I was on the fence about posting this, but I finally decided to. If it ruffles anyones feathers for any reason, I'm not worried if the post gets pulled. I emailed WoodWorks! directly and have included my email and their response. I just thought it was interesting.
Hi Jonathan,
I’ve never been to a wood working show before and before making solid plans to go to the York, PA one I posted in a forum that I am part of. I was surprised to hear how poorly the show itself (not the seminars) was being reviewed by people who visited the Richmond show over the weekend. The general consensus was give it about 90 minutes and you saw everything. What, if anything, can you tell me about the differences between the York and Richmond shows? I can’t seem to find a list of vendors that will be present, only the seminars and workshops. Don’t want to spend 5 hours in the car round trip for 90 mins worth of show.
Thanks,
Wayne
Wayne:
Thanks for visiting WoodWorks online and your inquiry regarding our shows.
I hope you give as much consideration to my following comments as you did the forum message boards, that's all I ask.
Regarding "shows" in general- meaning ALL consumer woodworking shows: they have significantly fewer vendors than ever AND fewer attendees. This phenomenon has been occurring since the late 90's and the slide has yet to be reversed. Why? Numerous reasons, ranging from the Internet, the economy, lack of new products in the industry and too many disappointing shows, adding up with a cycle that results in fewer exhibitors, which triggers fewer attendees, or the reverse, fewer attendees which causes fewer exhibitors to participate.
Years ago, say 1985, there were few outlets for many of the exhibitors to sell products, other than a show and there were no Home Depots or Lowes. In those days, a big market show often had 100 or more vendors. Today, a typical show has fewer than half that and most manufactures do not have a corporate booth, though they often send factory reps to work a local retailers booth. Shows have been fragile since 1990. At that time, there were only two shows- The Woodworking Shows and American Woodworker Show. I created and produced the American Woodworker Show for the magazine, which was at that time owned by Rodale Press. That show set the standard for what a woodworking show was supposed to be and continued to raise the bar for the next two years, when Rodale Press decided to sell the magazine and the show to Reader's Digest. I stayed with the show, hoping to continue making a great show even better. But after two more years, I realized Reader's Digest was not inclined to maintain the same quality and the magazine & shows declined rapidly. Rather than watch the show slip in to the mud, I left to work for The Woodworking Shows. Shortly after I left The American Woodworker Show, it blew apart and Reader's Digest folded the show- there was nothing left even to sell.
This past summer, another woodworking show company launched a new string of 6 fall shows- the owner was previously an employee of The Woodworking Shows. He left that show after 11 years, with the idea that he could do his own shows. If you visit his web site, you will see that he just canceled his show scheduled for this coming weekend and one more in December. The three shows he managed to produce were considered disasters by exhibitors and I can only assume the public who attended felt the same way. The biggest of the show companies, The Woodworking Shows was sold to new owners this September. The company is now owned by two exhibitors who have never produced shows and who have little vision of what a show could be other than a place to dump cheap tools, make fast cash and get out of town.
WoodWorks is run by me and my wife. Our focus is not on commerce, but on woodworking. Our shows feature the top experts anywhere and that often includes bringing experts from other countries. ALL our floor demonstrations are free, they run ALL day and none of them are commercially supported. That atmosphere results in expert woodworkers being free to do what they do best, teach, answer questions and inspire. We are the only show that offers hands-on classes and seminars and we are the only show that has ever guaranteed satisfaction to people who register. Yes, we are known for that, but we also have the same quality vendors at our shows. For example, in York, we'll have Lee Valley from Canada, Keller Dovetail from California will also be there and in this case, it will not be a salesman selling product, it is Dave Keller himself- the inventor of the Keller jigs. In many cases, the vendors at our shows are never seen anywhere else, and most certainly not in Home Depot. For the folks who want to see DeWalt, Home Depot has their full line, why would that matter at our show? In a nut shell, we will not have every company at York that we would like, those days are history, but we will have a good cross section of companies of quality.
The Richmond show was a "First time" show- this will be our 2nd in York. First shows are almost always disappointing to everyone, including the producer. Sometimes after a first time show, we decide to return, with the hope and expectation the show will grow each season. This is a natural process that can take 2-3 years before a show reaches it's full potential. Sometimes however, after a first time show, we know the area will not sustain a future show, so we don't return.
I'd encourage you as a consumer to investigate my claims, just to gain more insights. For example, visit Laguna's web site- see what shows they scheduled. NONE. None in the US that is, but they are doing shows in Canada!! Personally, that offends me. Other companies like MiniMax for example, pulled out of shows last year because "they have a different agenda" we were told. Two weeks ago we were in Austin doing our show there- I offered MiniMax FREE booth space and they declined. Considering they are based in AUSTIN, what does that say about their interest in hobbyist woodworker's?
There's lot's of reason to attend WoodWorks, beyond shopping- that's something you can do over the Internet, as many folks do. And there's shopping too. If I were going to purchase a drum sander for example, I'd like to see it before buying it. Depending on you and your reasons for going to a woodworking show, WoodWorks may be worth driving 10 hours to. If you're only interest is getting a deal, seeing people trying to sell you something, probably you too will be disappointed in WoodWorks.
The future of ALL woodworking shows is hanging in the balance now. Consumers are beginning to understand that shows are not what they were but they still offer most woodworkers a lot and that's why WoodWorks is still around. If everyone felt the same as the few posters, we'd be history, just like the dinosaurs. When we hear complaints at the show because it has fewer vendors than everyone would like, I usually ask the attendee this question," Would you prefer a smaller show of quality or NO show at all?" That's really where things are. Believe it or not, the majority opinion is, a smaller show is still better than no show.
Since I can not be completely objective about WoodWorks, it's hard to be when you produce such a thing, my advice is to visit our Guest Book- that's where you can get feedback from lot's of people over the past 6 years who have gone to WoodWorks. I think they're comments reflect what we have been trying to do since we began.
The Internet is a very powerful tool and can be used in many positive ways. A few negative comments like the ones posted on the message board can destroy a show forever. That's unfortunate, especially when those comments represent only a few people who attended. I don't believe most woodworker's really understand that the promoter wants all the companies we can have at a show, that we are not the problem. It's a classic case of chicken or the egg. If attendees don't support shows, there will be less exhibitors and with fewer exhibitors, there will be less attendees. Breaking this cycle will be up to folks like you. It seems a shame to me that woodworkers may soon find out that all shows will be gone and then what will be left is nothing more than a call center probably based in India or the computer screen on their desk.
So Wayne, I thank you in advance for reading through all this. Obviously I care about our show, what we're producing now and the future of all shows. To address your question, finally- it comes down to your choice. However you decide, we appreciate your interest in our show.
Work safely,
Jonathan
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Originally Posted by Lou Morrissette
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