A Radioactive Wasteland? We Need Another Hero...

Don't

 

 I first attended the Sheffield 'Triples' show in I think 1982, and what a show it was.

It could fill the Royal Victoria Hotel, a massive Victorian railway hotel, and was rammed to the rafters for two days with traders and attendees. It had a great painting competition (where, in 1984 I won the first of over 20 competitions, when such things were important to me personally) and a bring an buy which was always packed with good quality stuff for all tastes.

There was a buzz that I only ever saw matched at Salute or Northern Militaire and a vibrant 'after show' culture of pub and curry crawls, quizzes and debauchery which, set many a teenage lad on the right track in life.

Over the years the show went from strength to strength, finally having to move to a new venue at the EIS in the Don Valley after the loved and loathed Octagon Centre underwent renovations. 

The EIS was not as popular as a venue, but what killed 'Triples' was when, following probably the best year at that venue, the organisers failed to look at the calendar for the Sheffield Marathon and access to the venue was restricted due to major road closures.

Add to this that those responsible for communicating with traders failed in some instances to respond to emails for 6 months, spoke poorly of traders asking legitimate questions, and had a generally 'couldn't give a toss' attitude, and there was a toxic mix which resulted ultimately in the death of what was a great show.

Now, the society was wealthy, certainly withing the top 3 wealth generating clubs in the U.K, and had they learned, then they could have taken a hit on the chin for a year, and regenerated the goodwill and good standing of the show.

Heavily discounted trade stands for those at the show that went off the rails, and say a £1 entrance fee, properly and prominently advertised and a public mea culpa notice in the press would, I am sure (and I have discussed this with others over the intervening years and all agree) have done the trick and Triple could have move forward and still be a date on the show circuit. But that was not the way of the 'benign dictatorship' (not my words, but those of a committee member of the time) at the top.

So, a couple of years later, along came Chillcon, a show which, has never really grown, and at which there is a totally different crowd who never showed their faces at Triples, and who are absent from many of the traditional shows (I am a people watcher, forgive me). The show takes place in two school gym areas on the outskirts of Sheffield, and hails I believe from over the Pennines in 'The Other Place'.

Being local to me and a few others of my vintage, we have gne and supported it, but to be honest, it's increasingly become a case of of give us a fiver and we'll 'give' you a goody bag and a few You Tube self-created 'Personalities' will swan around filming everything and pretending that they are on the cutting edge of the hobby with a swagger like a Liverpool 'Bucko' on three weeks shore leaved. 

Few of the old school go there now and most have a cursory glance around, sigh at the wasting of another fiver and go home.

This year was the worst Chillcon many have seen, and I for one have called it a day on that show, having not spent a penny apart from the fiver to get in and a can of 7UP. I am not the only one.

Someone wearing a 'Staff'lanyard was heard loudly opining that the show at the Magna Center the week before had killed the 'real Sheffield show'.

Hardly... And as he was not local to Sheffield, he knew and knows sweet fuck all about the local hobby scene and it's history, second only I would claim, to the history of the 'Lead Triangle'. (and breathe...)

Let's be frank here, Chillcon is the cuckoo in the nest of the Sheffield show scene, and shouldn't forget it.

The bring and buy was staffed by dealers, and broke the cardinal rule of 'staff' cherry picking stuff, so that what was good was set aside for future sale and the dross was placed on the stall. This is an unwritten 'no-no'. At the very least put it out to the punters for 30 minutes before pulling that kind of stuff. It's dirty and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

The traders were all 'low end' with the exception of Warlord Games. Traditional wargames companies were in definite deficit. If you wanted dice, 3D printed stuff or 'big box' products available far cheaper online, then you were able to choose from multiple vendors. No early morning catering, and a plethora of phone or camera wielding wannabe Spielbergs made it feel, well... crap.

And I am not the only one who thought so. I generally have one to two thousand pounds on me at shows, and I came away with it all intact. Now, I am a hardcore gamer, but if I could find anything to spend a pound on, you can be sure that there were more people in the same boat.

 Chillcon needs to stop pandering to these same few self appointed 'stars' of the interaether and focus on delivering a robust and varied retail environment.  The games on offer were equally piss poor and pretty much the same fare as previous years. I quipped that I could have put on a better looking game simply grabbing a few bits from my own gaming room at home.

And so to 'that other show', the one which was held at the Magna Centre the week before. 

Hand up, I didn't attend, because I could see that it was going to be a bit of a farce.

To recap, let's look at the hall in question. It's not small, and the brochure states:

• Dinners up to 1,000 guests
• Conferences up to 3,500 delegates
• Concerts and gigs up to 5,000 attendees
• Exhibitions and trade shows up to 1,500 delegates

It costs in the region of upwards of £5000 just for the space, let alone the licences, insurance etc, required for most events.

The door price was £5 and a trade table was £75. If we generously assume that each of the 12 traders paid for to table that takes care of £1800. Assume that the bring and buy organiser paid around £250 for the space, the we just claw over the £2000 mark. Now I don't know about you, but that looks like a very small punter presence, and you'd need 600 to get to the 5K mark.

I leave you to make up your own mind, but if this was me organising that event, I'd not dare post pics like that. 

I heard that one of the 12 (yes TWELVE) traders, none of which were 'top end' packed up and went home at about 12:30. 

Now, as I have said, this was NOT a SWS production, but was instead a private venture by a limited company comprised of some of the old Triples organisers, who should have known what was required in organising a show and maybe, by now, have learned from the past. Apparently not...

Promotion was poor. For example, I alone could have reached 3000-5000 people in under two minutes had they thought to ask. Total cost would have amounted to a 'please' and a 'thank you'.

The graphics for the show were piss poor. Chillcon goes overboard, but a good quality, well done logo is essential.

Still, I believe from reports and observations that there will be a Steel Warriors in 2024, but I think there needs to to be some better communication work done, some bridges need to be rebuilt and communication established with people who could and would help them. That will take some pride swallowing and an apology or two, but it's not difficult really.

From where I stand (conveniently on one of Sheffield's '7 Hills', all I can see, is the city becoming a radioactive wasteland for the hobby, rather than the metaphorical glowing reactor of gaming it was.

I came home on Saturday in dark mood and my wife calmly commented that I was plainly suffering genuine melancholia. She was right.

Sheffield deserves more, and I urge those who have done so much for this hobby n this city to reach out to those who they may have had differences with, and take back the crown, worthy of a prince of the show circuit. Nobody is getting any younger, and it would be good to leave a positive show legacy for the future generation.