----- Original Message ----- From: "Malcolm Cadman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Yet there is a lot to consider, such as : > > * Workshops are organised by volunteers ... and we are struggling for > active members to support regular meetings, let alone Workshops. > * London and the South-East are big enough to attract enough support, > which can be sufficiently different. Byfleet is 'miles away' for me ! > As is Hove. > * Not all traders can make every event, which is acknowledged. > * There are European and American dates not to clash with. > * When we analysed this last year the London Group found that November > was one of the very few 'slots' available. > * If a Workshop is to be 'annual' then it is useful to have it at the > same time every year ... this helps people remember and to plan their > own calendars. > * It is already June, so six months on the year gone by :-) > I fully understand that Byfleet is "miles away". In fact, all of 21 miles and 35 minutes from Waterloo by train. However, I can assure you that if you take a few beads and baudles with you to give them as presents, you will find the natives quite friendly. Sorry to be sarcastic, but it is a bit rich to know that I shall be talking to my near neighbours from Derbyshire and Manchester at Byfleet, but that it is too far for Londoners to travel. The practice learns that if two shows clash, then the attendance at both will be mediocre and the punters will go home from both with the impression that workshops are no longer worthwhile. There is a good case for a London show, but please get together with Hove and Byfleet to co-ordinate dates. If we to have more shows in the UK, then we need them in the north. I would make a special effort to attend any show outside the South East. (And I write this as a trader who until now has found every show north of Watford a commercial disaster.) Or perhaps we should accept reality, and officially declare the QL as dead not only north of Watford, but also north of the Thames. We should learn from two experiences overseas. Eindhoven once had a high reputation for its international shows, and there is no reason why it could not still have. Unfortunately there was a unclear policy which of the six yearly workshops was local and which international, a situation in which traders were stupid enough to collude. Now attendance at all Eindhoven shows can be counted on your fingers and your toes. In contrast North America has just one show a year, which is carefully and thoroughly planned and organised. I have never been to one, but from all accounts users go not just for the show, but also for the social contacts. And they go with great enthusiasm. Geoff Wicks.
