come in for the last hour as it’s all they can manage so all traders and exhibitors are there to provide what the punter has paid to see and access. There’s a natural stagger because some layouts and stand fold up in a few minutes while others take longer. It works fine as it is despite some people being impatient, rude and inconsiderate. 
Several traders are known to park their van right in the entrance at breakdown then moan like hell when people squeeze around their van, well don’t park like an arse then! 😉

At Warley one year there was a bad tempered bunfight at one door trying to get in. I asked the NEC guard if we could have the code to the car park gate to wheel our stuff out instead. He came and opened the gate and as we drew out to leave he suggested turning the other way ‘to avoid these idiots’ and get a quicker exit. 

 

On 28/09/2023 at 19:46, Happy Hippo said:

Another point about traders at shows is that they have paid somewhat more than the entrance fee for their stand, so I would have thought it is up to them when they decide enough is enough and prepare to go home.

 

No they’ve committed to be there for the day and are part of the attraction people pay to come in for. 
 

If you’re going to let anyone go early then  shouldn’t you offer discounted admission after the first starts to pack up? 

 

 

[PaulRhB]

2 hours ago, john new said:

but I definitely indoor camped in the venue the year I did a show in Fareham. Exhibitors on site a presence for security IIRC.

We used to do it for the club show in the 80’s but when the Police policy became just sending in a dog to search it was deemed too dangerous if there was a false alarm. 

[kevinlms]

6 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

No because some punters have paid to come in for the last hour as it’s all they can manage so all traders and exhibitors are there to provide what the punter has paid to see and access. There’s a natural stagger because some layouts and stand fold up in a few minutes while others take longer. It works fine as it is despite some people being impatient, rude and inconsiderate.

 

A club of mine had a display stand only, of miniature railway models. The members were told of the closing time and exhibits were expected to be on display until then - probably 5.00pm.

 

Anyway one of our members turned up just after 1.00 and insisted that he takes his models home. It was pointed out that the display was intended to be open until 5.00 and besides it was unsafe to wheel out a heavy trolley in a busy hall.

 

He rudely told every one that he didn't have the time to F around and took his models away regardless.

Nice models, but he never got asked again.

No one would have minded a little early, but 4 hours?