What is it with so called "professional" organisations these days. You ask 'em a question and they fob you off with bland gobbledegook interspersed with a lecture on how wonderful they are- designed to leave you feeling that if YOU don't think they are wonderful it must be your fault.
Let me explain
Last week I received my copy of Miniature Wargames- the one with the Salute programme in it. Now this has nothing at all to do with the magazine which was well up to scratch but rather with an advert placed within the Salute programme for the Derby Worlds show in early October.Which has a new ordganiser.....
Seeing the advert I thought all was well. So imagine my discomfiture when a bare 24 hours later I received an email with the trade stand application form to find that
a/. the venue had been changed- so was not the one in the advert.
b/. the stand price had risen by almost 20%
c/. almost no explanation was given for the above except to say that "the new owners of the old venue had decided against hosting large events"
Now the new venue-Hanger 42 at Brintingthorpe Lutterworth Leicstershire actually looks pretty good being large and spacious though somewhat out in the sticks which may prove problematic for some (I've so far found no mention of public transport links) and I'm told- not by the organisers that nearby accommodation is thin on the ground so there will be travelling.
Now I understand that the organisers may have been put between a rock and a hard place but do they say any of this NO we just get how utterly splendid the new venue is and how utterly wonderful it is all going to be provided we all toe the line.
Now as it happens I had a question to do with stand prices and layout as the form was not entirely clear so I emailed them and did I get an answer - well sort of but again couched in advertising BS which I found infuriating after all I've only been in the trade for 26 years and I know nothing (except the smell of bullshit when it is being spread)
So whats a chap to do? Well my usual 18foot frontage stand has gone up to £440 and others are of course in proportion. I know of 2 past traders who have told me they are not doing it and I don't blame them.. The likely turnover is such that - with other expenses factored in (you are spending well over a grand before you have sold a soldier)- that even breaking even is a risk let alone making a few quid.
So this year- assuming I attend- still the most likely- I'll cut my stand to 12 feet and only take the 15mm and 10mm ranges. Customers will need to pre-order any 25mm stuff. Now as it happens the majority of sales for the past couple of years have been Blue Moon 15mm so it may not be a bad move and it will save me about £400 or so as I'll drop a staff member too. as there is not room for 3 behind a 12 footer.
Now I'm still thinking about this but I'm certain that the new broom has not swept cleanand that a new venue- however pretty- won't solve all the problems especially if the punters can't get there but mainly trying to paper over the cracks with bullshit does not work - well not here anyway.
Is all well? I have just checked (Google) Derbyworlds dot com, co dot UK and facebook and am getting nil returns on those domains.
ReplyDeletedo they have new internet contact points?
Not that I know of-until you mentioned it..... My info is as above- they "had" to change the venue after the first adverts had been placed. I don't know this new venue- though teir own website makes it look OK but Lutterworth is out in the sticks.
DeleteLets just say I'm awaitng developments before I hand over money for a trade stand.
Have just googled the show myself and get nothing for 2017 - though plenty for past shows. This makes me decidedly uneasy- though the organisers KRmulticase are still showing the old Castle Donnington address for the show on their own site.
ReplyDeleteThe Hanger42 events centre- supposedly the new venue is- so far -showing nothing on their upcoming events but then it is early days.
It has to be said that I'm not exactly filled with confidence so far.
It appears Derbyworlds.com is up and running. Seems very much work in progress, so we'll see how it develops.
ReplyDeleteAbout the venue though, I have my doubts. Whilst there are lots of aircraft to look at (so a plus for me!), Google says it's an hour via the M1 from Derby, 2hrs 47 via train(!) and no bus links at all. Hmmm...
Aye its there- pretty skeletal at the moment but still full of the "how wonderful I am" style. This of course is no longer the derby show b as the nearest city is Leicester. About 10 miles away.Still thinking about this.
ReplyDeleteI've now seen the "new" website and yes there is a lot to do. In all but name this is a new show- new location, new organiser, new prices, new website etc etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's links with the old Derby shows are now in name only since the nearest city is Leicester- about 10 miles from Lutterworth which is where most of the overnight accomqdation will be and possibly the nearest rail link- though how you get from there to the venue is anyone's guess.
So it looks do-able but it will have to be treated as a new show- with all the possible pitfalls that entails.
Pitfalls - looks more like this is situated in the lost breeding pits of middle England. The whole state of affairs seems ironic considering it was once "sponsored by Old Glory".
ReplyDeleteI always worry about going to a show which seems to be in the middle of nowhere. That said I used to get a nosebleed about Claymore moving to Granton in North Edinburgh but it seems to have survived.
Scott - this is true though we stopped sponsoring a couple of years before the move to Donnington- let alone the breeding pits!!
ReplyDeleteMore info. A good friend phoned me yesterday after reading this post. He has used the venue in the past for Re-enactment events being a sealed Knot member. His description of the venue when he used it -"a shithole in the middle of nowhere" does not exactly fill me with confidence. He also claimed that it was somewhat smaller than Donnington and that it is rather hard to get to-even road access being "country lanes".
ReplyDeleteNow it does seem that Hangar 42 has undergone significant re-furbishment sine Pete used the the place- see the Hanger42 website the place is - like Donnington all about motorsport.
However I am somewhat re-assured by Bruntingthorpe Events own promotional video- my petrolhead wife Carole wants to go on the HGV driving and track day. Hanger 42 itself does look pretty good on the video though perhaps a little smaller than Donnington- closer in size to the Partizan venue and none the worse for that so it looks as if the only possible problems here could be customer access and simply the fact that it IS -for us a new venue. Still we'll give it a go I think though I will be less than pleased if I end up pouring almost a grand doen the Kharsi.