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Men, Metal & Machines - Visalia Show Report
(Nicholas Carter) wrote in message ...
Prime was fun as always, but clearly the decline of the show was
evident. Less vendors, less exhibitors, less attendance. Ram was going
to cancel the show this year but decided to continue one more year -
the clubs were going to take over the PRIME name but he wanted money
for it so they decided to break completely with the past and get a new
name. The GEARS show will be in Portland next year. (This is all 2nd
hand info so forgive me if I got any details wrong)
The failure of PRIME had two main reasons.
1) People don't take the time to exhibit their models and projects.
Without exhibitors there is no show. If GEARS is to stand a chance in
hell of continuing the tradition of a NW show, people need to get off
their asses and display!
...
I went to PRIME '98 and 2000, the only hobby metal/model engineering
shows I have attended. '98 was fascinating, a world of stuff I had
never seen before. In 2000 the biggest surprise was seeing, or at
least remembering, no interesting exhibitor displays that weren't also
at the '98 show. The organizers did a great job the first time of
rounding up everyone in the NW, perhaps.
The 2000 show had more interesting vendors (Nick and Scott, for a
start) but I was more interested in seeing other folks' creations.
Annual may be too often for a show in the NW to be a long-term
success. Alternate years perhaps. The GEARS organizers should
consider that. At least Portland is more central than Eugene, easier
to get to from all over.
Bob
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