Hi , All , I was wondering if like me you have noticed a lack of general public attending model shows of late .
I was wondering if there are too many shows round the country . If I attended all that I was invited to I would have less than 10 weekends off from Feb to Nov in the year . After all most shows are within the 150 miles area and you see the same traders and club members time and time again.
your thoughts on the matter how we can attract the general public to our shows and keep the hobby alive . cheers ian

For me the problem is getting to these shows. As I don't have transport anymore I would have to go by train or coach if the show is anywhere but local.

I was checking out the timetables for getting to Telford, I would spend more time actually travelling than attending the show, plus it's not exactly cheap.

As for local shows I've never seen any advertised, the only ones I hear of are major ones which are out of reach.

Hi Ian

Getting to Telford last year was a totally impossibility!

Without a car, from my neck of the woods, if I'd caught the earliest train going and the last train back, I'd have been left with... wait for it... 20 minutes in Telford! Probably not time to reach the venue from the station!

As for other shows - like Phantom, I hardly ever hear about them; send in a list of events and we'll run it on Armorama - it's just what we need for the UK community.

All the best

Rowan

Personally I would love to go to more shows. Anywhere within 150 mile radius. But finding out where they are is the difficult bit. It's a bit rich moaning about low attendance when the show isn't even advertised properly.

Vinnie

I've never seen a show withing 100 miles of where I live, nearest is Folkestone twice a year. Just can't be bothered to drive that far.

Hi all < I canot for the life of me see how you can say they are not well advertised , All the shows I attended this year are well publisied in national modelling magazines at least 2-3 months in advance . The furthest I travel north is the Huddersfield show in Feb , then Trucks and Tracks later in Feb , Then Hinckly in April , Then Beltring in July and now this month I will be at three shows Womborne , Sutton Coldfield and lastly Spalding , then in Oct it will be Southwell race cource Lincoln show and Eslcar in nov then at the end of Nov the Nationals . This in a cut down from a few years ago when I attened on average 22 shows per year , and I worked shifts at the time and only had 25 weekends of per year. cheers ian

As i work every weekend I find it impossible to attend unless I take leave,but then the only shows I ever see advertised are the Euro and model engineer in wembley Ive never yet seen any shows in east london /essex advertised wish they would.

hi ian! whats the date for the southwell event ? i live 20 minutes away from southwell, and went last year, i was hoping it was an annual event, and being so close it would be a crime not to go, by the way do you guys still do the table top thing at the hobby store in the broadmarsh?

Hi I have yet to confirm the date for the Southwell show , it is usualy the second weekend in Oct . I am waiting for a reply to my e mail last week. As to the model demmos at The Model Centre in Broad Marsh , they are on hold as I am attending Sutton Coldfield this comming Sunday and Spalding model show the following Sunday .
I did a quick count up of the Model shows from now till the end of the year and it stands at 11 in all , they range from Euro at Folkstone to Tank Museum , 3 in London , . So plenty to attend just buy the model mags and you will find all the details cheers ian

id go to the southwell show! its not far from me,

the main problem i have is the distance involved, although now i have my own car it should be much less of a problem.

i also find that some magazines give better info than others,

cheers

joe

I find with some it might be due to the fact that they are in small halls ect it'd be better if a few clubs run a combined one this would make it more appeling I'm sure many people think I dont want to travel in case it's not very big or good a few bigger ones round the country would be better and same with timming them Bolton normally has on right in hte middle of January just when every one is skint after christmas

That's probably why I think the shows aren't advertised, if I don't buy model magazines I don't see the adverts.
I didn't know there was a Huddersfield model show, if I had I would certainly have gone. Like Rowan said if members or organisers were to send in details of shows around the country they could be listed here and we'd all get to know about them.

It's no wonder that the general public don't attend shows, if they are only advertised in modelling magazines. If you want the general public to attend surely you need to advertise where the general public hang out, not only in modelling mags, where only modellers will see them
Mal