Clarks Knowledge Box.

[dylanwinter]

this dropped into my email box

should I?

Dylan,

With the 2012 Tullett Prebon London Boat Show just days away, we have some last minute slots to speak in the Clarks Knowledge Box. We are aware that your films are very popular amongst sailors, and were wondering if you would be interested in showing some clips and talking about your voyage at the Show? Naturally there is no charge, and we would be happy for you to tell audiences how they may go about buying your films.

I shall be on site from this afternoon, and should in theory have email access, however it is probably best if you call on the number below – which will forward to my mobile – if you are interested in this opportunity.


Kind regards

Ed Mockridge

 

[prv]

Go for it!

Pete

 

[Twister_Ken]

Go for it!

Pete

ditto

 

[aquaplane]

Do you want to do it?

Is it going to cost you loads to do it, accommodation or travelling and stuff?

Will sales cover expenses?

Are you free?

Do you want to do it?

Do it if you want to.

 

[banger]

Yes go on, to have you there will make a change from the " 35 foot minimum starter boat " attitude that now is current, people like you are a breath of fresh air in the boating world and could possibly start a return to the values of the Maurice Griffith era.

 

[Searush]

Take a box of your DVD's with you, people will be in a buying mood & will impulse buy. You will enjoy it. The people who come to see you will be the ones who like what you do, or at least like the idea, so you will be talking to kindred spirits.

And it gets you free entry plus the opportunity to tell people what else you can do. Network, man, you are good at it. You may even pick up some more work. Don't forget to speak to the great man Prebon Tullet himself to confirm all the rumours.

 

[dylanwinter]

costs

Do you want to do it?

Is it going to cost you loads to do it, accommodation or travelling and stuff?

Will sales cover expenses?

Are you free?

Do you want to do it?

Do it if you want to.

I agree

I live near oxford so accommodation is not a problem

car to station and back

days parking

train and tube

basically it will kill £50

hawking disks at the show... dunno

I have discovered though that the more stuff I do for free the more I get offered the chance to work for free

I do want to have a go

just out of iinterest

how big is the average audience at these things

I assume I have been asked because some-one better has dropped out

D

 

[aquaplane]

I assume I have been asked because some-one better has dropped out.
D

I don't think that there will be anyone better. Maybe someone who was paying for a stand has dropped out and they want to fill the place.

 

[Slipperman]

Clarks Knowledge Box

Dylan, do you know which day you might be talking? I was thinking of giving the show a miss this year but your appearance could sway me! Precisely for the reasons given by Banger above.

 

[Wunja]

Do it Dylan....

... and make a film about it!

 

[r_h]

I wouldn't expect the audience size to be all that large, although you have quite a few followers who should significantly swell the numbers.

I'd say there's a good chance of selling enough DVDs on the day to at least defray your expenses - it doesn't need a box full, just a couple of dozen in your bag.

Don't worry about being asked late in the day - my experience of this type of thing is that only the 'must have' famous names are asked well in advance and then it's a last-minute scramble to fill the remaining slots.

I would see it as a chance to get your name discovered by a larger audience.
In today's world, selling your work in the way that you do, discoverability is all.

If there are fans interested in talking further then whisk them off for a Guinness afterwards - they will then enthusiastically spread the word among their friends and contacts.

 

[Cookee]

Go for it! I'm doing a slot on Monday afternoon on BananaShark and our involvement with Raymarine - you get a free pair of shoes!

 

[jimbaerselman]

It's probably quite a late slot - after 17:00. They have more difficulty filling those. I've got some slots doing "Going Foreign" (rules and regs for cruising further afield) for the CA.

Your audience is likely to start at around 10 to 20 initially, but if you've got enough interesting slides and raise a few laughs it'll grow. So you have to think of the first 2 or 3 minutes as a warm-up to attract an audience.

The usual pattern is 10 min presentation, with 10 minutes after for questions and sales pitch. They're good at integrating Powerpoint presentations/slide shows, though I don't know how long beforehand they need a DVD or stick with stuff on.

You've got a great story to tell - in 10 minutes! I don't know about you, but I had to do loads of rehearsals at home to prune too much stuff into a short, entertaining presentation! I think you've got a much better subject . . .

No problem flogging DVDs, though you'd probably have to set up a rendezvous away from the Box for the transactions - Guinness bar? A friendly stand flogging your sort of activity/boat?

 

[mezereon]

Yours would be one of the few talks I would go out of my way for.
And if it wouldn't upset the organisers, take along a box of DVDs.

 

[Searush]

So why not? I don't see any negatives, well worth investing a little time in.

If you get offered more free work simply apologise & tell'em your normal daily rate is £500/day (or whatever) plus expenses. They may not pay that, but you might get an acceptable offer.

 

[Boathook]

Like others have said, go for it. You need a friendly stand that will stock your cd's for when you are not around. Don't forget to tell us when you are speaking.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Go for it!

Pete

+1... if anything they should offer travel expenses & free entry... who knows they may even offer a pie and a pint as well...

 

[dylanwinter]

this is the deal

I have learned a lot over the four years that KTL as a project has been up and running

I have not learned much about sailing a boat - as I have been doing that for five decades

however, I have learned a lot about our history, o0ur trade, our wildlife.

I have also learned a lot about the way the internet works

and the choices people make about the value of something

one thing can have many values depending upon who is making the choice

the contribution from croak on this thread

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298913&page=3

is both perceptive and profound and anyone attempting to engage with sailors should be aware of the sailors mindset

value in sailing matters is probably even more subjective than in the rest of the economy

I have seen many boats that cost many thousands of pounds that I would not accept as a gift if the only criteria is that I would have to use them

the gift boat from Mr Shell for instance

I fully understand when people buy boats that cost four times the value of their car - as do I

value is a slippery thing


so this is the deal from the Prebon Tullet boat show for a speaking slot at LIBS.


"we cannot pay expenses, however I can offer you a daily parking pass for any days you are speaking at the Show.
The current slot we have available is Thursday 12th at 1630, and you are right, it is replacing someone notable.

The talks are 20 minutes long, and the content is entirely up to you. RE selling your DVDs at the Show. This is not strictly allowed on the Knowledge Box as it is an FOC opportunity and our exhibitors pay money to be there. "



so gentlemen of this forum

is it still worth doing?

Dylan

 

[Woodlouse]

Their choice of words as to the selling of DVD's suggests to me that they are probably willing to overlook some sales if done subtly. But they probably want to avoid you blatantly selling huge quantities of merchandise because all the other sellers will have paid handsomely to go to the show and do likewise.

 

[prv]

Their choice of words as to the selling of DVD's suggests to me that they are probably willing to overlook some sales if done subtly.

That's how I read it as well. A couple of not-so-subtle hints for people to see you afterwards at the Guinness bar if they'd like a copy probably won't go down too badly. Pity you've not been round Cornwall yet, you could probably work it in as a smuggling joke

What's the worst that can happen - they'll ask you to stop selling stuff and you stop. I very much doubt that a large gentleman in an ill-fitting black suit is going to chuck you bodily out onto the pavement the instant you hand someone a DVD.

Pete