BLADE Exhibitor List - Am I the only one...

Wow, didn't expect this many responses. Thanks everyone for chiming in.

JJTJR - thanks for the link. When I checked the website a while back, I didn't see that link. Not sure if it was there at the time, but it's good they keep updating the list.

In general my annoyance isn't that it could be better, but that just a year ago, it actually WAS better.

Ed, I actually did find you since I knew you were the Montana Bladesmith or rather Montana Bladesmith, The.

It's too bad others felt the same as I about the exhibitor list, but it's nice to be in such good company. I look forward to meeting those of you I haven't met before and look forward to seeing those again that I already know.

Just a few days now...
 
This is a transitional year for Blade Show management with personnel moving around, so I expect they will learn a lot which will result in benefits for us all in future years.

Yep Don, try to imagine the collectible knife industry without Blade. :(
 
Kevin, to me a huge project is getting millions of pieces of mail delivered every day by the Post Office and with very few mistakes. Les Robertson co-produced a couple of shows in the 1990s and there weren't any noticeable problems. No, they weren't as large as Blade, but Les had no experience at that time with show production. How many years has the Blade Show been produced?

Josh, I didn't know Mary was off the staff. Any reason that Blade Mag. replaced her? It sounds like they replaced her whole show staff.

Thor, looking forward to seeing you and discussing those new projects.

David
 
I know that Missy is still on the show staff, but not sure about any others.

From what I understand, Mary was forced out, and all of the shows that Krause handles where placed under one "team". (For those who don't know, Krause handles a wide variety of show types....from antiques, to outdoors, to knives.) I do know for a fact that the move was not Mary's choice.

It was all about the all mighty dollar. Cut some staff, consolidate some areas (the shows), and try to make more money. What Krause didn't consider was the cost in customer service. Personally, this change has already cost me money from putting advertising deposits down, then loosing them because the new staff did not get table/show information out until April this year, which was after all the advertising deadlines. That was the main reason I was so critical in previous threads on this subject.
 
I think the problem with the program listings is not whether it is listed by first names, last names, or company names, but it appears to be a combination of all three.

If you are a knifemaker and you call your business Knifebeater Forge you have to pick your name or your business. It's hard to be famous under two different names. Unfortunately the knife business does not lend itself to titles like music groups. The Commodores featuring Lionel Ritchie works. "Knifebeater Forge featuring John Z. Doe" does not.

I'm under the "J" listing, for J. Bruce Voyles. Back in the olden days when I ran things at Blade I listed myself under the "V's"--but in all probability (or certainty) I always goofed up several other people's names in the program, so I have a high tolerance for typos and alphabetical gaffes.

However those who are perfect and never make mistakes probably are less tolerant than me. Different strokes.

The important thing for me at the Blade show is a. they do a fine job overall. b. My tables are still on the front row, all the way to the right side of the room as you come in the door. If you're there be sure to stop by and say Hi. Just realize that if you are actually looking for me following those "front row, far right" directions will do you more good than looking in the program.
 
They've got me listed under the "T" heading for Tom Maringer. (table 23-L) Yes I did put the name Tom Maringer on the line where they requested a "business name". It was not made at all clear that it would be listed alphabetically by the first letter of that name or I would have done something different. Hopefully people looking for a certain maker will realize such things are happening and scan the list for both first and last names... assuming they know them.

But this is a minor thing, the main thing is that we're going to be there (lord willin' and the Creek don't rise) and get to play with knives and talk steel and what not. For me, this will be my first show in fifteen years... so maybe a bigger deal than for you guys that have been doing several shows a year. I don't have a lot of knives, but what I have are the best I've ever done.

See you soon! Tom
 
I had a little misunderstanding with someone and they used my business name,Royer Knifeworks, at table 22-R.

Next year I will try to have that changed to just my name Kyle Royer.
 
dbl-edge said:
Kevin, to me a huge project is getting millions of pieces of mail delivered every day by the Post Office and with very few mistakes. Les Robertson co-produced a couple of shows in the 1990s and there weren't any noticeable problems. No, they weren't as large as Blade, but Les had no experience at that time with show production. How many years has the Blade Show been produced?

Josh, I didn't know Mary was off the staff. Any reason that Blade Mag. replaced her? It sounds like they replaced her whole show staff.

Thor, looking forward to seeing you and discussing those new projects.

David
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Well David, I don't think the USPS is a fair comparison as they have been delivering mail in this country since the Pony Express days and seem to have un-limited funds and resources.

I don't think some have a clue as to what it takes to pull off a show the size of BLADE. And I don't want to get into Les' two shows as to how successful he was or why they stopped as it's not relative here considering the size comparison.

I'm confused though, as a long time table holder told me last night that there is a line on the contract/application that specifically ask how the table holder wants to be identified. ;)

The only reason I initially commented here is that I have seen several threads all complaining about mistakes and how bad the blade show is managed. It's always amazed me how so many people thrive on pointing out the bad regarding any endeavor yet ignore the good.
 
Kevin Jones said:
The only reason I initially commented here is that I have seen several threads all complaining about mistakes and how bad the blade show is managed. It's always amazed me how so many people thrive on pointing out the bad regarding any endeavor yet ignore the good.
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Kevin,

I imagine that it is because the good is pretty much expected, and the bad is not.

In this day and age, with makers puttting out their best effort work-wise, marketing themselves with more acumen, and acting like businessmen more than hobbyists, it is to be expected that the largest knife show on the planet(which is also a business) be run smoothly, with virtually no error, especially in the marketing aspect.

Krause puts on the Blade Show because it makes them money, it isn't a public service they provide.

If a maker made my knife "almost" perfect, but with a glaring flaw, should I focus on the good? Sorry amigo, I'm not a "glass is half full" kind of personality, and many makers that I know are not either.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Kevin,

I imagine that it is because the good is pretty much expected, and the bad is not.

In this day and age, with makers puttting out their best effort work-wise, marketing themselves with more acumen, and acting like businessmen more than hobbyists, it is to be expected that the largest knife show on the planet(which is also a business) be run smoothly, with virtually no error, especially in the marketing aspect.

Krause puts on the Blade Show because it makes them money, it isn't a public service they provide.
If a maker made my knife "almost" perfect, but with a glaring flaw, should I focus on the good? Sorry amigo, I'm not a "glass is half full" kind of personality, and many makers that I know are not either.;)

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Good points Steven, however I totally disagree with your bolded statement.
Yes, Blade and their parent company is a for profit endeavor, however yes they do definitely provide a collectible knife public service.
Where would custom knives be without Blade Magazine, Blade Show, Knives Illustrated, the Knifemaker's Guild, the ABS, our talented knife photographers.
David and other author's knife books, knife show promoters in general?

Why do we put so much thought and effort into making the CKCA all that we know it can be?

Yes, all of the above are doing a collectible knife public service whether turning a profit or not.
 
Kevin Jones said:
Good points Steven, however I totally disagree with your bolded statement.
Yes, Blade and their parent company is a for profit endeavor, however yes they do definitely provide a collectible knife public service.

Why do we put so much thought and effort into making the CKCA all that we know it can be?
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The Blade Show and for that matter ABS Reno Expo, and Knifemakers Guild Show all provide a public service, but if they cost more money to produce than they take in, they will become EXTINCT.

For that matter, it is imperative to NOT confuse "for profit" with "non profit"

It cost money to get the CKCA off the ground, I personally have no idea how much I put in, you might, but I know it was at least the cost of a good knife.:D THAT is a labor of love, with profit not even in the picture.

My point, which cannot be minimized, is that if you are going to charge people a premium price for a table at THE premium show, it behooves you as a service provider/for-profit business, to ensure that the marketing aspect is covered in full, and has minimal, if any error.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kevin Jones said:
Good points Steven, however I totally disagree with your bolded statement.
Yes, Blade and their parent company is a for profit endeavor, however yes they do definitely provide a collectible knife public service.
Where would custom knives be without Blade Magazine, Blade Show, Knives Illustrated, the Knifemaker's Guild, the ABS, our talented knife photographers.
David and other author's knife books, knife show promoters in general?

Why do we put so much thought and effort into making the CKCA all that we know it can be?

Yes, all of the above are doing a collectible knife public service whether turning a profit or not.
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KJ, I will respectfully have to agree with Kohai(STeven) on this one.
 
Kohai999 said:
The Blade Show and for that matter ABS Reno Expo, and Knifemakers Guild Show all provide a public service, but if they cost more money to produce than they take in, they will become EXTINCT.

True

For that matter, it is imperative to NOT confuse "for profit" with "non profit"

Don't see how I have confused the two. I listed both "for profit" and "non profit" entities as providing a knife public service.

It cost money to get the CKCA off the ground, I personally have no idea how much I put in, you might, but I know it was at least the cost of a good knife.:D THAT is a labor of love, with profit not even in the picture.

Don't get your point as I was addressing thought and effort exerted by CKCA members not money or profit.

My point, which cannot be minimized, is that if you are going to charge people a premium price for a table at THE premium show, it behooves you as a service provider/for-profit business, to ensure that the marketing aspect is covered in full, and has minimal, if any error.

I agree Steven, however I'm not convinced that there was more than minimal errors on the part of Blade management. A handful of table holders have stated they were identified in error. Compared to the total # of table holders that could be minimal. Don't know how we would find out for sure how many errors were made. As we don't live in a perfect world, there will most likely always be errors though responsible people try to hold them to a minimum. I'm sure not implying errors are OK and should be tolerated, just that they happen when doing things on a grand scale. Like I said, just tired of thread after thread of folks beating up on the Blade Show, as if they do nothing right.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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If I were a maker who had ponied up a substantial quantity of cash in table fees and travel expenses and found that my table was listed by the middle initial of my mother's maiden name (or by some other means that made it less than intuitive for people to find me in that vast BladeShow hall) I would not consider the mistake to be minimal.

As others have said, they need to pick one system and stick to it - regardless of maker preference. The maker's surname seems to make the most sense. We all know how to use a phone book, after all. As it stands, the table listing is anything but user-friendly.

Roger
 
Kevin,

Both profit and non-profit companies may provide a similar "knife public service", but the driving mechanisms are different, one is driven by altruism, the other driven by capitalism.

I think spelling a maker's name wrong would be a minimal error, that making a directory such that it is useless to those trying to easily reference that maker's table location would be somewhat of a major error.

I'm NOT trying to crap in the Blade Show hat, for what it is worth, I see your points....HOWEVER....because you are the President of the CKCA, you feel it necessary to stand up for organizations such as they are, whereas I feel compelled to stand up for the individuals which make up organizations.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Kevin,
....because you are the President of the CKCA, you feel it necessary to stand up for organizations such as they are, whereas I feel compelled to stand up for the individuals which make up organizations.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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quoted for posterity
 
Kevin,

And I don't want to get into Les' two shows as to how successful he was or why they stopped as it's not relative here considering the size comparison.
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If it is not relative and you didn't want to get into it why did you bring it up?

The shows were money makers! I think Bob and I each made $100 on the first show and $850 each from the second show.

The show was discontinued due directly to the facts that:

A) The hotels didn't want to have a "Knife" show as they felt it would bring "unsavory types" to the show. Bikers were specifically mentioned by one hotel.

B) The hotels (every one of them) in order for them to set aside their aversion of knives if we were to hire a bar for the show (that we had to guarantee a specific amount of money be spent each hour...whatever the amount was missed by...we had to pay). Also, we had to include a banquet that would start at a minimum of $5,000.00.

In order for us to do this we would have had to double the table fee's.

This is why we chose not to continue the Sharp Show.

Now in the future you will not have to discuss things that, even though they are not relative and you don't want to bring them up...you won't have to.

But you right about
I don't think some have a clue as to what it takes to pull off a show the size of BLADE.
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This would include "you" as "some" of the people who do not have a clue.
 
RogerP said:
If I were a maker who had ponied up a substantial quantity of cash in table fees and travel expenses and found that my table was listed by the middle initial of my mother's maiden name (or by some other means that made it less than intuitive for people to find me in that vast BladeShow hall) I would not consider the mistake to be minimal.

As others have said, they need to pick one system and stick to it - regardless of maker preference. The maker's surname seems to make the most sense. We all know how to use a phone book, after all. As it stands, the table listing is anything but user-friendly.

Roger
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I think you missed my point Roger. I don't consider identifying a tableholder wrong as minimal, that's a big deal IMO. However if Blade only made say 10 mistakes out of 2000 tableholders, that could be considered minimal in quantity.
Perhaps as you say, they should choose a system and stick to it. But listing exclusively by maker's surname is not going to satisfy those who want to be identified by company name or what ever else.
I understand there's a line on the contract/application for the tableholder to state how he/she wants to be identified. So is the problem that the tableholder is not filling out that information or is BLADE not utilizing that information or a combination of both?
 
Les Robertson said:
This would include "you" as "some" of the people who do not have a clue.
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Bit harsh there, don't you think, Les?

Been pretty civil up to this point, but bringing the heavy is bound to derail that.

I'll also remind "Woodwork Ghost" that for quite some time, I became the official Les Robertson BladeForums apologist, simply because there are an awful lot of makers that don't like you.....why? I wouldn't have the faintest idea.:rolleyes:

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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