David Bigcheeseplant Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 When we mark the floor out we have three teams of three people each with a bag containing a long tape, floor marking tape and an A4 piece of paper on this is the stand number and name, the size of the stand, if that stand requires power and number of tables and chairs. Once the area is marked out the paper is taped to the floor, so firstly the table and chair team know exactly what is required in the marked out area and also the teams doing the power. We only let layouts and trade in once everything is laid out, the info taped to the marked out floor area is really useful. I use metric when drawing up the floor plan. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 From an exhibitor's perspective something you might want to consider for next year; when marking out the hall it would be helpful to write layout name (or stand number) on the markings somewhere - I was pointed in the right direction by a steward, but later found that I'd started setting up in the wrong spot as there was a similar sized gap to mine one row further into the hall! Mark, As one of the marking out team, we're always looking at ways to do this part of the job better. We don't get access to the hall until 12:00, and with the first exhibitors arriving at 13:00 that doesn't leave a lot of time for extras. Apologies if there was confusion with regard to your pitc h. I hope it wasn't a major nuisance. I was taken to my exact area by a steward, so the confusion was probably just a glitch. Some shows are unwelcoming and just hand you an envelope that you havent got time to read anyway and point at the general direction where you're supposed to be, which I can't say was the case at Leamington as the stewarding and security were very good and obviously adaptable as challenges presented themselves. I'm not sure of the hire agreement apart from the fact that it is confidential between both parties and hope that it isn't along the same lines as those capitalists up the road near Birmingham Airport (who would probably charge for every square inch of your allocated space plus the walking route in the other bit to the toilets), but did hear a suggestion that the show could be in the other half of the hall, and the area nearest the access doors used for undercover vehicle parking for loading. Obviously the weather was completely different to last year's show, but we're not completely out of winter by early March. When I have been on the survey team at a show, we found the quickest way is to use a Laser measure bounced off the walls and taken from a plan with distances already marked on, or a long tape laid parallel to the wall at a 8' offset or whatever for trade stand tables. I did once offer to lend an EDM Total Station when I had access to one, but the old order at the time still preferred to use tapes. Whatever we did it had to be quick, as some members didn't quite understand why we needed a clear hall and would start to wheel in bits of layout before all the tables and chairs were in place. Keeping an armed guard on the door was suggested as the only deterrent. Back on topic, overall I thought it was a very good show and seemed to be very busy, the wider aisles being useful for avoiding pinch points. Wiley City ran well in it's new earlier guise despite a few issues, and seemed to attract lots of positive comments from those who wouldn't normally bother looking at an American layout. We even had a visit from the "Can I drive?" kid... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry.ecmr Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Mark, As one of the marking out team, we're always looking at ways to do this part of the job better. We don't get access to the hall until 12:00, and with the first exhibitors arriving at 13:00 that doesn't leave a lot of time for extras. Apologies if there was confusion with regard to your pitc h. I hope it wasn't a major nuisance. One thing that does make things trickier is when layouts (in particular) aren't the size that we were told when they were booked - this year oe of the smaller layouts had grown significantly, and we even had the dimensions of our own Kimble (all 42' of it) down wrong. (undersized inevitably!). Thanks to all the exhibitors and traders for doing such a good job of getting packed away quickly and efficiently. Despite the size of the exhibition, we were out of the hall completely in under three hours - and would probably have made 2 1/2 hours had we not been waiting for our own van to make a return trip from our own clubhouse to pick up Kimble, It's a fair cop guv! It was me who had failed to operate a tape measure correctly. I didn't realise my mistake until the day before the show. No fuss was made and everything had been set out for me on arrival. Many, many thanks to all concerned. The stewards were all very helpful and the show was well organised. I met lots of people who were keen to chat and had a good time. Again, thanks to everybody concerned. Terry 'Earl's Court' ecmr.webs.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calnefoxile Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 A very quick fly round on Saturday arrived on 15.30 bus from Station and back on 17.00 ! Robert Robert, I didn't see you on Saturday, or didn't you drop by the DEMU stand and say hello?? Simon, Natalie and I had a great time on the DEMU stand on Saturday, nabbed a few bargains from the traders and finally managed to get my paint from Precision Paints. Even managed to actually get some modelling done. I must say I envy the LWMRS in having that type of hall available to use. I do agree with David about having a wow factor layout in front of the doors as you walk in, which is we try to do at Trainwest. Look forward to next years show. Regards Neal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mark Forrest Posted March 10, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 10, 2014 As one of the marking out team, we're always looking at ways to do this part of the job better. We don't get access to the hall until 12:00, and with the first exhibitors arriving at 13:00 that doesn't leave a lot of time for extras. Apologies if there was confusion with regard to your pitc h. I hope it wasn't a major nuisance. No it really wasn't too much trouble and I probably should have checked more thoroughly before claiming my pitch - just thought it might be useful feedback that might help your exhibition team and exhibitors in future years. I hope you take this as constructive feedback, I didn't mean to sound like I was having a moan! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted March 10, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10, 2014 What was the attendance for this years show bearing in mind the change of date from this year.Better than last year I hope with better weather. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 I must say I envy the LWMRS in having that type of hall available to use. I do agree with David about having a wow factor layout in front of the doors as you walk in, which is we try to do at Trainwest. I also allow three hours for marking out the 60 stands in the hall and aim to have the job done in two. Choosing which layout to put near the entrance to the hall is tricky. You want people coming through the door to see that it is a model railway show not a trade show, but you don't want the major crowd-puller there or you risk having punters blocking the entrance! Geoff Endacott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted March 11, 2014 Author Share Posted March 11, 2014 What was the attendance for this years show bearing in mind the change of date from this year.Better than last year I hope with better weather. No figures have yet been released - we have a society debrief meeting in a couple of weeks when they will be released to members. The figures were clearly higher than last year in the snow - I was told unofficially they were higher in the first two hours than in the whole snow weekend - but a more meaningful figure will be a comparison with the previous year. This year we do not have the 'luxury' of being able to claim against our insurance for adverse weather conditions, My personal guess is that we suffered due to having the first dry pleasant weekend in months - but (again personally) I'd prefer to suffer from that than suffering from ice and snow closing the roads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Parker Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I also allow three hours for marking out the 60 stands in the hall and aim to have the job done in two. Choosing which layout to put near the entrance to the hall is tricky. You want people coming through the door to see that it is a model railway show not a trade show, but you don't want the major crowd-puller there or you risk having punters blocking the entrance! Geoff Endacott The problem with the hall entrance is that there is a row of steel pillars just where you might want to put the headline layout just inside the door. We could have asked Dorehill St Stevens if they would have minded cutting big holes in the baseboard, but suspect they might not have been keen! There is only one logical entrance too so you can't bring people in another way. As Geoff says, you can also create a pinch point doing this. Ironically, the first people in the door always ignore the layouts and head for the second hand stall anyway... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWMRSNews Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 If you have visited the show we would like to hear your comments which you can pass on to us by completing an on-line survey. We would be very grateful if you would visit http://survey.lwmrs.co.uk and let us know what you think of our efforts. Many thanks in advance. Thanks to all who have completed the survey so far. If you haven't yet then please do respond, you have the opportunity for an 800 character comment at the end of the questions! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big T Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 A quick and somewhat delayed thanks to L & WMRS for their hospitality over the weekend, in particular to Dave Hewett for helping us out getting Pensbridge in....... We had a really busy show, and hopefully pleased the crowds with our efforts. Also big thanks to Chris from Metropolis Models for his patience! Thanks to those too who stopped by to say hello and to have a chat. here's looking forward to next year! Trev Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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