UPDATE TO: A warning about the blade show

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Dixieblade57

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Jun 20, 2007
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Once again I do not have a dog in this fight, as I will not be attending The Blade Show. I just hate to see anyone get ripped off period, and especially at a venue that is designed to represent our choosen craft of knife making! :grumpy:

Here is a link to the origional thread that I posted with a warning about the Blade Show:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-the-blade-show?highlight=warning+about+blade

The following is a recent email from Chuck Bybee and even though the last parqagraph is self promotion for his company, I hope the moderators will allow it here as I think it is very pertinet information to anyone who might be attending the Blade Show.

Fri, June 10, 2011 9:03:21 AMBlade Show Security Risk II – Updated Jun 10, 2011
From: Chuck Bybee <chuck@alphaknifesupply.com>Add to Contacts
To:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since the last e-mail & post we have received a tremendous amount of support. We want to thank everyone for their posts, e-mails and phone calls. Our intent was to make everyone aware of the potential risk so they could make plans to protect their property.

Before continuing, I need to clarify the security personnel at Blade Show. There are two groups of security personnel. The first group is security for Cobb Galleria. They are the people who have access to the security video in the show hall. The second group is Eagle Security. They are hired by F&W to provide security for the show. They are the people who are indemnified by the F&W contact. They cannot be held responsible if a theft occurs.

Eagle security also does not have authority to detain anyone if they see a theft occur. At almost all shows we attend, off duty law enforcement officers provide show security. The advantage of having off duty LEO’s provide security is they have authority to search, detain and arrest anyone caught stealing.

Several people expressed concern about F&W retaliating against us. I said I appreciated their concern but I did not think there would be retaliation. The day after I sent the e-mail and made the posts, our credit card was charged by F&W for almost $100. This was an unauthorized charge.

In the last week we spoke to a supplier who told us they had more than $5,000 in materials stolen at Blade two years ago. They have not attended Blade since the theft.

Last week Blade show staff sent an e-mail to table and booth holders. In the e-mail several new security procedures were outlined. One of the new procedures was to have the show staff and/or security “sweep” the room to get everybody out in order to secure the room.

Thursday June 10, 2011 is setup day for Blade Show. The show hall closed at 6:00 PM. At 7:00 PM a supplier was still in the room. The show setup was not complete and there were also setup personnel in the room. The supplier watched as the setup personnel went into the Jantz booth and looked through the materials! A little later, the supplier saw a security guard and asked about security. The security guard said he was locked in the room at night alone. A few minutes later the same guard said he was locked in the room with two other guards. This supplier told us he also has materials stolen at a few Blade Shows. He thought the theft was from shoplifting but is now questioning when the thefts occurred.

I just heard about a supplier who stored his materials in a box under his table last night. The box was covered with a lid and a chair placed on top. This morning when he arrived at his table the chair was gone and the lid was off the box.

We have made several changes to facilitate attending Blade and having materials to sell. We have worked to resolve the problems and in our usual innovative way, developed a new process and software. Jon & Jessica are at Blade show representing AKS. They have a computer with them and are taking orders. The orders are sent to us here in Seattle. Brenda and I fill the orders and ship them to the knifemaker. Knifemakers do not have to be concerned about overweight luggage, carrying materials around, limited selection or seeing my hairy face! We are able to have an infinite supply of materials at the show. It is a win win situation.

I think we made lemonade!

Best Regards
================================
Chuck Bybee
http://www.alphaknifesupply.com
chuck@alphaknifesupply.com
Phone 425-868-5880
Fax 425-898-7715


Once again I do not have anything to do with the company that is involved in this email.
I just know how I would feel if it were me making my first trip to the blade show and getting ripped off for something that I had worked all year to show at Blade!
 
The blatant illegal activity needs to be dealt with by the show organizers. Venue, crew, security, etc needs to be shuffled. If the venue or support-crew provider is not responsive to the needs of the show participants, the venue/provider needs to be changed. Period. This kind of stuff really flames me.

--nathan
 
I remember when Ed Fowler had his fighter/bowie knife stolen, what, about 3-4 years ago????
 
I do understand that this is a serious matter, and we all should write,call, emal the show organizers.
As long as this stays constructive and any post addresses the subject of how to increase security at Blade, I'll leave it up.

If it descends into" kick 'em in the nuts and set 'em on fire", or reminiscing about past shows and past security issues, I'll move it to Around The Grinder....

Moderator.
 
Dixieblade57 said:
From: Chuck Bybee <chuck@alphaknifesupply.com

Jon & Jessica are at Blade show representing AKS.
They have a computer with them and are taking orders.

The orders are sent to us here in Seattle. Brenda and I fill the orders and ship them to the knifemaker.
Click to expand...

That's one way to work, and it's certainly cheaper for the supplier, but

If I would want to buy items that I consider commodity type items, things that I expect to be the same every time.
Belts by a trusted supplier, screws, micarta and composites,

I would just have already ordered them from the website anyway.


There are items that I want to buy in person.
High value items that are prone to defects or I need to judge in person for colour, feel, whatever
Ivory, Mammoth Ivory, Stag, that TW 90 grinder - stuff like that.

If every one just starts selling over the internet, the show experience is lost.

They need to fix their problems, they won't do it until a large number of exhibitors make that clear, otherwise it will be glossed over.
The show organizers need to take control of their namesake and run it right.
or
Makers need to start a grassroots movement, abandon the "Blade" show and start their own show under their own control.
It will only work if EVERYONE abandons the original. Otherwise the competition will hurt both.



On the other hand, I can't imagine putting tens of thousands of $ of items on display and trusting someone else to take care of it.
 
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Thanks Stacy!

Like I said this is a little out of my league because I don't go to blade at this time in my knife making business. However there is still power to be wielded in this country and it is most powerful when the individuals mass as one.

These kinds of venues exist because there is money to made by the people that put them on. I have been hesitant to mention this as like I said I virtually have no dog in this fight, except I hate a damn thief, and it really irritates me when this venue seems to have some theives who are right in the middle of all the decisions’ being made at blade! Sorry if that is stepping on someone’s toes but I usually call an Ace and Ace and a Spade a Spade, and when you are refusing to rectify a problem then you are usually part of the problem!

One of you who do have a dog in this fight needs to sit down and draft a petition as to what the terms are that you would appear at The Blade Show next year.

Not a bunch of silly crap but rules and regulations as to how it needs to be conducted as too the purchase of tables, security and address all other true problems that exists at Blade!

Put together several big name makers and suppliers too sit on a temporary board too oversee that the improvements being demanded by the petiton are being done and in place. This will benefit anyone and everyone who attend Blade.
Circulate the petition on all knife forums to be signed by anyone interested in attend Blade.

Then plainly state: If these improvements cannot be done then we will not attend The Blade Show next year. This needs to be in bold letters on the petition and you must have the “Cahoonas” to stand behind your decision when you sign that petition.

After all if the improvements can be made then it makes a good venue a great venue, and when the folks who put this on realize that there are against the entire knife making community they will also realize things have to change or they will shut down and someone else will be making the money for putting on such and event!!!!!.

Enough of my rambling someone who is someone in the knife making community and has an interest here needs to pick up the ball so to speak and run with it!
 
I agree. I would NOT attend the Blade show as an exhibitor until changes have been made. I refuse to allow my time, effort and money be stolen because of sub par security and attention to their event. The venue SHOULD be changed, as with the security company and frankly, the people putting it on. Apparently they do not care enough about the exhibitors to make an effort to make the changes, if they did...this issue would have been solved after the first incident.

Note to all the vendors...
If you do not support the current ways of the show, and do not buy a booth....They will not sell and they will NOT have the show. Without knife makers buying booths...they will have no money to fund the show.
Just my two cents....
 
Mike Davis said:
I agree. I would NOT attend the Blade show as an exhibitor until changes have been made. I refuse to allow my time, effort and money be stolen because of sub par security and attention to their event. The venue SHOULD be changed, as with the security company and frankly, the people putting it on. Apparently they do not care enough about the exhibitors to make an effort to make the changes, if they did...this issue would have been solved after the first incident.

Note to all the vendors...
If you do not support the current ways of the show, and do not buy a booth....They will not sell and they will NOT have the show.
Without knife makers buying booths...they will have no money to fund the show.
Just my two cents....
Click to expand...

Unless they just go down the waiting list and signup the makers that have been waiting for a spot and will jump on it.
 
My suggestion may not be the answer, and certainly without some of the larger makers and suppliers coming on board to get a movement like that started it would probably not work. :mad:

The idea is not to kill Blade but to improve the corrupt situation that exists in and around the venue!

I think I heard someone who had been there this year say, that there were several vacant tables and the aisles were spread out wider to cover the fact that there were fewer tables being sold. I am sure as suggested that some of that is due to the economy but, some of that may be attributed as a sign of things to come unless the venue is changed!

To me to do nothing to change it is too grab the jar of Vaseline, grease up, bend over and say have your way with me! :eek: Sorry I am not in too that sort of thing!!!

Maybe I am totally wrong and the greed to make a profit by the larger companies will continue to exist in this situation and nothing will change. Companies like that usually just chalk up their losses up to just the cost of doing business I don’t really know how they justify it but they do!

I feel about this like I once told a detective that was investigating a string of burglaries being perpetrated by the bunch of teenage “Hellans” that lived in the sub-division behind me.
I told him, what was mine was mine, and I didn’t care if it was a cold dog turd laying in my yard it was mine. Now if you come to me and tell me you are down and out and need some help, I will do anything and everything I can to help you out but when you steal from, Whoa be your a$$, I will defend everything that is mine by whatever means it takes!

Hell, this sort of thing makes me fighting mad and like I said I don’t have a dog in the fight. So I have said my piece and now I will shut up and unless something is done the problems will continue till until there is a consequence to the action or in this case the lack of an action! :jerkit:
 
I have been involved in reptile shows in one capacity or another for over 13 years. Theft is so miniscule there. All organizers seem to have the same hard and fast rule. After the room is "swept" of inhabitants, the doors are locked with promoter and security chief present. The room is left empty and locked with only security outside the room. Nobody inside. I mean nobody.

These reptile shows have $40,000 snakes in 16oz potato salad containers. Something easily pocketed by a security guard. No losses to my knowledge. These snakes are unique and identifiable, yes, but so is Ed's knife.

Seems to me a change to similar procedure is in order at this show. But, I am just some lizard guy coating guns and knives, & selling knife sharpeners.
 
Another direction to consider is increasing your security. If there is a rash of burglaries in your neighborhood, and you leave the garage door open all night long, don't just blame the police for being bad at their job.

Take very valuable items with you at the end of the day. ( I realized this when I nearly was ripped off at night in a recent show.)
OR
Bring a good sturdy metal foot locker or shipping trunk ( maybe the one you used to bring your knives through TSA?), and lock the inventory in it at night. Chain the trunk to the table with the same lock. If you are really paranoid, put an alarm on the trunk lid. Open the lid and the alarm goes off. Mark the case in bold red letters - "DO NOT TOUCH - ALARM WILL SOUND".

This is just your part. Letting the promoter and venue know that you will not accept shoddy security and unsupervised cleaning workers is the first step. Verifying that the security cameras are running and the tapes will be available for review by any vendor requesting them is also a good second step.
 
I think Stacy has the best idea. If you can afford to bring your knives to the show, bring a nice big pelican case to store them in at night. Yes, it's probably a huge pain in the rear to pack them up at night and unpack them in the am but at least you would have them to unpack. Aside from the Ken Onion knives disappearing at the airport years ago, it is rare for a case like this to go missing, especially if you use a sturdy lock and cable. Don't let it stop there though, talk to the promoter and bring up the security issue, set up your own camera as well, there should be no rules against that and if there is, maybe that's a sign of "somethings up".
 
I am sorry, for those who lost materials and knives. Here's the bottom line. It's your stuff you should take care of it. I used to set up at Gun Shows. I never trusted security. Every night I packed up my guns and took them with me to the hotel. I did notice at the Blade show this year several vender's that came under staffed. I guess I paid attention because I had read this thread prior to the show. I'll use Jantz as an example. Saturday I was looking at some items on one of their tables. There were only 2 girls and a guy working about 20 tables. one of the girls was stocking a rack in the center and her attention was there. The other girl and the guy were dealing with customers at the far side of the tables. No-one was watching the other 15 tables. So far I have heard " I heard that someone said...." " They told someone that"....
Sorry I need names . Who is They?
Anyone who does shows knows the risk. Blade is not going to assign a security guard to every row of tables. ( If that would even be enough). From a makers view its easy to pack up 15 or 20 knives and take them back to the hotel. For the larger vender's like Jantz ( again I only use them as an example) it may be an option for them to hire their own security. They can get a security guard (off duty LEO) for what a good set of Ivory scales cost, per night.
Also Ed's knife was stolen dureing the show not at night.
We need to take responsibility for ourselves. And stop looking for someone else to blame.
 
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I've never set up at a big show, so maybe I have no right to comment. But I'll throw my 2 cents in anyway...

Yes, it's always up to an individual to look after their own stuff.

BUT I also think it's reasonable to expect the promoters of the biggest knife show in the country, the venue where it's held, and the city that hosts it to at least pretend to care about the makers and vendors who line thier pockets with table fees/hotel reservations/room taxes/etc. It's just NOT that difficult for a hotel/convention center/whatever to lock the doors at night and keep track of who goes in and out. My local mall has better security than that!

Thousands of people attend and exhibit at Blade every year, to the tune of BIG BIG DOLLARS. If the folks who run it don't give a damn about you, why should you give a damn about them?
 
sharpeknives said:
I am sorry, for those who lost materials and knives. Here's the bottom line. It's your stuff you should take care of it.....We need to take responsibility for ourselves. And stop looking for someone else to blame.
Click to expand...

I certainly understand this line of reasoning and have often heard it when it comes to theft, burglaries and robberies. It is sound advice, but not axiomatic, nor does it relieve others of responsibility (those PAID for security and/or those who violated it). The bottom line is, people who steal are the irresponsible ones. The folks who get robbed are not. Sure I shouldn't leave my keys in the ignition, but I should be able to. I can't, but if I do and someone swipes my car, THEY are the ones in the wrong. At worst, I would have been absent minded, idealistic or foolish. I would not have been responsible for the misdeeds of another.

Anyway, I hope this year's show was a safe, pleasant and prosperous one for everyone!
 
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OK I am breaking my word I said I was done and was going to keep my mouth shut! However I still have got something to say! :barf:

I think some of you are missing something here and maybe I am speaking out of turn because as stated I don't go to blade. I do however do small venues, locally and even at them I am too paranoid to leave anything on site if I am not there! I don't want to take a chance on being robbed. So I feel that makes me a person who is responsible for my own stuff.

I agree with Phil!
QUOTE, &#8220;Sure I shouldn't leave my keys in the ignition, but I should be able to. I can't, but if I do and someone swipes my car, THEY are the ones in the wrong. At worst, I would have been absent minded, idealistic or foolish. I would not have been responsible for the misdeeds of another.&#8221;

However when The Blade Show which is self billed as &#8220;Were back&#8212;celebrating 30 years as The World's Largest Knife Show! ...&#8221;

Then the security is then explained as a locked area during given hours and access is strictly controlled, they go on to say, we have security cameras in place and the footage can be reviewed at anytime, should a problem arise.
Then I would say they were making a great effort to actually provide security to the said venue.


As they stated though they do not take responsibility for theft and I can understand this.
A venue operator could not take such responsibility on their backs without having a insurance underwriter but, then that is how it&#8217;s usually done in big business!

Make no mistake about it this is big business and we are not talking about a venue that just started last week either! All details on such problems should have been worked out long ago!

However if I were the venue operator and I knew I had a problem, if it took firing everybody that might even be remotely associated with the given theft problem and putting in all new security. Then I would not hesitate to do so.

After all I would want all my vendors big and small to feel comfortable and secure when they were in my facilities, so that they would want to come back time and time again! In short I would move heaven and earth to clean up a theft problem. So it then puts me in the light of saying.

Why is this not being done?
Is it because not enough folks have gotten together and complained or is someting else?

I forget who it was that said it but, "if you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem!"
 
Dixieblade57 said:
However if I were the venue operator and I knew I had a problem, if it took firing everybody that might even be remotely associated with the given theft problem and putting in all new security. Then I would not hesitate to do so.
Click to expand...

That's because you're an honest guy who wants things done right, and have enough sense to know if you run a tight ship it will sail smoothly for many years. :thumbup:

Dixieblade57 said:
Why is this not being done?
Click to expand...

From an outsider's point of view, it looks like the folks running the show don't give a damn about anything other than a quick buck. :thumbdn: There, I said it.
 
The bottom is that you really can't depend on any venues security to protect your wares. I've seen knives stolen at shows during show hours with state policemen patrolling the aisles. You never see gun dealers leave their guns unlocked and leave the arena after show hours. A lot of knives are just as valuable. Some even more valuable. Lock them up and don't take any chances. It's a shame that it's come to this and everyone must be even more vigilant.
 
Change where you have the show and feel secure about it.! Never has been a problem at the Knoxville,Tn. as far as Gun Shows or knife shows as they care about what happens there.!* My .02 worth.
 
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