Burning Out

 I never thought I'd see something like this but, that time has come...

A close and dear friend quipped that there should be one called 'Smell Of Masturbation & Failure'

And speaking of which, I was looking at the trader list for the Steel Warriors show, which is now just over 2 months away, and it's as follows:

Under Fire Miniatures

The Pit Gaming Shop

Irregular Miniatures

Void Scar Miniatures

ABC Brushes

Iron Gate Scenery

Rapid Fire / Valiant Miniatures

The Last Valley

Now, either there's not a lot of interest (there's been rumblings amongst the trade on social media, that's for sure) or they are doing exactly the same as they were doing when responsible for the death of the great Triples show, and not updating the website. Either way, it's hardly an 'A List' line-up.

I think that they face several hurdles of which I present a few, as I see and know them.

1. Triples bombed because of hubris and arrogance. That kind of thing lingers in the memory.

2. Certain of those associated with both shows referred to traders as 'idiots'. This for asking reasonable questions of the organisers. If someone is paying you, they can be whatever they like as long as they pay you. If you can't handle the od gripe or query - DON'T RUN A FUCKING SHOW.

3. A belief that the best thing to do, is repeat previous mistakes. Look at the same lack of website updates. In the current climate, you have to be reaching out and coercing the public and trade in.

4. Too much time was allowed to elapse before trying to fill the old Triples date. The world has moved on. If SWS were not putting a show on, a new show should have appeared at the most, after a 12 month gap.

Opinions as we all know are like arseholes, but sometimes it pays to listen to the opinions of others and engage with people who have thoughts on how you can make your event thrive and grow.

I am pretty certain that we will see the organisers going to Vapnartak and desperately handing out the same flyers they were sticking everywhere at Fiasco at the back end of last year. But really, that will be about 7 weeks from the show date.

Show attendance is contracting, because there's nothing new to make the existence of so many shows viable. If you are going to launch a new show, then you should be looking at reaching out to other disciplines which sit alongside wargaming. (this was a plan mooted in about 2014 for Triples which was ignored in the end, despite there being a lot of positivity from other quarters).

However, if the show fails, then it'll pretty certainly be blamed on anything other than poor organisation and stakeholder engagement.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to speak to a few artisan candle makers about an idea I have...

 

 

TTFN