Have your own convention with all that space. Run a charter train. Charge a fee, and make a buck off your still. S Helper has a big day.
John Armstrong ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill & Diane, B.T.S. To: S-Scale@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 12:40 PM Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: Report of 2010 NASG Convention in Duluth, MN raisinone wrote: >--- In S-Scale@yahoogroups.com, "Mellon, Jay" <jay.mel...@...> wrote: > > >>All, >> >>Here is my report of my experiences at the recent NASG convention in >>Duluth. The usual caveats apply (not all inclusive). >> >><skip> >>There were also two vendors who had a good selection of AF inventory, >>but there seemed to be a low level of AF activity at this convention. >>In general, there was a reduced presence of S vendors at this S >>convention. Michigan Models, PortLines Hobbies, American Models, BTS, >>and DesPlaines Hobbies were all absent. >> B.T.S. has not been to ANY conventions since 2007 so we are not snubbing the S crowd. During those 2.5 years, we ( as in just Bill and Diane - the entire B.T.S. staff ) built a new 1500 sqft office, remodeled a house with new bath, kitchen, and flooring, built a six-rail wood fence around an acre of land for the six-dog security team, moved the rest of our stuff from Fl, moved an O scale loco company from KY, moved the household and business from Elkins to the new place in Belington, released 105 new kits ( at least 21 were in S ), shipped out over 5,000 kits, and have started an addition to the office to hold the new loco mfgring area. Yea, we are a bit tired. Since we actually make the bulk of what we sell, for us to attend a convention in MN takes about two weeks away from production - five driving days, four convention days, three packup days, and two unpack days. Add four more days for driving if going to CA... so we will not be there in 2011 either. Sorry if anyone is offended by our decisions, but we have to do what is best for the business and making & shipping product is the high priority. > And the vendors there were less >than happy about the lack of visitors present during rail tours. > (snip) Yea, this has been an ongoing complaint of mine for years. When the dealer room is advertised as open and we are advertised as being there, we, the vendors, have an unspoken obligation to be in the room so we miss a lot of the tours. The general attitude in the S world is just 'cover your table and go on the tour.' But the attendees that do not go the tours, or have just one day to attend the convention, are greatly disappointed when they show up when the room is advertised as 'open' only to find that many vendors are not in the room and ugly old sheets cover many tables. Other conventions and shows are more direct about it - if you are not at your display during the posted open hours, you will not be allowed back. There are solutions to the problem. The National Narrow Gauge Convention has vendor hours before noon and after 7PM. The dealer room is closed during the afternoon so everyone can go on the tours, get lunch, nap, etc. The National Train Show starts the day the NMRA ends so no tours are going on during the big days at the NTS. The O Scale Convention has the dealer room open during the day and tours at night. I gave up trying to get this changed. For years, Diane and I would meet with the folks for the next year's convention, explain to them the issues, show them the narrow gauge schedule, get promises they would consider it, and then have to put up with the same crappy hours the next year. The one constant we heard was that the big AF dealers would not come unless the dealer room was always open - but many times I saw these same AF guys cover the tables and hit the tours... go figure! I think the worst day we had was in Cleveland some years ago... the dealer room opened at 0900, the tours left at 0830, they got back around 7PM, they then went to dinner, and the bulk of them finally hit the room after 8PM. We closed the room at 10:30PM - one very long, boring day for those of us behind the table. Some S conventions are better than others with their efforts to minimize the empty dealer room, but generally there is still a long way to go. As it has been mentioned before, folks come to a convention with X amount of dollars in their pockets. They will spend just about the same amount if they have 40 hours or 10 hours of shopping time. Take care Bill -- == Scale Model Railroad Products == == Manufacturer - Retailer - Importer == Bill & Diane Wade B.T.S. RR 1 Box 141A Belington, WV 26250 Phone: 304-823-3729 FAX: 304-823-2901 http://www.btsrr.com We wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5338 (20100803) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5341 (20100804) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! 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