I often do work for a company that relied on setting up stands as major income at several shows here in Brisbane including the motor show. 2 years back the work dropped off dramatically due to the high costs of having a stall at these venues. People just werent prepared to pay the $$$'s
I too have had a stall at a sign show.. the costs involved were huge and no we did not beak even.. we lost money. Did we create awareness?? Well yes of course. Did we do it again? No.
Pinball Expo is ( was) a very different affair. My stall last year was cheap, but add flights and hotels and it cost me over $2000 to present myself. No i did not make money there or in the year following.
Major criticism of last years expo was the auction. Michael tried to NOT have this.. it was obviously a major sticking point. Did last year break even? ..NO. Both Michael and Ryan LOST money.
So the community cries no auction. Michael listens and tries to set this years up without it. Problem is that the upfront costs are huge.. over $10000 was spent last year on radio advertising alone.
It cant work both ways... pin prices are down... selling pins to cover costs is subject to huge criticism.. and yet these guys are expected to front costs to keep US happy... well it didnt work and so Expo is off for this year.
A few commercial dealers wanted to sell pins last year... did they want to contribute to costs.. NO. They wanted a free platform to sell their wares.
Couple that with the bitching that goes on... dealers hating each other.. forums against each other... a group of people conspiring to ruin last year ( yes it happened) by threatening to auction off pins outside the venue... these people didnt want it to work, but it did.. at a loss.
Mark C is right.. if he attends then others wont... if WG attends then NO ONE else will. And so on and so on
The pinball community is NOT united in its hobby.. its divided many times.
Expo 2010 is off.. i think this is very sad. I wasnt even sure i could attend and hated the thought of missing it.
basic fact is that Michael and Ryan do not have the $$'s to put upfront.. no one else has stepped up to fund it. Auction to pay for it is a big NO NO ( apparently).. so where do the funds come from?
Not from my stall... had i paid standard price for an Expo stall, there is no way i would present myself.
I got asked time and time again last year.. do i have permission to do this.. do that etc etc etc... you cant do this.. you dont have licence. Blah Blah bloody blah
Well i could do this and that cos i wasnt selling the BG i had on the stall.. was for my own machine... in fact all i had for sale were 2 neon signs.
Well yes, now i have licence and could sell stencils etc... but i try to keep these priced low.. prices include a royalty fee that i pay. How many stencils would i have to sell at Expo just to cover the costs if it were run as a large show type affair... aint hard to work out... its not possible.
Expo was run last year as a hobbyist type affair.. low price on a stall.... low price to enter.. create awareness etc etc etc.. but fund it with an auction.
YOU.. the community did not like this funding style.. but without someone coming along with VERY deep pockets along with a much higher entry fee and stall fee i cant see how Expo can function.
Expo 2009 happened... it got slammed before and after the affair.. criticism from so many who wanted it run how THEY would like it run but are not willing to put time, energy and most importantly $$$'s where its needed.
The general community killed Expo this year.. no one else... but hey! Thats bloody pinball for you!
Terrific post Gav.
Nug and I were part of 2009 with Coconut Island, and in fact kinda grateful as it forced our hand to finish the last bits on the game to make the event. AP was the central focus for forum promotion, and outside AP was criticism and immaturity.
I agree with Caveman's point about the entry fee - Bumper has done fine with a $20.00 fee for their Faith nights for years, and I would have thought $20.00 to play all the pinball you want for a day isn't too much (as long as a "family" ticket is available). But as an Expo might be wanting to attract non-hardcore pinheads, there might need to be a balance to make the entry fee attractive, hard to be sure.
