LIBS Attractions - Any suggestions?

Re: Did anyone read the first post post?

How about a big pond in the middle of the hall with boats floating on it, a big stage where a razamataz show could take place. Ooops sorry, wev'e done that havent we?
 
Re: I might have missed something here

Yes I do use an anchor & I have already attended to courses to tell me how to set it properly

Yes I do have an engine & I have attended a RYA Deisel Engine Maintenance course.

No I have not attended this years show & played with the Radars in the Fog Tunnel. I attended a Radar Course at Wasash Naval college to be trained in the use of Radar.

The point is that I as an interested sailor have made the effort to aquire the knowledge I need. The supersillious way these subjects are dealt with at LBS has little value to me & many like me.

The opportunity to talk to discuss relevant issues on a one to one basis with specialists companies was the attraction of a LBS & Excel seems to have forced out the little men who were the prime mover for me to visit the show.

The venue is the final straw. As I have already eluded the NEC would be preferred by me, if they could not return to Earls Court.

I hope you are right that people "are" returning to the show but I have heard little positive & lots of complaints about the venue.

Martin
 
[ QUOTE ]
MOB recovery demos in the dock, using TV celebrities and politicians as the MOBs.


[/ QUOTE ]
Excellent idea. Just drop the word "recovery", especially for the politicians.
 
Thank you :-)

In the words of Columbo "You know there is still something bothering me"

You haven't been the show this year
You haven't see the new attractions they have put in place

Yet it's reassuring to know that you can still pass judgement without knowing what you're passing judgement about.



Brilliant
 
Re: Thank you :-)

The fact is I have experienced Excel as a visitor to Trade Shows. I have experienced Excel as an exhibitor at trade shows.

I now choose to vote with my feet & avoid LBS because if I & many others turned up, to what I know is a debacle "I do listen to others who have been unfortunate enough to fall foul of your arguments", then the event organisers would be claiming that it was a success.

The annual rebranding of the event proves the point. They should never have left Earls Court & they're too pig headed to admit it.

Fine if their pride won't let them back to Ausie Valley move it to a decent venue that a decent range of exhibitors will attend then the punters will follow in their droves.

I've seen exactly the same thing happen in my industry. It took the event organisers 5 years to wake up & finally we are moving back to an event worth attending.

Martin
 
Can't work out what's missing except the people - it was very quiet today. And the beer is expensive and the parking. But it's a day out and so much easier than Earls Court for an Essex boy.

Less stalls to have a rummage at this year - a good second-hand boat show and boat jumble combined would be better - on a warm sunny day.
 
Re: Did anyone read the first post post?

1. As supposed YBW journo it does your case no good shouting at, or taking a stroppy attitude with your readers.
2. The trouble with the Boat Show is that it's not enough boat and far too much show!
I don't need to be entertained - that's what I go sailing for.
3. What I - and I suspect a lot of other people - are looking for is sort of a posh boat jumble. A smart venue where new kit is well presented; but you can still snap up a bargain.
As it is you got a lot of blue blazered oiks who know f- all trying to sell you a boat or some other expensive bit of kit you most likely don't need. Next week they're out trying to flog you double glazing!
Not to mention special - inflated - Boat Shw prices.
IMHO a boat show should look after it's core customers - yotties and what THEY want; it should not be mindless entertainment for the gormless masses. If it is, call it Disney Boat or something.

PS: the fog tunnel suffered from a lack of fog! Afraid we would not be able to see the nice RAYMARINE kit no-one could possibly do without? Good idea, but it lost all credebility when YM opted for one supplier/sponsor only!

Two words: industry mouthpiece!

Last but not least: I do not have to pay to walk down the High Street - why should I have to pay for the Boat Show?
 
Re: Thank you :-)

Snooks,

Your almost lone battle to obtain some constructive criticism about LIBS seems to be failing. Pity.

I still find LIBS a good way to assess and compare different solutions to my yachting problems, and much more so now it's in an uncrowded venue compared to the heaving masses at Earl's Court.

It is easy to bypass parts of the show not relevant to your purpose. Well, except the Guiness stand. Though when I think of it, a large group of us still meet there for our AGM - and have been doing so for nearly 25 years.

I suppose we learn from this thread that a lot of readers of YM Scuttlebutt don't know how to vote with their feet, and are also chronic moaners . . .
 
Re: Did anyone read the first post post?

I'm not a YBW Journo, I'm YM's photographer, I started the thread because I thought it would be a fun topic of daft or fun ideas for practical demos that could (if it wasn't for the like of health and safety) happen. I was hoping that instead of the effort ppl put into bemoaning LIBS they could channel that energy to think up daft, stupid and damn right crazy ideas for the entertainment of anyone reading it. The ideas from Twister Ken were the sort of thing I was hoping this thread would be full of, but instead the thread gets hijacked by the constant flow of: too expensive, in the wrong place, naff food etc etc etc. There are many other threads to comment about LIBS, but this one was't meant to be one of them.

Where in my original post did I ask for comment about LIBS? I didn't. I asked about the attractions, the practical demos, yet the first reply was "Move it to a decent venue" Great, thanks for that gem of wisdom, but what did it have to do with the original topic of this thread? naff all.

Only 2 of the next 11 threads contained anything on topic, the other 9 hopped on the "we hate libs" band-wagon, so I put in the other post to try and get things back on track....but still, some saw this as another excel is pants, boycott LIBS style thread...which again has naff all to do with the original topic of this thread, and when Bigmart hasn't even seen the practical demonstrations he was so against, it just made me laff.

YM sponsor the fog tunnel in association with Raymarine, PBO sposored the engine bit in association with Volvo, Sailing Today sponsored the Anchor bit in association with Lewmar.

At the end of the day if someone else wanted to pay more and sponsor one of the areas they could have done, but they didn't. So it was left to the big players. Hardly the fault of YM, PBO or ST.

I agree about what you say about paying to get in...if Tescos et al were to charge for going shopping it would be a different world, but that wasn't what this thread was about, was it?

I'm sorry if you felt I was being narky, I'm not that sort of person, (honest) but when I was hoping for ideas like bungee jumping off the bridge with a mooring aid trying to pick up mooring buoy rings in the water, like a human version of the duck on a stick at the fair, and all I get in return is "move it back to earls court" How would you feel?

I thought this thread could have been a quite little anchordge out of the storm of LIBS....Guess I was wrong /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Re: Did anyone read the first post post?

Sorry.

I read your post as what do we do to make LBS attractive to us.

I was just being honest about the way I feel.

I really feel like I'm being deprived of one of my favourite events of the year.

Martin
 
No Problems :-D

Not a problem /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I realise that Libs is emotional for everyone, and excel is far from Earls court in distance and atmosphere, and the latter is what the organisers are trying to put back into the show. Some might say too little too late, but at least they are trying.

I saw more children there this year (prolly cos they got in free), and depending on your views it might be good, it might be bad /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif..as a kid I can remember being dragged round boatshows, and here I am now, so the future generation of boat users and boatshow goers have to start somewhere.

While the new attractions might not be to everyones taste or requirements, it breaks up what is at the end of the day a static display of big fish out of water and the equipment to go on them.

I was just thinking of fun ways to liven up the day and the time spent at a boatshow.

I know for my girlfriend going round the boatshow was boring, and I wished LIBS had turned the tables on some department stores that have bloke creches, and have somewhere to leave bored partners! At least now it's possible to dump them infront of something educational and entertaining and they will still be there on your return, otherwise I used to run the risk of leaving her in a bar! not good for either of us! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Re: Did anyone read the first post post?

[ QUOTE ]

YM sponsor the fog tunnel in association with Raymarine, PBO sposored the engine bit in association with Volvo, Sailing Today sponsored the Anchor bit in association with Lewmar.

At the end of the day if someone else wanted to pay more and sponsor one of the areas they could have done, but they didn't. So it was left to the big players. Hardly the fault of YM, PBO or ST.



[/ QUOTE ]

I think you miss my point - I may be a tad naive here, but why does YM not approach all suppliers (say Raymarine, Simrad, Furuno, NASA, etc...) and say this is what we want to do, what have you got that we can put in there?
Why the wall to wall Raymarine? It would have been more useful if there was a choice of products from different manufactures.

Same for the PBO engine thing. (Yanmar, Beta, Nanni, etc...)

My fear - justified I feel - is that people new to boating will assume that there is only one supplier of electronics, one supplier of engines,...
 
Re: No Problems :-D

My opinion of excel is somewhat coloured.

I booked a stand at a trade show there. One morning I went to the entrance of the show to view the morning rush & four people walked out.

The sad truth was that the venue could not attract Architects out from the city. They are however willing to visit Earls Court, in droves.

Its good to see kids are being attracted again. I resigned from one sailing club when I overheard the Cruising Secretary moaning about kids being taken on Club events.

I have heard that us raggies are not so well catered for at LBS. Perhaps they should offer lessons in cooking Fray Bentos or 101 ways to get your revenge on that drunken Sunsail crew. Sorry there goes another of my pet hates creeping out.

Martin
 
Re: No Problems :-D

I applaud your efforts but I think the LBS raises the same prejudices on this forum as long keels, heavy displacement, Awbs, Raggies v Mobos.

I think the real problem is the total cost to se a show where only the major volume boatbuilders can afford to display followed by the cost to go effectively shopping.

If they remove the entrance fee and all the associated costs of ticket printing/tickets sales and ticket checking I wonder what the effect would be on attendance and cost to exhibitors.

I will be going on Thursday so may feel qualified to comment further then.
 
Re: Did anyone read the first post post?

I agree with what you are saying, it would be good to get a variety of manufactures together so it's possible to compare all the manufactures in one go. However in the world of big companies that might well lead to conflicts like X is happy to be there if Z is there but won't want to be there if Y is there, and if Y is there Z would like more room and so it goes on....

As I understand it (and I might be wrong, I usually am, I'm only a photograher after all) YM and PBO are sponsoring the fog tunnel and engine bit, so we have it branded with the logos and we also provide staff on hand at each place...the attractions were not devised by IPC, but by Tim Pine for the Libs lot (bmf etc), so the attractions would have gone ahead with or without the input from YM/PBO/ST and if the mags hadn't sponsored them someone else would have. But because YM and PBO are the two practical magazine in the IPC marine folio the decision was made to become involved with the attractions. We're not in the pockets of the companies who provided the gear for them, it could have been any company that paid enough to have their gear there. So just as a decision was made by the mags to brand them, somewhere along the line the large compaines also chose to get involved.

The libs people prolly put out a offer to the manufacturers to provide the gear for them, the people that offered the most Volvo, Raymarine and Lewmar got the exclusive rights for their kit to be in place, they see it as extra stand space, and try to educate the masses about their products.

There's nothing to say that next year there won't be a chart plotter arena sponsored by Garmin and Yachts and Yachting for example.

There we go, another idea. Using a hand held chartplotter to get out of a maze! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Re: No Problems :-D

[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps they should offer lessons in cooking Fray Bentos or 101 ways to get your revenge on that drunken Sunsail crew.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't think it was possible to ruin a Fray Bentos, I always thought they tasted like...moving on Sunsail crews, dunno what you can do about them...maybe they should have one of those cutouts that you stick your head through, painted to form a your average sunsail crew and you can throw wet sponges at the staff from sunsail stand...would that make you fee better? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Re: No Problems :-D

Given the practise, or lack of it, you can ruin anything.

I once knew a Boy Scout who actually burnt a Boiled Egg & you should see some of the things I am presented when I take kids on Sail Training Boats.

Last Year they tried to cook Fried Eggs in an Oven because they had run out of Gas Rings on the cooker. This was at the behest of a 68 Year old Watch Officer, who seemed quite peturbed, when I asked him when the last time he was served "Roast Eggs".

Have you ever tried Tea made with a Bouquet Garni

Martin
 
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