hi , friend has just returned from a visit to america and he commented that the shows over there are held to a different format , it is all traders and competitions , there are no clubs stands to put on model displays and if you want to see a demmonstration of a modellers skills you have to pay seperately. here in the uk we have no such things . loads of clubs display models freely and so do indevidual model makers as part of the overall show ,we have comps and traders as well . are there any other countries who have the american theme or are they like the uk . cheers ian

Interesting that your friend had to pay extra for a seminar. While most shows don;t have them, no one wants to volunteer, when they are available in all the New England shows I've been to, they are part of the admission. It's truethat most shows are competitions, but my club has done dispplays at airshows for several years now and our fall show has a smal;l; contest but also a large club display. We have adequate room in our spring show venue to set up personal, noy in competition displays, as well.

I've got to echo Al a bit and say I've never seen a show that made you pay extra for a seminar. Most of the shows I've been to are competition heavy so non-comp displays are rare. Although at the IPMS Nats last year there were a couple of club displays, including a good one of IAF aircraft. Usually there is a table set aside for non-comp entrants as well, but you don't see many models displayed on them. I think it has to do with the American mentality. Most Americans are very competitive, and can't resist any opportunity to say "Ha Ha mines better than yours", not to mention the validation of the hard work they put into the model.

it's the first time i ear of that, here in canada i've never seen a show where a special fee was to be paid to assist to any seminar ...
as for the clubs tables, some of our shows are under this way of organisation while some others (like our last contest) are more willing to put all the models by categories. personnally i like the fact that all the clubs are mixed in a show, it allows to see more people in your main domain like that
here is a link to have a look at our last show in Quebec, May 2003 :

http://www.smhq.org/exposmhq/expo-albums/index.html

there was a figure painting seminar conducted by M Bannerman and it was opened to anybody ...
bests regards