A combined Knifemakers Guild/American Bladesmiths Show

I once started getting into coin collecting, picked up a coin collector magazine off the newsstand, and went through the show listings. I found one a few miles away. It was a Sunday one-day show at a Holiday Inn. I walked into the small meeting room to find two dealers set-up. That's all. The room might have held three. "We do this every Sunday," I was told by one of the dealers.

As I see the segmentation and specialization of knife shows I fear we are headed in that direction. I feel that is wrong for the simple reason is these small specialized shows do little if anything to drawn in new blood, but instead bleed what few pumping hearts we have out there.

To say we only need one Blade show a year is insanity. We need 12 Blade Shows. Not enough dealers and collectors to sustain that? Then it is our own fault as we have not encouraged enough people to join us. Let's go get them.

Think of the dollar expansion in this market if we could sustain that many Blade-size shows.

Asking Blade to restrict/police their ABS and Guild sections as an alternative to a combined ABS/Guild show is passing the buck and the responsibility for making this business grow to someone else.

Blade owns their own show and they can do what they darn well please about show table placement. And you WILL like it, because since we have ONLY one major combined show you have NO other option. Think about that before encouraging a single dominant show.

I started this thread to point out the absurdity of the parochial self-serving approach that seems to be the vogue in knives. In my gut I knew ahead of time that nothing would come of such a suggestion for a combined show, for reasons already stated.

It should not be a sacrilege to suggest that two knife organizations and their leadership sit down together and do something for the common good.

Leaders need to lead.
 
TennKnifeman said:
It should not be a sacrilege to suggest that two knife organizations and their leadership sit down together and do something for the common good.
Click to expand...

All well said Bruce.
In regard to the above, even if nothing became of combining of the two shows just a meeting of the minds and comparing of notes should prove productive towards both organization's futures. It's not like they are competing entities.
I would like to see the CKCA at some point working along side these organizations for the common good, whether it be chartable projects, a show or any number of other things that would help bring in new collectors or present collectible knives in a more positive light.
 
TennKnifeman said:
To say we only need one Blade show a year is insanity. We need 12 Blade Shows. Not enough dealers and collectors to sustain that? Then it is our own fault as we have not encouraged enough people to join us. Let's go get them.
Click to expand...

If nothing else comes of this thread, getting people to think out of the box like this is HUGELY valuable to the industry as a whole.

I ask myself often "when's the last time I introduced someone to the world of custom knives?"

sometimes my own answer disappoints me, and I have no one to blame but myself
 
In my opinion, the only way a combined show could be made to work would be for the two associations to get together and agree on proven show promoters not connected to either group and let the promoter run the show for his profit under conditions agreed by both groups. This gives the three parties what they need.

BUT first the two groups have to TALK to each other. and if the leaders will not then the members will have to. Good Luck
 
John T Wylie Jr said:
There is not much of a true existence left , after seeing the # of makers at the last two years shows there isn't a whole lot left to it . The one maker I so wanted to see , sold out before the doors even opened, :barf: Show really wasn't worth the 20 mile drive in my opinion.
Click to expand...


Does that mean you're not gonna come see me in Jan? :confused::eek:



:D
 
A. G. Russell said:
In my opinion, the only way a combined show could be made to work would be for the two associations to get together and agree on proven show promoters not connected to either group and let the promoter run the show for his profit under conditions agreed by both groups. This gives the three parties what they need.

BUT first the two groups have to TALK to each other. and if the leaders will not then the members will have to. Good Luck
Click to expand...

I guess you don't need a long post to say a lot. This is about it. The minutia can be dealt with easily if the afformentioned is accomplished. If some of the biggest names in the industry think the idea has merit, shouldn't the rest be listening? Please.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top