Thoughts on the Indy National

Hi everyone.  Well, we’re back from the Indy, O Scale National (combined with the annual Fall O Scale Meet held every year in Indy) and while it was a financial sucess for us, I think I speak for alot of the vendors that this was not one of the best shows they have ever attended.

Please, these are just MY opinions, not anything I would attribute to anyone else.

While the venue was nice, one of the two rooms was VERY poorly lit. (The room we were in.)  That is something that show management should have realized and done something about.  They did bring in some big work lights on poles, but it didn’t help much.

My big issue was that there was no one there that was not a vendor.  Thursday and Friday, our sales were pretty good, but we didn’t sell anything to the public, because they weren’t there.  We (the vendors) were just selling to one another, which always happens to a certain extent, but this was extreme.

I think we were all hoping that Saturday would be the “big” day, since the public would be off and able to come to the show.  Instead, Saturday was dismal.  There were times when I counter less than 30 people in the room and 90% of those were vendors.  Many of the vendors just packed up and left.  The rooms were a ghost town by 3PM when the show was scheduled to close.

I realize that show management has little control over attendence, but I think they need to do a much better job of promoting the show.

I don’t mean to be so negative, but I just don’t have anything positive to report, other than it was great to see the usual crowd that travels the show circuit.

Dave