Paul, always a pleasure to visit with you. One of the things I love about the custom knife world is how open it is and how folks working at the opposite ends of the spectrum can enjoy and appreciate the other guy's work. The fact that the top leather guy in the country makes a point to stop by the table of a guy who clothes everything in thermoform plastic is awesome in my eyes.
Yeah, there were definitely some screw-ups this year, the parking situation being the foremost in my mind. I'm sure they let everyone know about the one place to pay for parking inside in one of the emails that got sent the week before the show when everyone was frantically finishing up. Why was it not an option for them to take payment as you drove into the parking garage since you already had people stationed at the entrance? Or tacking on $5 to the price of a ticket/table/whatever?
I really don't think the baseball team is going to take into consideration that there's a knife show next door, no matter how big we get. I've always been a bit surprised at how few food options there are for the size of crowd involved. We tend to bring snacks to offset that.
I never did get a chance to make it over to the second room, and I really wanted to. Of course, I didn't get to check out the work on the tables across the aisle from me, either.
It was a great show for me. I took more inventory than ever, and it was the first knife show that I haven't had to sharpen in the hotel room. Two tables (one for stock removal work, one for forged work) is a lot to keep an eye on, but my loverly bride did an excellent job. I appreciate her patience in helping with the show. There are plenty of folks happier to see her there than to see me!
Despite the aggravations, I'm looking forward to next year!