Show Meh! The Way To Go Home...

 On Sunday, we ventured to a wargames convention for the first time in 9 months, armed with a low four figure bag of spending money and the hope and expectation of having us a jamboree. I was in effervescent mood.

And that was where the traditional festival of fun sort of spluttered to a rather inauspicious halt.

What do I want from a show?

Well, being a traditionalist of the old school, I generally want the following:

1, A proper bring and buy, or at a push a tabletop sale which is free of dealers who are getting a trade stand for a lot less than were they in the main hall. It should be located away from the main footfall routes so that the knots of people who gather there (ideally)  don't slow down entry and exit, and generally become a clot in a narrow artery, so to speak.

2. Vibrant and varied trade stands. Simply having big box resellers making up 30% of your trade stands is lazy. Build it and they will come. but get out there and tell people about why what you've built is so good, and you'll get more interest.

3. TOP quality display games, and some less so, but increasingly, I am seeing games which, look like the average game I host on my tables. I am not inspired.

As my good lady, herself a 38 year convention veteran said, 'There's no 'sparkle' to shows' these days.

I think she's right... 

Every time I see 'Great show!', 'Well done yet again!' etc, etc, I wonder if these people are 

A. Fanpersons

B. People with low expectations of quality.

C. On seriously high medication levels 

D. All of the above.

Look, I am not the only one who remembers fondly, the sense of genuine excitement of going to a show, particularly a weekend-long extravaganza such as Northern Militaire, Triples, Armageddon and the like. I sadly, never made it yet to Claymore.

You went to shows to find a new army on the bring and buy, chat to manufacturewrs and let them sell you a new army (note the use of the term army and not faction, because that was what we bought - armies, as per the definition. Skirmish gaming was something we did as a palate cleanser.

I could easily go through a 4 figure sum in the 80s and 90s at a single show, but these days, I'd be hard pressed to get into three figures, because what is on offer is just so bland.

There are so many great companies out there, who, in my humble and amateur opinion, should be reached out to by Show Secretaries and engaged with. If you wear that badge, it is your duty to the hobby to show the best, even if it means putting the noses of so friends in the trade out of joint, in doing so. 

One of the best years in gaming I had was when Sheffield Wargames Society ran both the normal show, and the Nationals, at two different locations and with a slew of traders that was outstanding.

True, you saw a few stalwarts, because that's what people expect, but, to go into a side room in a large venue and see for example 'Jacobite Miniatures' was exciting stuff. There is little of that now, and I will stand by my belief that this is because Show Secs don't get off their arses and actively seek out fresh traders.

We could do it before the internet, and I was able to do it (no I wasn't a Show Sec, I was just passionate about seeing a great show) with the aid of the internetm, a lot faster. 

A polite firm email, attach some info and expression of interest forms and away you go. And if you get a negative response, you speak to them, you find out what is standing in their way.

Let me be clear, I am seeing established shows, do just what Sheffield Wargames Society did, and we know what happened to Triples, because the committee did less and less to promote the show, encourage new and plapsed trade. This happened terminally over two years after what was arguably the best show they'd had since leaving the Octagon Centre.

There is no such thing as too big to fail, simply too smug to notice.

To be very frank, the shows that are popping up in the place of the old shows are about as satysfying as warm cola on a hot day - and that cheap, bargain 'Panda Pops' stuff too.

I remember when a group in Sheffield tried to bring back a two day show in the style of Triples and the new show that had popped up in a small school hall threw a wobbly, claiming that they were 'poaching our date'... I think you'll find it was the other way around, but, as they had a young and voiciferous culkt-like following, they did enough damage. On principle, a lot of people never supported that little show again, and we are talking people who could have brought some seriously good looking games to them.

This year, after the poor show that was Vapnartak with it's large empty areas on the main floor (yes I have the pictures, so hush!) we decided that we were going to do other things at weekends. To be honest it was great to go to new restaurants and see some great theatre productions, and as I said to my better half on the way home at the weekend, 'I'd rather have gone to a nice garden centre ' - and I loathe gardening. But I meant it.

Maybe when I retire in a few years, I'll think about grabbing a few people I know, and put on a show... If it fails, it's only money - can't take it with you, but if it succeeds, I'll have a great time, and so will many more people.