What makes a good show?

[UKRay]

Every time I see another US leatherwork show on this forum I get envious of people who live close enough to attend. I want to do those classes, see all that great leatherwork and talk to all those interesting people too!

As there isn't much chance of me getting to the US anytime soon, I mentioned the feelings to one or two folk over here - they know who they are... We all agreed that running our own event was an idea worth exploring. A leatherworker's convention in the UK would certainly open people's eyes to what can be made from leather but how many people would be interested in attending and taking part?

What would they want to see and do?

I'm happy to do the donkey work and arrange the thing in a central UK location if there is enough interest - over to you guys. Any thoughts? Anyone want to help?

Ray

[carr52]

Every time I see another US leatherwork show on this forum I get envious of people who live close enough to attend. I want to do those classes, see all that great leatherwork and talk to all those interesting people too!

As there isn't much chance of me getting to the US anytime soon, I mentioned the feelings to one or two folk over here - they know who they are... We all agreed that running our own event was an idea worth exploring. A leatherworker's convention in the UK would certainly open people's eyes to what can be made from leather but how many people would be interested in attending and taking part?

What would they want to see and do?

I'm happy to do the donkey work and arrange the thing in a central UK location if there is enough interest - over to you guys. Any thoughts? Anyone want to help?

Ray

Dancing girls.

Tom

[UKRay]

Steady, Tom. Have you missed your medication again? LOL

Dancing girls.

Tom

Edited March 21, 2009 by UKRay

[oldtimer]

A splendid thought, UKRay !

I´d like to see machinery, tools and classes and meeting people with mutual interests (and of course dancing girls!) . Never been in England before so .. why not??

/ Knut

[Kustom]

It seems like you would already have leather working shows in England considering you have at least two leather museums and the cordwainers college over there. Are you talking about doing a only "Western" leather show?

[UKRay]

As far as I am aware, Kustom, we don't have any 'open' leatherworking shows in the UK. Certainly not on the scale that the US offers.

Personally I would like to see demonstrations from suppliers and craftpeople plus a range of competitions and exhibits. I'd like to see as many European leatherwork craftspeople and suppliers as possible attending the event and selling their wares and I would encourage the leatherworking museums and colleges to come along too.

I don't think it would be sensible to restrict the show to Western leatherwork although I would hope to see plenty on show. European cultural diversity offers so many styles of leatherworking and I'd like to encourage as many people as possible to attend and exhibit their work.

edit: Sorry guys, I meant to include Scandinavia too - 'cos I'd definitely like to see Knut and Tom Swede there too!

I'd like to get some feedback from the Brits - would any of you like to attend an event like this?

It seems like you would already have leather working shows in England considering you have at least two leather museums and the cordwainers college over there. Are you talking about doing a only "Western" leather show?

Edited March 21, 2009 by UKRay

[TroyWest]

Ray,

25 or so years ago an older saddlemaker, Sam Harris, and a retired bootmaker, whose name eludes me at the moment, thought it would be a great idea to have a place where boot and saddlemakers could gather and visit. They contacted a number of vendors who sold to these trades and had the first annual boot and saddlemakers round-up in Brownwood, Tx. It was a pretty small deal at first, but everybody enjoyed it so they decided to do it again the next year. Few more folks showed up and every year it continued to grow in vendors and attendants. Originally, there were no teaching classes or saddle contests. It was something we talked about for years and it developed out of all those conversations. They eventually became one of the highlights of the whole thing. It also became a place where you could bring your old tools and swap, trade or buy. It became too much for these 2 older guys so they handed it off to Eddie and Kathy Kimmel. They moved it to the colosium in Brownwood and filled the thing with leather companies, knife makers, machine companies and attendance grew. Eventually they moved it further north to Wichita Falls, Tx. where they could get a few more folks from further north and have an even larger facility with a lot of hotels. That's basically how it got started. It's one of my favorite places to go. Love to see old friends, make new ones, see equipment first hand, see new tools, etc. I'm sure you would love it. Somebody just needs to pick up the ball over there and give it a shot.

Google Boot and Saddlemaker Roundup and it will give contact info. Talk to Kathy and Eddie Kimmel. They are nice folks and I'm sure they could give you lots of pointers

Hope that helps,

Troy

P.S. No dancing girls. Wives dont like dancing girls. They wont let you go.

[rdb]

My halfpenny...

First things first...Get Vendor input,

Check with the manufacturers there to see if they might have interest in attending, i.e. Sedgwick, Adler/Pfaff, Cordwainers, toolmakers, you know the rest. Tell them of your preliminary plans. and see if they would be willing to do some level of sponsorship. You don't know what you have planned right yet, but they may offer some suggestions, and ballpark what they might be willing to spend on such a venture. The amount of money you may be able to garner is key to what type of event happens. On the low end, It maybe in a field somewhere, or if it grows out of control, a palatial auditorium/convention center, who knows....

Leatherworkers, Visitors and attendees can always be found through adverts, but the key is who will be there to show the trade aspect. From what I can tell, those from Europe are having a hard time finding the sources of suppliers and things there.`

Edited March 21, 2009 by rdb

[UKRay]

That all sounds like excellent advice, guys. I'm putting together a list of folk that ought to be at an event like this and I'd appreciate your thoughts. Would any of the US vendors make the trip? At this point it is hard to see how they could make enough money to cover costs...

What sort of events are popular - I have never attended a show like this so I have no idea.

Sorry Tom - Troy says no dancing girls... Mind you, Knut seems pretty keen...

[Denise]

Personally I would like to see demonstrations from suppliers and craftpeople plus a range of competitions and exhibits. I'd like to see as many European leatherwork craftspeople and suppliers as possible attending the event and selling their wares and I would encourage the leatherworking museums and colleges to come along too.

I don't have lots of experience with shows so take this with a huge grain of salt, but the first question I think that needs to be decided is "Who is this show for?" Are you wanting the show to have as it's customers the leatherworkers, in which case you need the leather suppliers, etc. Or are you hoping to have it as a place to attract "regular people" (casting no aspersions on leatherworkers) to purchase leatherwork. I don't know if combining the two is a good idea. From what I have seen at Sheridan, (which is geared for leatherworkers as customers) when there has been a booth with finished product, it didn't do too well. The people who come to that show don't buy much stuff they can make themselves. On the other hand, if you have a lot of booths with leatherworkers selling their wares, they won't have time to check out the leather suppliers or machine companies. Just a thought here. Maybe it would work if it was big enough.