What better way to kick off the New Year than going to a huge train show!!!!!! Is anyone near Philadelphia going? I am tenatively going, but work and home requirements may actually prevent this from happening.
HI, I'll be there Saturday morn at least and all day Sunday. Stop by Phila. N trak's layout. This is supposed to be the first event at this venue. See you there, MCB
Need a report & pictures for the WGH show. It is a great way to begin a New Year! The GTE show will be at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium Jan 10-11. (The Titans will play Saturday nite @ 4:00) The WGH show comes to the Nashville Convention Center Feb 14-15. They will be the first GTE/WGH shows for some time in Nashville. If you come on a weekday, you can ride our little commuter train, Music City Star !:we2-policeman:
I'll bite on the report. I'll give it C+ or 3 stars out of 5 (if you like the star thing). The layout portion was awesome! A lot of variety and some great skills and imagination. I give this portion an "A". The crowds were large. As large as I have seen in a while. Sometimes, you just couldn't walk, there were so many people! I attribute this to the way the WGH show handled the promotion of the show. They gave away free Plasticville buildings to the first 1,000 people each day. Kids 16 and under were free and the adult admission was good for both days. Plus free parking. And they advertised that there would be Thomas layouts (wooden) for the kids to play with and use. Well, they got their wish, they had a lot of people! While it is nice to get people into the hobby, there is such a thing as too many people! I give this portion a "D-". The "vendor" portion brought my rating down a ton. There were some local "mom and pop shops" selling their goods at real nice prices, but not enough. And there were some vendors in which it seems like their prices were really inflated. Also, there were a lot of manufacturers with displays of upcoming items, but nothing in their current line for sale, a MAJOR negative on their part. From what I observed when I was there, some (not all) of the maufacturers reps were talking amongst themselves as most people did not stop to see their product. I attribute that to the lack of a layout and inventory to sell to the public. Why pay for the space and not make money right their? Seems like a waste of money. Now, some manufacturers had some layouts going showing their product running, but had technical problems, so they could not answer questions without being distracted. Not good. The manufacturer booths made it seems really "corporate". I give this portion an "F". If I were to go to another, I'd like to see more clinics. From what I saw, there were a few done and I wasn't around when they were going on, but after I walked by when they were done their presentation, they looked prepared. Since I did not see the actual demonstrations and presentations, I'll give a modest "B". There you go. This was my experience. Someone else may have a differing experience than I did. At the end of the day, if I had the choice between another WGH show or a local "mom & pop" show to go to at the same time, I'd go to the local "mom & pop" show.
It was crazy busy, but that is the point of the WGH shows. This is not a show designed with modelers in mind. It is designed for kids and a mass market audience. The only reason the manufactuers are there is for PR purposes, and to have something for the people to look at, or to give away. They do not stock items for sale at any show, because then they are stepping on the feet of the hobby shops that they are supplying to. Bachmann did give away those O guage build ups which was a nice touch. Overall I think it was a great show. Next time they will have more bathrooms, and garbage cans. Also running out of food on Saturday at 2:00 PM did not help. The Bob Evans off of 422 almost ran out of food that day as well.
As it has been mentioned, the purpose of major manufacturers attending shows is to show off new products, make product announcements, and to meet with their customers to get feedback (suggestions for new products, product improvements, etc.). That right there is your return on investment...getting folks excited about new or upcoming products, and getting them to buy them through their local pusher. Selling items is a HUGE logistical undertaking; having to ship product to the show (and ship unsold product back), setting up point-of-sale equipment, keeping track of inventory, getting local sales permits, dealing with local sales taxes, and so on. Plus, you'd have to have one or two additional people there just to handle sales; otherwise, you run the risk of having your dedicated representatives being taken away from their expected duties of talking up new products and conversing with customers and/or dealers...which is the only reason they are there in the first place! And like it was pointed out, it isn't fair to the local "mom and pop" operations that may be there trying to sell. It's tough enough operating a hobby shop as it is, without additional competition from a manufacturer. At my previous employer with a small hobby manufacturer, we had enough hassles trying to set up just for sales at local shows - we had all those issues I mentioned previously, to the point that at the end of the day, sales barely broke even with the expense and hassle of selling the merchandise. In the end, it just isn't worth it, at least not for a manufacturer.
All are very good points, but the manufacturers should have a seperate area of the show if they want to promote their items and not mix them in or have them right up front as soon as you get in. Call me crazy, but aren't most train shows are meant to look at the layouts, get inspired from that and visit the vendors there to get the supplies to further that inspiration? That has always been my experience until this past weekend. I just didn't enjoy it as much as the smaller shows. Sometimes, I don't like the way things are commercialized and over hyped. This show was really OVER-hyped. Like I said previously, this was my experience....
Most shows do have separate sections for manufacturers, with another area(s) for vendors only. Many venues I've worked did indeed have the manufacturer sections up front, right at the entrance, or at the very least, on the main concourses, in order to get the most traffic. If this show had the vendors mixed indiscriminately amongst the manufacturers...well, dunno what to say, since that isn't the norm, at least at bigger shows I've worked or been to. As you've said though, shows can vary as far as vendor participation...some are better than others, but I wouldn't get discouraged by what you felt was a "bad" show.
