LBS Sucks!

[bernard_foster]

Firstly, what happened to all of the smaller exhibitors that used to go to Earls Court, seems i paid £12 just to look at Floating Gin Palaces and overpriced watersports equipment. Then... there was the queue to enter the East hall, having spent 25 minutes negotiating that, we got into the hall and were ushered round it by what you could describe as marshals, then there was the next queue for the watersports arena. A truly wasted day. will not be going next year

<hr width=100% size=1>Bernie Foster

 

[Talbot]

I guess it depends upon what you are going there for /forums/images/icons/smile.gif. I liked the layout of the North and South Halls, with similar companies adjacent to each other. I was not interested in East Hall anyway. My biggest quibble was the lack of road signs, although good map reading got my family there without any real problems.

My second biggest quibble was at how much money I ended up spending /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif

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[bernard_foster]

I wasn't really that interested in the east hall apart from one exhibitor seeling alluminium boats, but thought, now we had queued to enter the hall, why don't we look at the watersports.

<hr width=100% size=1>Bernie Foster

 

[deckham]

I had a good day at the show. I saw Princess Anne present prizes, saw Ra the solar-powered broads boat, other interesting narrow-boat craft, made enquiries and purchases at bookstalls and chandleries. I browsed around sailing school and charter stands. In the East hall I saw some exciting dinghy racing. thanks to the wind-machines. Outside I looked over the new lifeboat and a Thames barge. I bought a reasonable filled roll for lunch. It was disappointing there wern't too many sailing craft there, but that I think that is the way the market is going and not the fault of the show. I navigated the halls using a pullout guide and could have done with a few more signs. I came by coach and DLR , stayed overnight.
Altogether far superior to Earls Court shows.

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[whisper]

Glad you enjoyed it, so did I. Would have gone twice if I'd not been ill. Oh and welcome to the forum.

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[kimhollamby]

If you visited on the day you posted this you arrived on the day that recorded 36,000 people through the turnstiles. To put that in perspective, Earls Court recorded 137,000 visitors in its entire run last year.

The corridors were busy all day yesterday and the East Hall was heaving. I'm sure that is going to get looked at before 2005 event.

Thanks for all of the feedback by the way; fascinating for us here and I know it is also being monitored by the show organisers.

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[milltech]

That's interesting. I assumed the East Hall was just an on-water thing, I didn't even go in there! Although to be fair my time was adequately spent on both visits in Norf and Sarf.


<hr width=100% size=1>John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>

 

[Robin]

I can understand that the organisers are only concerned in numbers through turnstiles, but surely the important thing to exhibitors is the numbers that are buyers or potential buyers. I suspect this year saw a lot of people on days out like they would go to Alton Towers, nice for the organisers who will claim a roaring success.

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[bob_tyler]

Having travelled up from Cornwall for a one day visit, I was in the Exhibition from 11:00 to 17:30. Just about managed to get round all the stands I wanted to see in the North & South Halls (had pre-planned from magazine list of exhibitors). Not interested in windsurfing so did not enter the East Hall. Didn't go to outside exhibits either - boats too big for me.

A great improvement on Earls Court. Not so much a "Show" as an "Exhibition". Much better for not having the generally raucus Pool Display from EC. Exhibitors seemed to be more focussed on their purpose than before and much more willing to spend time with customers.

I had missed Earls Court for the last two years as not worth the journey. Will definitely be back at Excel next year.

ONE MAJOR CRITICISM: The organisers had made the effort to show stand block numbers with bold signs. Despite being in the rules, many exhibitors had FAILED to put their stand numbers up. They broke the very sensible rules. Are they being penalised in any way - perhaps an inferior site next year or at the Southampton Show? Their neglect made it much more difficult to find the stand one wanted.

Perhaps the organisers could PUT THE STAND RENTS UP by, say, 10% to be refunded if the rules (especially on numbering) were fully observed.

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[TheCount]

In addition to other posts I agree that the North and South halls were a good set up and it didn't take long to familiarise yourself with what was where. It seemed more cramped and condensed than Earls Court was although the signing didn't exist for me so I had to use my tired old memory. Outside was a waste of space with respect to the vessels on show and the queue for the naval vessel was too long to bother with unfortunately.
The food in the RYA hall was a joke with just a tepid salmon something and a veggy bake to choose from in the hot food at extortionate prices and sandwiches at over three pounds apiece- not good RYA!! My biggest gripe though is the three and a half hours it took us to get there from Solihull by train,underground and Light Rail. With the same going back it is a day gone before you start. The location surrounding the show has very little to offer in the way of restaurants and boozers. So all in all a good show but a nightmare to get to and flipping expensive to eat at.
Finally why are all the toilets down two flights of stairs- after four visits to the Guiness stand I felt like I had completed an assault course!
On balance I think Earls Court was a better day out but Southampton will never be beaten and it would take a big effort to go to LBS every year.

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[kimhollamby]

Agree with the food in RYA/exhibitor area. Tried once, didn't return; only veggie choice left and food was cold. Following day tried Viva coffee bar back of North Hall. I like my meat on the rare side but draw the line at the same treatment for baked potato.

Earls Court had its issues but was beginning to get to grips with catering. Suspect from many comments in previous few days this is one area for ExCel to up its game.

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[sailorman]

beats earls court "hands down" more space, less noise, didnt get as hot pm.
no silly fashion shows. i went by car for the first time in years ( mainly due to bad undergruond connection) got there in 55mins parked 1/2 cable from the door @ a cost of £8.00
the staff seemed better generally. we got there 09.30 were able to gain entry & have coffee + loos ( how many doors to the loos?????). left 18.20 no probs getting out of car park, 406 busy but home in about 70mins
bought new radar /plotter so have one for sale
RAYTHEON RC70 RADAR / PLOTTER 2 YEARS OLD.

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[kimhollamby]

In fairness

I think from various discussions that the organisers know exactly the pros and cons of big numbers. Certainly the exhibitors do and they will make their own feelings known in the weeks ahead. But the visitor profile at the London show had started to get very similar and the numbers were in steady decline. So to see a lift in attendance has been helpful for everyone who has paid not insubstantial sums of money to be here.

The new interest will pay off in a number of ways. There has been a major effort of behalf of BMF to court government officials and MPs and the show of strength at ExCel has made its mark. That is healthy for us all, in the ongoing fight to keep freedoms and in new initiatives to get a more liberal view on issues such as berthing shortages. Plus boating needs to do a better job of reaching into tomorrow's prospective boating participants and, again, the feeling is that ExCel might have helped that (although visitor profile polls will hopefully tell us a lot more about that).

Another thing I'm sure about is you will see changes and adjustments next year...all of us are learning here on our individual stand designs, let alone the bigger picture, on what is a very different venue and set of visitors in comparison to Earls Court.

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[graham]

Re: In fairness

I went on Thursday very little queing for anything.You are better off taking food with you as prices and quality were doubtful.

To my mind the obvious huge advantage over E.C. is having boats afloat in the Dock.

All in all A very enjoyable after noon, Which in my case ,unfortunately, involved over 8 hours travelling in total.

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[claymore]

Each to their own

I really enjoyed it - no fighting on escalators to get up and down levels, no fighting to get through between stands - all logical and easy to view. If only you could get a straightforward cup of coffee instead of all that daft Nero and Latte nonsense it'd all be perfect

<hr width=100% size=1>regards
Claymore
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[Talbot]

Re: In fairness

As I have already said on another thread, I liked the layout of North/South halls. However I believe greater thought needs to be taken with the siting of the Guiness Stand in particular. Placing it in a corner at the furthest reach from the centre aisle meant that access to the stands towards the Guiness was considerably blocked. As this was also quite a long way from the nearest heads, there are one or two forum members who may have had to curtail their normal habits /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

My PBO complimentary map of the show very quickly became two separate pieces of paper, and I am aware that this was not an isolated incident.

It is very good to know that are comments ARE getting to the correct people.

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[Robin]

Re: In fairness

<<There has been a major effort of behalf of BMF to court government officials and MPs and the show of strength at ExCel has made its mark. That is healthy for us all, in the ongoing fight to keep freedoms and in new initiatives to get a more liberal view on issues such as berthing shortages.>>

Kim, I may be wrong, cynical even, but the BMF courting government officials and MPs fills me with dread! I seem to recall the BMF involvement in the RCD debacle not to mention their being in favour of compulsory registration or licensing.

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[sailorman]

Re: Each to their own

guess u still have "Camp" coffee north of the wall???.
my ole granddad use to love it, of coures i am too young to recall the stuff

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[kimhollamby]

Re: In fairness

I can get as cynical as anyone about these things but if we don't start matching outfits like English Nature and RSPB in terms of contacts and putting the right side of the argument then we are staring at big trouble in the future. When was the last time you contacted your MP and, in any event, would it really make a difference? I came to the conclusion the other day that the BMF necessarily has more clout than user bodies because it can talk in terms of industry, jobs, exports and tourism and they are far more powerful discussion weapons than the freedom of a minority to enjoy what is still widely perceived as a sport for the rich.

Also where have you seen the BMF in favour of compulsory licensing and registration? Would be deeply interested in the source because that runs counter to everything we are hearing.

Finally RCD would have happened, BMF or no, whatever spin got issued at the time. Quite what it looked like had unfettered Brusselcrats formulated it is anyone's guess but mine is it would have killed many more boatbuilders and knocked boatowners, that's for sure. I saw some of the stuff that got binned after heavy-duty lobbying and it wasn't pretty.

Sorry, this all looks like a BMF-sponsored reply -- it isn't but my 'other' role (on International Boat Industry) has given me a broader perspective on world marine trade issues thanks to a lot of travelling in the past two years and from that I welcome the increased efforts of the BMF to tell our story where it counts. Some other marine industry associations have been very good at this and the benefits to all are obvious.

Now, where is that (government-sponsored) tenner /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

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[Robin]

Re: In fairness

I said I might be wrong but I thought I remember reading something somewhere re the BMF and registration/licensing, perhaps in the context of harbourmasters wishes?. However the RCD was backed by the BMF and their counterparts around Europe I believe in order to provide an effective trade barrier (albeit a surmountable one at a cost) to companies from outside of the EEC, beyond that it has little use IMHO.

Who does represent us mere boaties and what is the right side of the argument? I'm sorry but I cannot see the BMF lobbying their members for reduced marina bills! The RYA (I'm an individual member too) try to be all things to all men (sorry persons) and yes you are right we are seen as rich yotties by outsiders, a view reinforced nicely by TV programmes covering the boat show!





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