Sunday Knife Show protocol & "Fair weathered" friends.

I thought the question posed was about leaving early on Sunday - not about missing Sunday alltogether. If a show closes at 5:00pm Sunday and a maker (with a 12 hour drive and early workday starting Monday) wants to hit the road at 1:30, I am neither troubled nor offended.

If I were making my first appearance at a knife show mid-afternoon on closing day, I would adjust my expectations accordingly.

Roger
 
Roger,

I understand your point. Having attended the OKCA show, where I share the driving. It’s a long drive 7 plus hours. We roll out at closing and getting lucky to be home by 11:00pm to sleep. Then get to my job at 7:00am on Monday for running the crew.
I've just spent the last five months promoting a show, doing a fair amount of the prep work for the event and would like to see the produced event with happy table holders and attendee’s. I’ll be there from 6:00am until 8:00pm and come back Sunday to do the same. Most of the time, I miss at least one day of pay to attend. For me that’s no money earned for my family, no paid sick day, no paid vacation day and flat out no income. But it's done for the enjoyment of the hobby/collector.
But don’t you think if you commit yourself to a table as a seller/other, you should commit yourself to the whole show?
Now, it would be different if the Show Promoter leaves early Sunday. And asks, for the last one out to lock the door?
 
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The third day is always a favorite of mine. Time to talk with friends and place orders. I am beginning to think 4 days would be good for blade. :D. I missed too many people this year.
 
Jeff Pelz said:
Roger,

I understand your point. Having attended the OKCA show, where I share the driving. It’s a long drive 7 plus hours. We roll out at closing and getting lucky to be home by 11:00pm to sleep. Then get to my job at 7:00am on Monday for running the crew.
I've just spent the last five months promoting a show, doing a fair amount of the prep work for the event and would like to see the produced event with happy table holders and attendee’s. I’ll be there from 6:00am until 8:00pm and come back Sunday to do the same. Most of the time, I miss at least one day of pay to attend. For me that’s no money earned for my family, no paid sick day, no paid vacation day and flat out no income. But it's done for the enjoyment of the hobby/collector.
But don’t you think if you commit yourself to a table as a seller/other, you should commit yourself to the whole show?
Now, it would be different if the Show Promoter leaves early Sunday. And asks, for the last one out to lock the door?
Click to expand...

There are shows that stay open until 8:00pm on a Sunday???

In an ideal world, there would be makers at every table, with knives available until the last minute of every show. We don't live in an ideal world. My point is that there are understandable (to me) reasons for a maker to leave early and that anyone expecting full tables in a late afternoon on a Sunday probably has never been to a knife show before.

From my perspective, if stay-'til-the-bitter-end were a realistic and important expectation on the part of show promotors, it would be aggressively enforced. It sure doesn't seem to be. Put another way - as a show promotor, for the makers that find they have to bug out early afternoon on Sunday - would you rather not have them there at all? And as a secondary consideration - how big of a problem is this really? I have seen a few empty tables at any Sunday afternoon knife show that I have attended, but I have never seen a half-empty or near-empty show floor after Sunday lunch.

Gus - 4 days for Blade would be about right. :thumbup:

Roger
 
Guys,

Those of you who say the people should be behind the table the entire time the show is open, never leave early, should not sell knives before the show opens...are those who are not table holders.

I have set up at shows where on Sunday not one person (other than another table holder) has stopped at the table.

I have had show promoters tell me that the very reason they have a Sunday is so people won't leave early on Saturday. My response was "If someone wants to leave early on Saturday...good! More potential customers for me."

At a show, on my side of the table, like it or not, for most everyone there this is a business.

On the other side of the table it is collectors there to look, see and handle the knives. Possibly buy one. The social aspect during the show is a major part of it...as it should be.

Nothing wrong with this. But understand, I will speak for myself here. I am there to buy, sell and trade. Find new makers, talk to makers about building knives from me. Chit chat and BS is what dinner is for. Or even more so in the bar/pit after the show is over.

As Gollnick pointed out, the enforcement of leaving early is "situational" meaning if you are a well known maker or dealer with "drawing" power...you come and go as you please.

Bill, I do stay through Saturday night and leave on a flight about 9am or so on Sunday morning. Usually home by 2 (have a 2 hour drive from Atlanta).
 
As far as leaving early on the last day. I know a lot of folks who face long drives after a show as have I. My thoughts are if you can stay. Meet more people, touch base with the ones you know. Maybe take an order or a few. ;)

If you have collectors that own your knives that live in the area and your table is empty ask them if you can display your knives if you are comfortable with that or at least have a photo book.

On the other hand, I do not hold it against anyone who packs it out a little early. At the same time a few folks I know plan the trips so that they stay over after the show closes. If that can be swung, it seems like a good way to go. Everyone has different situations; kids and or school may be involved, so could a spouse's job to illustrate a few of them.

I would not leave for the sake of leaving though. There is an audience there, might as well make the best of it and take advantage of getting/keeping your name out there.
 
As makers my brother and I go to shows to sell knives, take orders and meet new customers and visit with old ones. While we both enjoy the other side of the table and do take time to make the rounds, our main focus is as sellers. I haven't been to a show yet that didn't have some dead time at the end and it does get hard to sit there. We have customers that come to the shows to meet us in person and check out what we have. We have an obligation to them to be there during opening hours. With there being two of us, it is easier for us to keep the table manned the whole show and we try hard to do just that. We will be there at the end unless something happens and with growing families things do happen, but at least one of us will always try to be there.

Sundays are not usually busy days for us and we don't discount our knives on the last day of a show. But we always hang around until the end and on Sunday at the last Blade it paid off with several sales. We always take orders for several months after a show from people that came by the table and liked what they saw. We don't know what day of the show they visited our table but I would suspect that many came by on Sunday. That seems to be the day that people stop, talk, and get to know us. If any visitor to the show gets more comfortable with our style and the quality of our knives then staying is worth it. You never know when your next "Best Customer" is going to walk up and you want to be there when he does.
 
Guys,

Percentage wise your "best customer" was there the either Friday or Saturday.

Most on Sunday are bargain hunters and "whistling gophers".

BTW, Harry and Stephan, which magazines do you advertise in?
 
after going to shows for almost 25 years.......I am really glad a lot of the shows are going to a friday afternoon/nite saturday only venue. Three day shows are just too long.
 
i do not currently advertise in a magazine, I am spending a little longer refining a couple standard offerings.

I have a goal of having a 5 knife lineup for advertising purposes within the next couple months. At that time I will be advertizing in Blade, KI, and TKI

(also gotta get coop to take some glamour shots for my, my camera skills a sorely lacking)
 
Hi Stephan,

That is good to hear.

I figured out that I spend (including traveling) 26 days a year at shows. That leaves 11 months of no shows.

If in fact you don't have a web site, are not advertising or working with an "active" dealer.

It may be the best strategy to spend time at the show on Sunday as that is your primary introduction to a potential customer.
 
Percentage wise your "best customer" was there the either Friday or Saturday.

Most on Sunday are bargain hunters and "whistling gophers".
Click to expand...

That is a true statement. I believe that it is also true that you never know when your "next" Best Customer is going to walk up. The odds are long that it will happen on Sunday because there are just so few people there anyway. If the show is open we will try to be there. That doesn't mean that Sunday is fun or even immediately profitable, but maybe it will be in the long run. It paid off this past Blade because the best customer of the show, to us, came on Sunday (It is the first time that has ever happened). On a two day show Saturday afternoons aren't great either. I don't think that there is much that can be done about the issue of a show slowing down toward the end, whether or not it is Sunday or Saturday. With us it really doesn't cost us any more to stay until it is over, we have no good reason to leave and a good reason to stay. If there is no one in the isle to talk to, one of us is going to talk to someone somewhere else, either trying to learn something or buying something we need.

Until this past Blade Show issue of Blade we have advertised in every issue of Blade for about the last four years. We also advertise currently in every issue of Tactical Knives and Sporting Classics. We dropped the Blade ads to catch our breath and cut down on the back log, but will be picking it back up in another month or so.

How about you? Which magazines do you advertise in?

I understand about bargain hunters but am a little puzzled about the whistling gopher. Down here a gopher is a tortoise and they don’t even have lips.:D
 
Hi Harry,

For the first 20 or so years I advertised in Blade, Knife World and occasionally KI. For 10 years I advertised every issue in Tactical Knives. I have advertised in American Handgunner, Combat Handguns, White Tail Deer Hunter, Weapons for Law Enforcement, Sporting Clays, Fishing Magazines and a couple of other magazines. Currently I advertise in just Blade Magazine.

I agree with your statement that you never know where your best next customer will come from.

Consequently, I varied a little in my marketing plan. In addition to doing shows and advertising in both Knife, Gun and Hunting/Fishing magazines.

I did/do seminars on collecting for collectors in both the US and Canada

I (to this date) have written the only book on collecting custom knives.

I have done seminars on the business of custom knives in both the US and Canada for makers and collectors.

Collaborated with Bob Neal creating LDC Custom Knives. Creating collectible sets of Tactical Folders.

Created my own like of knives "Vanguard" Knives. Limited editions (56 different knives so far) all different folders and fixed blades.

I started writing for Blade 3 years ago.

I started writing for KI 2 years ago and now have my own column every issue.

I have been participating on the different forums for the last 12 years or so.

I have had a web site for 12 years.

I feel these help seperate me from all of the ads in the magazines. I look at all the ads and have found a few knife makers I started doing business with because of these ads. A word of advice to the makers reading this...if you are going to run an ad include a picture of your work in the ads.


So you are correct you might find that great customer on a Sunday. My marketing plan went beyond that to try and find custom knife buyers all over the world.

Don't get me wrong, it is a good thing that so many makers stay through Sunday and have knives that they can show to potential new collectors. Been there done that. :D
 
I believe that advertising has been a key factor to our success in knifemaking. Along with providing a knife that the customer is happy with and backing it up. I think that if a maker is interested in growing his business he either has to be advertising or working with someone that is advertising for him. In this day the shows alone just won't do it. While I see some people talking about local advertising, I think that is a waste of time and money. You have to support your child’s school (donate a good knife to the PTA for a raffle and watch the reaction) and the local Chamber, there just won't be much business gained from the exposure. Web sites are a necessity and you have to have a way to advertise that also.

I think that the forums are an under utilized means of advertising and there needs to be more awareness made of their existence. We still have many customers that don't have computers, and don't want them. There are others that don't know about the forums at all, but are very much computer literate. They wait every month for their magazine of choice to come out or wait on a show for their "knife nut fix", when they could be getting one every day.

While the end of a show is pretty much dead, we agreed to be there and we will. When the show is over in Little Rock next year and the Guild Show in Lewisville is over we will be looking at a couple of 12 hour drives. That is part of the price and it is worth it to us for the face time with the customers. We know that it will generate sales for months to come.

GSU is a great unversity. Charlie and I both graduated from there in 1973 and I have a son going there now. I have also served on its foundation board for about 20 years. Your daughter made a good choice and I hope that she is enjoying her stay here.

Charlie and I both live in Statesboro, but our shop is about halfway between Statesboro and Metter on some land we use for hunting, raising boys and pine trees. If you ever get down this way, give us a call, we would be glad to have you stop by the shop and show you where all the dust is coming from.
 
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