Tom,
Good question with reference to wood vendors (I'll ditto what Richard and John said about having them at other woodworking shows). I think a lot has to do with the number of lumber companies in the area, their distances, the type of show and the typical customer. What I can do is to tell you what is going on in this area and maybe that will help.
Every Spring there is a professional/commercial Wood Working show in Phila where the big furniture company, large woodworking places, professional woodworkers, etc attend. No wood being sold there, rather some 30+ companies showing the type of wood they sell, where they are located, etc. In addition, there may be some 20 booths showing hardware samples (slides, handles, etc) and at least another 20 showing molding they produce. And then there are the machines (large and very large and very, very large), CNC’s, lots of stuff on high end sanding, finishing, etc.. Entry is free, they have busses running every 5 minutes, upgraded food court, lots of freebie, etc. What the heck, some of these people spend big money. All in all, it is quite large and well attended. (BTW, if anyone is interested in going to next years show, shoot me an e-mail, Wood00001@aol.com and I’ll send you info on signing up).
In the fall, the woodworking show is more for the small cabinet shop, wood turners, scroll sawyers, weekend warriors, etc where they show and sell smaller equipment, hardware, woodworking jigs, etc. It was at this type show that lumber vendors would show their more specialize lumber products and "get their name out". IIRC, 5 years ago, Hearne Lumber, Willow Lumber, Good Hope Hardwood, Mahogany Hardwood and Steve Wall Lumber were there. And they had many of the things the spring show had such as bussing.
Last year just West Penn Hardwood and Hearne Lumber were there. This year, nobody. West Penn was real big on some very large exotic lumber and tons of turning blanks. Hearne Lumber had, I think, lots of walnut and cherry lumber. Both were pretty much trying to increase their customer base.
Last year the fall show was down sized and the attendance was not that good. Maybe that is why West Penn and Hearne were not there this year. And there was no bussing this year. One good thing was the $10 pass was good for all three days.
If you end up being a vendor at one of those shows, make sure to post that fact on the different wood forums, especially the ones where there are a lot of wood turners (such as WoodCentral). Might generate a lot of extra traffic at your booth if people know about before hand.
Regards (and good luck), Joe
Two weeks, your project will be done in two weeks!!! (From the Money Pit)