>Just got back from the Indy Show. I am afraid that the shows are not what they used to be. Although the show was somewhat well attended but not nearly as in the past. There were fewer vendors as well. I am honestly asking for your opinions on what would make the shows better and how and who do we need to attract to the shows. Now I know saying cheaper prices and better sale prices will be the first thing said, but with the internet sales driving the every day sale price cheap sale prices are a thing of the past at the shows. Dealers must compete dailey with their lowest pricing and have no room for "Special Show Prices". How can we make the shows better? What and whom would you like to see at the shows?
There was a time when there was a perception that you went to wood shows to get deals on tools and things that we use in woodworking. I think for a long time that many of us have felt that way, it was the value for going to a show for some. Having spoken with many vendors over the years it has been clear to me that their margins are so low that giving prices breaks at shows is not good business. I will also say that I have spoken with a number of vendors who do not come to shows any more either because they feel they do not need the exposure, they are very successful doing business over the internet and they see little reward for spending a whole weekend away at a show that will not do their business any value. When you team a few vendors together who do not come to shows any more then the void created is noticed by the public and in turn I feel shows loose attendance in this regard. It�s also very demanding on vendors to do the Wood Show Tour, week end after weekend on the road, traveling across the country is not something that many of us would want to do.
In Southern Ontario I attend three shows with regularity, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Woodstock. I have seen that easily in the last few years that the presence of a number of select vendors has diminished. Some are retail outlets and some are manufactures, it�s simple, the value for them is not there if they are not attending and they are going elsewhere.
When I first started going to shows years ago it was about the tools and as my skills have changed with time my focus has changed to more about the skills. I think the one area that shows try to expand on is the Presentation Schedule. I look at those first before I go to a show, who will be there and when. I have learnt a great deal from skilled demonstrations from capable people, this is something I feel I am prepared to pay for actually. But I also feel that most wood shows schedule an hour or so per demonstration and that may not be enough time. I also find that some shows do not invest in the quality of the demonstrators and focus at too low a skill level for the general public. I feel if a wood show advertised that a woodworker of note was going to be set up to start and complete an entire a project during the course of a three day show that people would attend and also come when they wanted to see a particular skill being presented. And at the end of the show the work would be raffled off to the public for the price of admission.
Last year I attended my first wood show as a vendor. I brought my lathe with me and gave live demonstrations at my booth. I found that what most people wanted from me at my table was information. Making the time to talk with people and share my knowledge and share in our passion fro what we do was very satisfying for me, I am not making a living at what I do in woodworking�but perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much and I will be there again in 2 months. What I noticed though with other vendors who do make a living at what they do is they do not have the luxury of being able to linger in conversation because they have to make money and pay for their booth and get as much exposure as possible.
I feel that if show organizers surveyed the attendants and the vendors for what they want in a show then they could better align the shows to give back what they both need. Right now I see the business aspect of the internet is changing where vendors do well, were the public also buys more and more and also learns more and more. The wood show model of the 90�s is dying without change, it needs to stay with the times. I really am tired of seeing more mop and beer nut sales booth rather than wood vendors.
I find that for me attending shows now is a lot more of meeting with some friends and enjoying the environment. There are still unique vendors selling items that interest me (usually a local wood vendor), retail�.well, I can tell you in some cases the Lee Valley Free Shipping has drawn me into a show more than once with my list.
It�s a sign of the times�perhaps the venue needs to change as well.
One more thing, how could I forget, Local Clubs and exhibitions at the shows! This is something I also really enjoy about the shows I attend, also the local involvement of woodworking clubs.
Next weekend I will be at the Hamilton show in the Golden Horseshoe Woodturners Guild booth. Also at the same show will be the Halton Furniture Makers Society Booth, I am a member of both clubs. This type of exposure is great for the clubs and also for the general public to understand what is available locally in the area. I can remember well speaking with one man at the Hamilton show while I turned a pen�about a month later I saw him as a new member of our turning club and within a few meetings he was bringing in his work to show at the club, proud as could be.
Exhibits at shows are also a great attraction for me, usually carvings and some furniture, but wouldn�t an instant gallery at a wood show be something to think about?
It�s great to be able to talk with the craftsmen at shows to see them do their work and ask questions
Perhaps this is a direction that show organizers need to pay more attention to.
>Hello! I'm a geezer and I've been one for awhile now!
"Hello Geezer!"
Seriously, I attended many professional trade shows over an extended career in an industry that went from infancy to maturity before I retired. What I saw was a typical life-cycle scenario wherein there was much enthusiasm and participation during the industry's formative years and dwindling participation and amalgamation of venues in the latter years. I think much the same thing has happened to hobbyist shows.
If you study the demographics of this hobby group, you are likely to find that those in it are older and have been interested for a long time. Absent continuous generational improvements in tools, technques, and materials, the group reaches a point of satiety. Without a carrot to attact them, they don't attend with the same enthusiasm they once did, if at all.
In support of that theory, I offer another coupla points for consideration. Below a certain age - say those who came to adulthood before 1975, more of the population was exposed first-hand to 'the trades' and the craftsmen who practiced them. That exposure led to a higher appreciation and greater interest. With the advent of pre-fabrication came the decline of the trades and with their decline came a reduction of familiarity with tradesmen and their 'product'.
Beginning in the mid '70s, the hobby market began to be catered to by print media and specialty publications unlike anything that had been experienced earlier. Offset printing techniques and reduced relative costs of production and distibution made it possible to be economically viable with smaller readership. Magazines experience a burn-thru effect; they have to republish articles on the same subject matter over and over offering as much 'spin' as they can to attract readers. New subject matter rarely emerges in traditional-type hobbies. CableTV, computers, DVD's and other more convenient media also cause some diminution of the appeal of trade shows.
The only way to sustain interest is to attract new participants, which normally means younger ones. Due to the plethora of subjects that younger people are accustomed to being bombarded with, and perhaps a shorter attention span arising from the over-stimulation, magazines struggle to retain 'share'. The same is true of much entertainment media. I suspect that the same is true for hobbyist trade shows. They may soon be a thing of the past, spoken of fondly by graybeards but having insufficient appeal to attract younger audiences. One might logically expect interest in the hobby itself to decline if it fails to attract sufficient numbers of new (young) adherents.
This curmudgeonly opinion might be just the natural pessimism of age, but I think you will find the argument it proposes - and the conclusion it reaches - supported by ample demographic and focus group evidence. (Don't forget; you asked.)
Thank-you both for taking the time to really answer my questions and sharing your knowledge. I truly appreciate it! It sadens me that a hobby and a way of liffe that I love so much is perhaps fading! I am just kid enough to keep hoping it will not.
>For me, I think the big thing is that the woodworking shows that visit my area just aren't very interesting anymore: fewer vendors show up each year, the vendors who do show up often don't bring the products I'm interested in or the people staffing the booth know less than I do, and the instructional seminars have been the same for the last four years. Is it any wonder I didn't bother to attend the last show that came through?
What I'd really like to see:
1) Big Iron. Shops in my area don't have a lot of "big iron" tools on display: table saws, jointers, planers, bandsaws, etc. Especially if they cost more than $400-500. A woodworking show seems like it should be a great place to "kick the tires" on a potential purchase. Sadly, it seems like even the larger vendors don't bring their big machines to shows. That combined with the fact that many major vendors aren't even present, means that shows aren't very useful for comparison shopping.
2) Better education. As I said, the show that visits my area has had the same free seminars, taught by the same people, year after year. The first year they were interesting. After hearing the same stuff several times over, they're now boring. The last show I attended boasted that it had even more free, educational seminars. In fact, they were barely more than hour-long sales pitches for the company sponsoring the seminar. Bah!
I'd like to see some better seminars and classes. And I'd be willing to pay for them. Seems like this should be a great opportunity to draw more people to the show and for vendors to make some more sales. Imagine a 2-3 hour hand-cut dovetail class sponsored by Lie-Nielsen or Lee Valley. Anyone want to bet that people who take this class in the morning won't show up at the vendors booth in the afternoon to buy dovetail saws, chisels, and sharpening stones? Want to sell me a $1000+ HVLP sprayer? Give me an hour-long class where I can shoot some finish on a few pieces of scrap wood and I guarantee you've made a sale... Or get a woodworking school (hint, hint) to show up, give a demo or teach a short class, and then encourage people to sign-up for a longer class with the same instructor.
3) A broader mix of exhibitors. The show that comes to my area seems to have the same vendors year after year. Not that this is bad, but there are some big gaps in the products available for sale. Last time I went, it was just about impossible to find anyone selling wood, veneer, or turning blanks. I'd trade the guy selling glases cleaning spritz for $9/oz for somebody that had pen blanks and kits for sale. And I wouldn't mind seeing some better vendors, too. I'd trade the woodworking dime store or the 50-router-bits-for-$25 stores for Lee Valley any day of the week!
4) More informed exhibitors. Seems like the show that visits my area tends to pull people from local store to staff booths for some of the larger exhibitors (Delta, WMH Tool Group, etc). Unfortunately, my experience has been that these guys often know less about a particular tool than I do. Hey, I can understand that some of these manufacturers have huge product lines but I'd think someone working in their booth should at least be able to point me to somebody that knows about the product rather than giving me incorrect information.
>Less tools? Did I say that? I don't think I ever went to to shows just to see tools. Certainly not to buy tools. Not big ones at least. I go to the stores for that. I went to shows to see what's new, and to learn things. New jigs, new tools, new ways of using old tools, new projects, new ideas, demonstrations. Sure tools are great to see at shows, I guess a show wouldn't be complete without all the tools there, but I don't go there to buy them. In fact the only tool (big) I ever purchased at a show was a bandsaw that my wife bought for me (a surprise). I guess I liked going to shows for all he stuff that your couldn't get from catalogs and showrooms.
Thank-you for your thoughtful sugestions. I have been on both sides of the fence. First as a dealer and now as a presentor for Delta. I am trying very hard to present some useful information to the people who attend my seminars. It is so hard to present in this "loud"open area and I am struggling to get the information out and I do truly love woodworking and I want others to have my passion as well.
I have done shows for years, renting 10 booths, taking my complete store to the show. Rent a big truck, haul all the heavy iron to the show, staff the booth with knowledgeable sales people, work my behind off, take down the show and haul everything back to the store. Monday I am walking around in a tired dead stuppor. Sell $150,000.00 plus worth of tools and at the end of the month when I got my P & L statement back, I LOST MONEY. I stopped doing the shows, I could set on my behind at the store and not loss money. I only looked at the shows as an advertising expence.
I hope that the shows will make the booths more affordable to the vendors and attract new ones as well.
American Sycamore had a nice booth at the Indianpolis Show. We had on display our WorkBench, Our Green & Green Tall Clock, The Stickley Tall Clock, Shaker Blanket Chest, Glen Heuys 18th Century Cabinet, Andy Chidwicks Sculptured "Sam Maloof" curly maple rocking chair, and Dave Cophers Arts & Crafts Chair. We had many show goers tell us that they loved our booth and seeing our furniture did inspire them. I am going to do my best for next year to try and have our display at more shows.
I just can not afford the shipping and traveling expenses this year. I am going to budget it in for next year!
American Sycamore has made a commitment for education and it is my passion to teach and bring more people to a hobby that I truly love. Ok ...I know get off my soap box and get to work.
>One thing I'd suggest is promotion. I'm pretty new at woodworking, and the only way I even knew a show was coming to Atlanta was a hand out from Peachtree Woodworking. After that...I saw them mentioned on a couple of message boards and started paying attention.
I haven't seen one ad in the newspaper. I don't know...maybe its not cost effective to advertise to a non-targeted audience. I just know that if it wasn't for the flyer, and mentions on the messageboards I wouldn't be attending my first show Friday.
>Lots of good comments already, I'll see if I can add something...
First, the show concept. The last show here, I paid something like $10 to have the "opportunity" to be sold something. Do you see something wrong here? Seems to me that while I benefit from a concentration of vendors, shouldn't they foot the bill in order to attract more people? I know I'm asking a lot here, but it would make more sense to me...
Second, the big (and small) iron. I'm daydreaming here again, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to do more than just listen to salespeople pitching their wares, and actually be able to kick the tires? I know there's a big liability insurance issue at play here, heck, our local association won't even allow tools in our booth because we can't afford liability insurance, and if someone cut him/herself with a chisel, God knows what would happen...
At a minimum, we should get more demos of the tools for sale, even if we can't use them ourselves. We had a Steel City booth at the last show, and to my knowledge none of the tools on display were fired up. Do you buy a car without test-driving it? I know I don't...
Pricewise, since I'm paying for the privilege of attending the show, I expect, scratch that, DEMAND, a better deal than I can get from visiting the local store if I'm to buy something at the show...
I was looking for a Fein shop vac, and the "deal" I was given was more expensive than I could have got from Amazon, even after brokerage fees at the border and the exchange rate... I even told the Fein rep, and he wouldn't budge a penny. No, thanks, he lost a sale...
Funny, over here LN makes lots of sales. The rep (Rob Cosman) provides free instruction, and gives us a better deal on the exchange rate. Why aren't other sellers follow that example?
In the end I'll still attend the wood show over here, if only for meeting again with the vendors that I've got to know over the years. Oh yes, and for the Carmichael sausages :-)
>This comparison may seem like it's coming from far out in left field, but bear with me.
One of my other hobbies is audio. One of the often repeated mantras in the audiophile world is that "It's really about the music." However, if you look at the various audio magazines out there, one would rightly wonder if that is actually true. In a typical audio magazine, the page count can easily run 4:1 in terms of articles/reviews of equipment vs. articles/reviews of music/musicians. There was audio one magazine that put musicians on the cover instead of equipment shots. It went bankrupt. At audio shows, there would be room after room of vendors of audio equipment, and only a few vendors selling CDs. And, many of those CDs were various remasters of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".
I see a similar situation regarding this discussion of woodworking shows. Even though it seems like we should be focused on the end product: what our projects look like, it's much more fun to talk about, and buy the tools themselves. Just like how it seems that audiophiles are more interested in audio equipment than in the music itself, to some extent woodworkers seem to be interested more in the tools than how to use them.
PLEASE NOTE: I FULLY COUNT MYSELF IN THIS GROUP, AT LEAST ON DAYS THAT I AM BEING HONEST WITH MYSELF. I AM NOT TRYING TO FLAME ANYONE HERE!!!!!
I think that this is reflective in how we see shows. Certainly we all like to snag a bargain, and play with the newest toys. But if we were really looking to improve our skills, we should be coming to the shows more for the seminars and lessons than for the opportunity to go shopping. However, every criticism I've seen about woodworking shows has been about the lack of vendors and bargains, whereas it seems that no one complains about the educational opportunities there.
I do agree with most of your post but I am afraid your statement of "Demanding" a better show price than that of some Amazon No Name No service company just can not happen.
A 10 x 10 booth is app $1500.00 add all the show expense of travel hotel etc....The good deals at the shows are over. The inter-net has leveled the playing field. You have to sell everyday at your best price or no business. There is no margins to give any better show price. I know the Fein reps. They are very knowledgeable about their products. Take advantage of their knowledge and support them by your purchase. If you don't.... kiss the shows good by!
>"...I paid something like $10 to have the "opportunity" to be sold something....
Hey, Denis, I forgot about that aspect. You've absolutely right.
And around here, $10 would be a cheap show. Single tickets range from a bit more, to alot more than $10.
Then Double that if I want to bring my son, or times 5 to bring the whole family.
It get's ridiculous to think I'd spent $100 to go to a show. Even $30-$40 is alot if the point of the show is 90% selling and 10% learning, which many shows seem to have been recently.
Heck I can take my son to the AMA Supercross for less money ;)
Redmond Machinery and Highland Hardware have open houses a few times through out the year. It's free to attend, and they have free food, and free prizes and hotdogs and donuts for the kids. And sure they want to sell me something, but they feed me and there is just as much, to learn at these open houses with the new tools and demonstrations and special guests, etc.
They pay me, or at least fill my tummy, to attend and hopefully buy stuff. And I will because they've made such a nice attempt.
But paying for a show, where they aren't really offering anything more in the areas of learnign and demos.... and where the food prices are as bad as at a baseball game..... forget it.
>I drove 100 miles Saturday and Sunday to get to the Columbus show, Saturday with a friend, Sunday by myself. I went primarily to listen to the speakers. Secondarily, I went to place an order with Lee Valley (about $350 total), inspired by their "free shipping" deal. Thirdly, I went to browse the booths, looking at new items and the demos (some good, some snake oil shows).
Mike Heavey and Kelly Mehler were excellent. I had heard Mehler before, and he covered pretty much the same thing as last year, but I wanted to hear it again. I don't know that I would want to hear the same presentations (jointer and table saw) again, but I'm sorry I missed the band saw presentation.
Heavey's "concept" shop was outstanding...taking a project from beginning to end in three stages/presentations. I drove back the second day mainly because I wanted to hear him.
I don't expect to find "steals" at these shows. You are right...the internet is a great leveling device re: prices. I do expect to find a couple of "deals," maybe a tiny bit off on a package...the same kind of thing my local retailer might offer me. I even don't mind paying a tad more than "internet" price for something I can touch or play with first. I appreciate the vendors having the item for me to see.
I was annoyed at the Rigid booth...their "show specials" were as much, and even more, than the everyday selling price at my local Home Depot. I don't mind them setting their prices as they wish...that is their choice, and mine not to buy, but I do mind them implying that the regular price is indeed "regular," and that the show specials are special. Misleading, which I resent.
The short version of this is that I go to shows primarily for information...sponsored presentations and vendor demos. I will trade the "sales pitch" for the excellent information that most present. The $9 I spent on a two day admission was small compared with the knowledge I gained. I am no "pro," but I'm not a newbie either. I figure I can always learn a new trick, even if I've seen/heard the topic before. Considering the expense of putting on these shows, I feel I have been given more than my money's worth.
The $50 is too much for the seminars...not that the speaker is not worth that much, just that I have invested my time in my day already. $50 on top of that is not money well spent if I miss half of the show. I might suggest a seminar "tour" independent of the show, much the same as BASS did with their Bassmasters' University. I WOULD spend money on that.
One suggestion...wider aisles, particularly when two vendors are demonstrating just across the aisle from each other, and spread out the loudspeaker users so one does not compete with the other. There was plenty of "behind the curtain" room at Columbus, so aisles could have been spread a tad.
All in all, I love the shows, and will continue to go when they are within a couple of hours drive of me.
You asked a great question. I have been going to the Woodworking shows here in Milwaukee for well over 20 years. In Milwaukee we are lucky to have a Woodcraft store and a Rockler and they are doing well from what I can tell. We have a Woodworking guild with about 130 members and two woodturning clubs that are filled to overflowing, so I guess the market is there.
Vendor attendance has always fluctuated. It is hard for companies to track the marketing value of a show and so many drop out because they don't think they made enough sales at a show and they have no way of tracking sales that may have been the result of exposure from the show.
I talked with a long time, well know vendor about fluctuation of vendor support and he indicated that a lot of vendors had become fed up with political BS with the show organizers. It is my understanding that a lot of vendors couldn't exhibit at the show because of some of the political nonsense. As good vendors dropped by the wayside and the shows became slower, attendance dropped. Attendance didn't fall off because there were too many quality vendors.
I go to the shows to see things I am not likely to see at the local Woodcraft or Rockler. I bought my first Forrest Sawblades at that show long before they were sold in stores. I also bought my Excalibur sliding table system at that show. I saw Festools there for the first time. Same thing with Velvit Oil, but they were only there one year.
I personally never cared for the junk vendors with their deals but I may be in the minority there. In fact my buddies and I always made it a game to see what the hot cheap item for the year would be. For lots of years the hot cheap item was router mats. Lately it has been those plastic cord reels.
I always thought it was strange that I would pay $5 for parking and $10 for admission, not to mention the really expensive crappy food, to have somebody sell me stuff, but if there was a chance I could see something in the flesh that I could not see elsewhere, it was worth it.
Lots of businesses look at everything but themselves when things start to go bad. Blaming the decline of the Woodworking shows on the internet is just not intelligent in my opinion. There has been an explosive growth in woodturning in recent years but no vendors in that area to speak of. For every Amazon.com type buyer who wants a nickle off whatever, there is an impulse buyer or a buyer who needs to see a real item demoed to provide that last little push towards a purchase. I'm dying to see a Sawstop saw for real but there won't be one at the Milwaukee show this year. I've been on their website and I've read about them on forums, but it is hard to plunk down that kind money without actually seeing and touching the actual product. When a product that exciting comes along, the show organizers should pay them to be there.
Last summer my wife and I drove to Louisville for the AAW symposium. The combination of great seminars and a killer trade show was a real draw. Attendance was so strong that they actually had problems with the number of people attending. They were caught a liitle off gaurd. While there, I spent over $2000 on wood and another $1000 on new tools. As I said, the market is there.
Interest in woodworking is at an all time high so I have to conclude that any drop in attendance at the Woodworking shows is due to factors that should be well within the control of the show promotors, if they start to pay attention and correct their own mistakes.
Mike, you are the first person to even ask the question, and I find that encouraging. I hope this helps. Maybe I will see you in Milwaukee.
20 years as a woodworker & not once have I felt...
RobV
>the need to attend a show.
My assumption has been that it's filled with companies hawking their products and how much better it is than brand X or how they have improved over last years model... in my opinion there is very little innovation in the WW industry that doesn't fall into the category of gimmicktry.
The magazines do a better (usually), unbiased (sometimes) testing and I'm more inclined to believe their claimns than a manufacturer's representative. If I want to see a demo I'll go to Woodcraft or Rockler.
To me making purchases at the show seems to be kind of like buying from a guy selling out stuff in the parking lot out of the back of his van... what happens when the show packs up and leaves town? Who are you going to contact if you have a question or problem?
Something I find interesting... they actually charge admission? Tells you how little attention I have paid to the shows! The whole show is one big advertisement... admission should be free!
Re: 20 years as a woodworker & not once have I fel
mike from American Sycamore
>RobV,
You have never been to a show so I find it hard that you can make a true fact base statement about the admission charge. I do 9 presentations each week-end at the Woodworking Shows for Delta. I do a Master's Clinic. Delta is my sponsor and these seminars are free with your paid admission. The information that I present in these seminars are not sales pitches but good education. The information I present for free would cost several hundred dollars else where. I suggest that you do go to a show and base your decesion on fact.
>I'm tired of paying to shop .... . Secondly, to add insult to injury, the local show, here in Sacramento, charges ridiculous parking fees.
Many of us are retired and on a fixed income. We, in many cases, have to make a decision to buy the supplies we need for our projects at the local hardware or lumber yard or give the money to the gate keeper at the local expo.
Re: 20 years as a woodworker & not once have I fel
Shawn Highfill
>Mike,
I am new to the board and am going to my first show in Seattle in April. I can't wait. I know the liability is probably just too great, but I would love to walk away with something I made at a seminar. For me, I can read all the books and listen all day, but there are things I need to put my hands on to understand. I am a novice, so anything will help.
>is my opinion of most of the shows. Went to one of the first show in NY about 25 years ago. It was decent and geared to the hobbyist and small pro shop. The only shows worth going to for me are the pro-shows and those are free admission for me. The other shows are to lure hobbyists in and take their money on often useless and unnecessary gadgets. With the web you can get better prices anyway. When I worked for a dealer years ago he decided it was cheaper to stay home than to go to a show and sell stuff at pennies
above cost to compete. For the hobbyist I suppose they have to go
to one show to kick the tires so to speak but leave the credit cards at home.
>I would like to see something along the line of a paid turning symposium. Several different instructors teaching rotations coupled with an open vendor area and an instant gallery to show work.
>I had never done any type of woodworking but always enjoyed Norm and Roy. So when I went to my first show I was impressed. Paul Sellers from Homestead Heritage had a booth and was demonstrating some of skills taught at their woodworking school. I was hooked, visited Homestead and signed up for the complete schedule of classes. Since then (1998) I have attended several shows but have skipped the last two. They seemed to be just one large area for sand paper and glue brushes with a few vendors selling router bits. That is being a little harsh especially to the vendors that are trying to keep them going but like others have said $10 admission and $5 parking is a little high for what is there. I would be more than willing to pay for good classes like a one day class I went to taught by Kelly Mehler.
>I believe those who could benefit the most are the companies without much of a distribution network; Wilke (Bridgewood & Yorkcraft) Laguna, MiniMax, Grizzly, Rojek and the like. What's the biggest reason people won't buy from those venders? "I'm not going to spend my hard earned money on something I've never laid hands or eyes on" and who can fault that logic? That person might feel differently if they had actually seen the Yorkcraft planer or Grizzly jointer or whatever. Demos and seminars like Mike talked about are the other reason.
>Allow me to be the Devil's Advocate for a moment...
I do agree with most of your post but I am afraid your statement of "Demanding" a better show price than that of some Amazon No Name No service company just can not happen.
When it comes to machinery, I can see the difference in having local service, but a shop vac? I'll admit that I don't know in detail how Fein operates, but in this case the rep lives two hours away and was there only to push his products that are sold by a local outfit. I doubt very much that this outfit is equipped to service shop vacs any more than a faulty cordless drill or miter saw. Bottom line, if defective the tool is shipped to a service center somewhere, same as I would have to do had I bought the tool from Amazon. I might be wrong, but I doubt it. Besides I wasn't asking the rep to beat the Amazon price, just to trim the 38% "premium" he was charging above the Amazon price ($380 vs. $275 is a bit too much in my book).
A 10 x 10 booth is app $1500.00 add all the show expense of travel hotel etc....The good deals at the shows are over. The inter-net has leveled the playing field. You have to sell everyday at your best price or no business. There is no margins to give any better show price. I know the Fein reps. They are very knowledgeable about their products. Take advantage of their knowledge and support them by your purchase. If you don't.... kiss the shows good by!
This I find quite interesting... I won't argue with you regarding the costs of doing a show, and you may be right that margins have thinned with the advent of the information age. Yet...
At our local show I see the same outfits year after year. The economist in me says that they keep coming because they make money at it, despite the show costs. However I have a suspicion that the big outfits pay a lot less per sf for their booths, being the "attraction" of the show. Correct me if I'm wrong...
But look at the show from the potential buyer's perspective for a moment. I can either pay money for going to the show, plus parking (let's forget the outrageous food prices for now), to see the same staff that man the stores, or go to the store, no admission fee and free parking. Most likely the staff at the stores will be less busy at the store than at the show, so I can potentially get better service. Makes the whole thing a no-brainer, unless there's something in it for me from buying at the show, like, say, a better deal?
Maybe the woodworking shows the way we know them are destined to disappear. Ten years or so ago I bought a SCMS and a jointer at the local show, and was able to get a good deal. I had saved enough to easily cover my costs of attending the show. If we can't get better deals anymore then customers will walk away... In the end we might end up with exhibitors who sell hard to find equipment, and "educational" booths (we had three or four of those at the show here), i.e. those who sell education, or provide an educational component that goes hand in hand with the products they sell. That, you can't get off the internet.
I'll keep on attending the show, but it looks like I won't buy more machinery there.
