Last Saturday saw the re-vamped Salute 2020 at Ex-cel in London actually happened. Well when I say happened .......
I had decided beforehand that this would be my last Salute. After all I've done 28 as a trader and I've had enough of the travelling and all around faffing about. As I've said previously I'm pulling back a bit from shows so next year will only see me and the crew (that's you Jim) at 3 events as traders. Mail order will of course carry on as normal.
So back to the show. As usual the Warlords organisation was pretty flawless, despite extra Covid related faffing set up went like a dream. No problems.
Getting to the Hotel cost us an extra 30 quid in congestion charges for the weekend (Hope you enjoy the extra cash Sayid) but that is not the Warlord's fault.
Saturday dawns and again a bit of extra faff to enter the venue but this was not unexpected- though perhaps ex-cel could have made the info a bit clearer but again once inside, no problems.
However where the hell did Salute go?
Trader numbers were down . I was told 35 no shows by one of the Warlords. And as for the games , basically there seemed to be more blank empty tables than full ones. Wide acres of empty space that SHOULD have been a-bustle with games, greeted the wanderer in his spare moments. Again not the Warlords fault but the fault of the no-shows who didn't turn up. Obviously many had not bothered to inform the Warlords or the tables needn't have been set out- nice of those no-shows to be so well mannered.
One nice game stood out for me, a lovely Wellington in India affair put on by Martin Gane as his friends - who I think were all Warlords- the 6 pages (yes a mere 6 pages) of rules they used look interesting too.. once I get time to read them properly.
What amazed me was that I actually had time to see the show .... except that it wasn't there. Trade was pretty sluggish but again that was expected due to Brexit and Covid- almost no Europeans turned up.. There was no point this year where we were rushed off our feet - which in the past has been 'Salute Normal'.
Of course none of the particular problems of this years show can be laid at the door of the Warlords. But the combination of circumstances did rather take the shine off an event that is usually the showcase for the wargaming hobby . It wasn't Salute it was A.N.Other wargames show.
So the end of an era- for me at least and no it did not end with a bang.
The unrelenting bollocks of brexit affects everything. People booking a table then not turning up is just plain offensive; we'd love to take a game to Salute if it was not so far away.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was much younger I did a demo or two there once in a fit of madness doing the lot in 24 hours with my wife and my dad as drivers- best part of 12 hours driving in total..... nutcase that I was.
DeleteMany if the people I would normally see, didn't go because if CoViD I am sure it will improve next year🤞
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Covid is still the major factor Andy in keeping the crowds away. I know it was for me, even though double jabbed I'm hearing of too many double jabbed friends becoming infected to be confident. 50% down on predicted ticket sales I heard. Real shame.
ReplyDeleteIt’s too far away for us and a weekend in London is ridiculously expensive. Not been to Salute for a few years and I’ve not missed it. Prefer Partizan anyway…..
ReplyDeletePartizan was a better event. Personally I have always preferred it. This year my business head preferred it as well. Significantly Less than half the cost of Salute with - this year at least- better games by a street length. I'm pretty sure I won't miss it. I was knackered when I got home on Sunday
ReplyDeleteAndy thank you for the kind comments about my game
ReplyDeleteWell deserved Martin Your game looked fine. The rules look interesting as well.
DeleteBrexit didn’t affect Partizan, so why did it affect Salute?Im sure it’s just the ridiculous cost of everything in London and the hassle of it all. Would you go to Francewith the current Covid flip flop travel rules? Well I suppose your average Eu citizen would feel the same.
ReplyDeletePartizan has never had the numbers of European visitors that Salute has had in the past. Never at Partizan have I had German, French Italian and Spanish customers at my stand all at the same time. With Dutch and Belgians to follow- this was by no means unusual at previous Salutes. Yes Covid had its effect but you can't bury Brexit under Covid in the usual tory manner and of course at the time there were few or no travel restrictions as this was pre-Omicron .
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