Heckler
Well-Known Member
Queueing on the M25 is not my idea of fun after driving 200 miles from oop north, plus the sneaky speed traps on the off ramp to the east end, plus the soulless over priced dump where it was held.
London boat show canned!
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Queueing on the M25 is not my idea of fun after driving 200 miles from oop north, plus the sneaky speed traps on the off ramp to the east end, plus the soulless over priced dump where it was held.
Iain C
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
^This. I have fond memories of ECBS as a child, went back to the LIBS and was very dissapointed. SIBS is a much better event, with much more of a relevant "marine" feel. With London, I'd much rather see stuff packed into a small site than the "half empty" feeling of a larger one.
However...BMIF please take note...every year I go (about 1 in 3) I get more and more narked off with seeing villa timeshares, hot tubs, massages, and other totally pointless stuff that I did NOT pay to come and see. Boaty stuff only please!!!
^This. I have fond memories of ECBS as a child, went back to the LIBS and was very dissapointed. SIBS is a much better event, with much more of a relevant "marine" feel. With London, I'd much rather see stuff packed into a small site than the "half empty" feeling of a larger one.
However...BMIF please take note...every year I go (about 1 in 3) I get more and more narked off with seeing villa timeshares, hot tubs, massages, and other totally pointless stuff that I did NOT pay to come and see. Boaty stuff only please!!!
bedouin
Well-Known Member
Eventually it is about the visitor experience. The exhibitors are only there because of the visitors and if the visitors aren't there then the exhibitors stay away too.
There is little doubt that as an exhibition it was better at Excel - but in all other respects it is an inferior experience. The quirkiness of Earls Court added to the charm, and the immediate surroundings are much better if you want a meal, or a hotel. Even when I worked in Canary Wharf I used to find it a drag to get out to Excel which I never feel about Earls Court
maxi77
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
Admittedly a few years ago but I extended a business trip to Paris to enable a visit to the Paris show and there was no premium staying at a hotel within walking distance.
Admittedly a few years ago but I extended a business trip to Paris to enable a visit to the Paris show and there was no premium staying at a hotel within walking distance.
lpdsn
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
That's also my experience of being on a business trip to Dusseldorf during Boot. No noticeable hike in proces. Didn't have time to make it to the show - I did walk up at one stage to see where it was. Have meant to go back one day - it's easier and cheaper to fly to Dusseldorf than it is to London City airport. Beer was not bad either.
That's also my experience of being on a business trip to Dusseldorf during Boot. No noticeable hike in proces. Didn't have time to make it to the show - I did walk up at one stage to see where it was. Have meant to go back one day - it's easier and cheaper to fly to Dusseldorf than it is to London City airport. Beer was not bad either.
maxi77
Well-Known Member
The people who oayfor any exhibition are the exhibitors, and they need as businesses to see a way if making a return. Big exhibitions in London attract a fair number of people who are only there to be entertained and will only buy from the food outlets not the marine industry. You can see it in the way boat exhibitors treat the punters, LIBS all boats cordoned of and a wealth check required to be allowed through, SIBS you get invited to look round even if you tell them you are not in the market. The costs both of floor space and stand building is rediculously expensive especually at big city sites so it is not surprising the industry is finding LIBS as unsustainable.
robertj
Well-Known Member
Re: 2019 London Boat Show cancelled
This was a chat at Southampton boat show. Many are disillusioned at the costs now. Many share stands to reduce costs. I expect the big boys will exhibit but the smaller businesses are certainly thinking twice about it.
This was a chat at Southampton boat show. Many are disillusioned at the costs now. Many share stands to reduce costs. I expect the big boys will exhibit but the smaller businesses are certainly thinking twice about it.
henryf
Well-Known Member
What a very odd thing to say. Sunseeker and Princess are the very reason the shows are able to take place. They pay a rather big number for their bit of space. They also bring a lot of people to the show. In my case Princess sent me tickets. Whilst clearly they are angling for me so sign on the line for another boat it is actually the smaller businesses who benefit from my spending power. I buy bits of boating crud more often than I do actual boats.
It is a shame that the show is going just as Crossrail gets ready to shorten journey times. I have warmed to Excel. Yes, Earl's Court was closer but the catering was dire, the parking a pain in the arse and the space messy.
We all think back to Earls Court with fondness because it was a different era, a time before the Internet where deals were there to be had if you were prepared to carry 200kg of rope, anchor & chain across town. These days the deals are online not least because vendors don't have to pay £500 / m to be there.
As an exhibitor I wouldn't want to have a single weekend as was the case this year for essentially the same cost. A week and 2 weekends makes much more sense to spread the load and allow better sales opportunities. It takes a few days to remind people the show is actually taking place.
I guess I will finally make the trip to Düsseldorf next year then......
Henry
fergie_mac66
Well-Known Member
yep the loss of earls court did it for me . I went to excel a few of times with a big gap inbetween each visit.Did not enjoy on any occasion the format was too mercenary after earls court.
Graham_Wright
Well-Known Member
What a very odd thing to say. Sunseeker and Princess are the very reason the shows are able to take place. They pay a rather big number for their bit of space. They also bring a lot of people to the show.
Henry
I understand that the big boys contribute massively to the cost of the show and SBS build is heavy weather. The point I make is that NEC is comparable to EC except that it has a small lake which is permanent. Those of us interested in modestly sized boats could quite happily find satisfaction.
lw395
Well-Known Member
Do we actually need boat shows these days?
Is there much point to it? or is it just 'one of those things' we traditionally do out of season?
On the retail level I think it's over.
There are other levels, basically business to business, and business to press.
If you are in the trade, you can use a trade show to keep up with a lot of contacts and competitors, but really you need to be doing that all year.
If you are wanting to present things to the press, then they are overloaded at boat show time and you may get overlooked. The press isn't what it was either, with the internet.
I don't go to electronics trade shows, but I do attend the odd conference and supplier event. What's the trend in other industries?
Is there much point to it? or is it just 'one of those things' we traditionally do out of season?
On the retail level I think it's over.
There are other levels, basically business to business, and business to press.
If you are in the trade, you can use a trade show to keep up with a lot of contacts and competitors, but really you need to be doing that all year.
If you are wanting to present things to the press, then they are overloaded at boat show time and you may get overlooked. The press isn't what it was either, with the internet.
I don't go to electronics trade shows, but I do attend the odd conference and supplier event. What's the trend in other industries?
bdh198
Well-Known Member
I agree that the London Boat Show was never the same after leaving Earls Court. I went a few times to Excel, but was never particularly inspired to make the effort. Soulless and uninspiring.
Southampton International Boat Show on the other hand is somewhere I certainly do make the effort to go to (and it probably requires more effort for me then trekking across London to Excel) because the show is worth it. I certainly won't miss Excel and if its demise pays dividends with exhibitors putting more into Southampton then that's good news.
Southampton International Boat Show on the other hand is somewhere I certainly do make the effort to go to (and it probably requires more effort for me then trekking across London to Excel) because the show is worth it. I certainly won't miss Excel and if its demise pays dividends with exhibitors putting more into Southampton then that's good news.
flaming
Well-Known Member
NEC has been seriously looked at in the past for a Boat Show, but it fails on a few issues. Firstly, as mentioned, the large boats can't get through the doors, or up the Motorway in the first place. This has 2 issues, one is that they pay a lot of the overall bill to put a show on, and B that a Show without the big boys just isn't taken seriously. Sure there are plenty of people like us who have no interest in the big boys, but we're not numerous enough to keep a show going. If we were that breakaway Earls Court Show would have succeeded.
Secondly any show that involves craning Boats into a hall requires a lot of time before and after the actual Show dates for build up and breakdown. The NEC is a very busy, successful, venue. The last time this was looked at seriously that I am aware of it would have been 5 years before they had a sufficient gap in their schedule of confirmed Shows to fit a Boat Show in.
And finally, it might be a source of annoyance to many, but the centre of Gravity for the UK boating public is a long way south of Birmingham.
Tomahawk
Well-Known Member
LIBS lacked the hide and seek quality of finding something unexpected. Laid out in straight lines in one hall, (was two for the first show), you can walk through everything in just a few minutes.
henryf
Well-Known Member
Not sure a "hide & seek" show is very appealing for exhibitors.
The cost of exhibiting at a small boat NEC show will be almost identical to LIBS or SIBS. They still want £500 for a plug socket and a fortune per square metre of space. It's the nature of inside exhibitions.
Southampton is as close as you will ever get to economic exhibiting because it's a sprawling site with non infrastructure space available. You only have to pay for ground not a roof. This appeals to many smaller companies who are otherwise self sufficient.
You can also get boats there easily on their own keel and keep them in the water. You can even sleep on them to save hotel costs.
Henry
The cost of exhibiting at a small boat NEC show will be almost identical to LIBS or SIBS. They still want £500 for a plug socket and a fortune per square metre of space. It's the nature of inside exhibitions.
Southampton is as close as you will ever get to economic exhibiting because it's a sprawling site with non infrastructure space available. You only have to pay for ground not a roof. This appeals to many smaller companies who are otherwise self sufficient.
You can also get boats there easily on their own keel and keep them in the water. You can even sleep on them to save hotel costs.
Henry
maby
Well-Known Member
I honestly don't remember Earls Court with any fondness - it was a pain to get to and stank of fast food - except for the car park which stank of pee. I went there for a variety of shows - not just the Boat Show - and it was always a pain. It's been demolished now, hasn't it? I will not miss it. Excel is easy to get to, plenty of parking, plenty of bright space and plenty of catering. I was there last week for the Amazon AWS Summit and it was a pleasure.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
I've been to both Earl's Court and to Excel; the Earl's court show was something we went to a few times during my teenage years, and once in the 1980s (when I was lucky enough to get paid by my work to go and evaluate Navstar Sat-Navs, long before GPS!). Excel was a few years ago, probably about 2010.
First, Earl's Court was MUCH easier to get to for people living outside the London Transport network. People forget that all the main line trains end up at a central London terminal, so Earl's Court is almost by definition easier to get to, especially as the transition from Underground to DLR isn't particularly quick or easy.
Second, there is no question but that the "atmosphere" of Earl's court was far better. Excel is bright, clean - and totally soulless. It's just another multi-purpose space. Earl's court was complicated, a bit dingy and a rabbit warren - but there was the delight of unexpectedness.
I've never considered staying overnight at a boat-show - there are few places in England where a visit to London is really more than a day trip. I've been to all three boat Show sites in the UK (LIBS, EC and SIBS), and had a full day at each without even thinking that an overnight stay was needed. I live not far from Cambridge. Southampton was a drive; London (unless you're totally insane) is always a train journey.
For me, SIBS has been prefereable recenly, because london was no longer attracting the smaller exhibitors. I'm not in the market for a new boat, so that side isn't useful to me. But I like seeing ideas, and ways of doing things that I might not have thought of myself.
First, Earl's Court was MUCH easier to get to for people living outside the London Transport network. People forget that all the main line trains end up at a central London terminal, so Earl's Court is almost by definition easier to get to, especially as the transition from Underground to DLR isn't particularly quick or easy.
Second, there is no question but that the "atmosphere" of Earl's court was far better. Excel is bright, clean - and totally soulless. It's just another multi-purpose space. Earl's court was complicated, a bit dingy and a rabbit warren - but there was the delight of unexpectedness.
I've never considered staying overnight at a boat-show - there are few places in England where a visit to London is really more than a day trip. I've been to all three boat Show sites in the UK (LIBS, EC and SIBS), and had a full day at each without even thinking that an overnight stay was needed. I live not far from Cambridge. Southampton was a drive; London (unless you're totally insane) is always a train journey.
For me, SIBS has been prefereable recenly, because london was no longer attracting the smaller exhibitors. I'm not in the market for a new boat, so that side isn't useful to me. But I like seeing ideas, and ways of doing things that I might not have thought of myself.
chewi
Well-Known Member
My slant on it...
I used to go to EC as a teenager, hoping my dad would buy a boat, so we looked at all the pocket cruisers that were then affordable. pre internet you picked up lots of brochures and freebbies then looked ove r them at home
Now I have my own boat, I am not looking at boats at the exhibitions, I am looking at bits and pieces , and ideas. Excel doesn't do that very well. I have been 3 times and it wahas always been a disappointment. No show deals are any better than internet deals, so the travelling cost and the disappointment make it pointless.
They are/were different because life and boating has changed.
I always go to SIBS. More chandleries and smaller exhibitors with new ideas, but still I don't buy much.
I used to go to EC as a teenager, hoping my dad would buy a boat, so we looked at all the pocket cruisers that were then affordable. pre internet you picked up lots of brochures and freebbies then looked ove r them at home
Now I have my own boat, I am not looking at boats at the exhibitions, I am looking at bits and pieces , and ideas. Excel doesn't do that very well. I have been 3 times and it wahas always been a disappointment. No show deals are any better than internet deals, so the travelling cost and the disappointment make it pointless.
They are/were different because life and boating has changed.
I always go to SIBS. More chandleries and smaller exhibitors with new ideas, but still I don't buy much.
jordanbasset
Well-Known Member
But you are missing the fact it was also dark and dingy and coupled with your description you can understand why some liked it, it reminded them of MAB's
Kurrawong_Kid
Well-Known Member
And finally, it might be a source of annoyance to many, but the centre of Gravity for the UK boating public is a long way south of Birmingham.[/QUOTE]Not quite true! Yachting perhaps, but not narrow boats, racing Sailing dinghies, river motor cruisers, inland boat hire and canoeing. Moreover there is substantial yachting in North Wales and Scotland, particularly the Clyde. Not necessarily a coincidence that Fairline and Sealine grew up in the Midlands. It is true that many southerners think only of their part of the UK and go abroad rather than explore the delights of their own country!
