A couple questions have come up recently regarding shows. I'd like to poll the collectors here and see what your thoughts are.

Please feel free to elaborate with post after voting.

Ed

Question:
What is the best format for a Non Sport Card Show?

Choices:
1 Day: Saturday
1 Day: Sunday
2 Days: Friday (afternoon/evening) & Saturday
2 Days: Saturday & Sunday

Question:
What is your preferred type of guest at a Non Sport Card Show?

Choices:
Artists
Manufacturers
Media Personalities
No Guests: More Dealers = More Cards

 

The reason I put one day is that I usually blow my show cash within the first few hours.

Interesting poll. . .

I didn't vote . . . I'd prefer a 2 days show, only because that likely means it is a big enough and popular enough show to support two days of stuff. Realistically I tend to attend shows on Saturday, or perhaps Friday after work if it is a really good show.

As for guests. . . the more people selling stuff the better! But. . . that could be an artist or a manufacturer. . . I would love to see a good mix of dealers as show to show you tend to see the same dealers at most shows.

Media folks can be fun, but they are never a driving force for me to attend a show. Promos or discussions from manufacturers also wouldn't really influence my decision to attend a show, but exclusives could.

I'd love to see more fantasy artists at shows. . . we've had Easley, Elmore, Ken Kelly and Achielleos (sp?) at CECE in the last few years. . . oddly Easley was the the only artist who brought art to sell. . . I think Easley and Elmore were late additions (and not well advertised) so they didn't have much of a crowd, but Kelly seemed to be doing well.

Jon

I'm very interested to see how this goes. Awesome idea for the poll Ed!

As to which day, Friday and Monday are definatly out as most people are at work so Saturday & Sunday are the days, given a choice of one day i would take Sunday.

I would love to see Manufacturers at our shows coupled with a room full of dealers.

The reality is a mixture of artists, guests, and dealers to try and please everyone which is fair enough.

As for Manufacturers setting up at our shows lets just say the situation outside of America is diffrent and leave it at that.

Got to be Saturday & Sunday because as wolfie says, most people will be at work Monday/Friday.

Also, lots of people work weekends too so by having a show across Sat & Sun it's easier for weekend workers to have the choice of two possible days to to try and wangle off work when they might only be able to get one off.

As for guests more dealers is obviously a good thing but this is coming from someone in the UK who sees 4 or 5 dealers at a show at the absolute most.
I think media personalities can be a good draw and they have got me to attend shows. I recently attended Collectormania Milton Keynes solely to meet some Trek guests but by good fortune RA had got the newest Bond set to market in time for the show, so whilst there I dropped a good chunk of change with a couple of UK dealers. Had I not gone I probably would have ordered cards online from the US. Still, the guests got me there. I'm not going to spend petrol money just to buy in person cards I can get online, otherwise I'd be throwing good money after bad.

RA once attended Memorabilia many moons ago and were showing off their upcoming products. I'd like to see more of this and free promos from them too. A chance to give them face-to-face feedback and expose unaware potential collectors to their products must surely be a good thing.

Saturday/Sunday with Dealers/Artists/Manufacturers and Guests make the best shows. Due to travel, not sure if I would bother travelling 100 miles for a Friday evening.

For Me a Saturday / Sunday show works the Best , if the shows out of state , which most are , I like to drive down the day before , do a little shopping and check out the local points of interest that i'd normally be too busy to check out on the weekend with a show going on , Having a show on friday just means taking off another day of work and i would think that most people would be working fridays too..

as for What i'd like to see at the show , I'm all for Artists , it's nice to get a piece of original art & meet & chat with the artists
Not to mention giving them more exposure to the collectors


the celebrities would be nice , but i'm not that much of an autograph hound , so it doesn't matter that much to me ,unless we're talking Benchwarmer models or the orion slave girls from star trek...( Anyone know if they ever do shows ?)

Having the manufacturers there is always nice , getting to have that face to face and learning about new products ahead of time is a plus

As long as theres dealers selling cards &
someplace local to meet up with friends after the show it's all good with me

Ed
I like the idea of Friday and Saturday.
Many of the dealers I've spoken with seem to prefer this, since many who have to travel are there Friday anyway and it adds to their expenses to be there two more days after that.
The more happy dealers, the more who attend and that, in the end is what you want when you go to a show. Lots of choices.
I really like speaking with the manufacturors and artists as well.

Ed, my vote goes for one day - Sunday and media personalities, but I think you have to add a couple of details when you ask about shows. Specifically are you talking about a convention type show or a smaller local gathering.

For sure if its a big show in a large location you need two days for it to be worthwhile for dealers and collectors to travel, but I believe that smaller shows benefit from a one day only date.

I say that as a collector who goes to shows with a budget, like most people. This is what I have to spend and no more. If I do it in the first hour I'm done and it doesn't matter if there is a second day or not. If I want to go to the show I will make the time, as will most collectors. The more hours the show promoter gives, the more days he gives, will just spread out the traffic, but it will not increase the spending because that is already fixed by what the collector can afford.

As for the best guests, artists are great, but there is nothing like a celebrity to generate interest. That's hard for a small show because even minor names want big fees and promoters consistently say that they don't make any money on the autograph guests, but the idea is to attract more traffic for the rest of the show.

Some interesting feedback so far, and 33 votes...

I'm focusing on ideas for a Non Sport Card Show in particular, not a large convention event.

Surely there are more opinions out there...

Ed

I voted Saturday/Sunday although Friday evening/Saturday would work as well and No Guests/More Dealers. I wouldn't mind seeing Manufacturers again and mix of artists/celebs is ok if space permits.

I haven't chimed in up until this point because as someone else pointed out, it kind of depends on what type of show you're trying to run.
As far as the Friday/Saturday vs Saturday/Sunday... it depends on what hours you are going to have on Friday. If the show is open on Friday from 5pm - 9pm then I'd vote for that as you'll get people (hopefully) stopping by on their way home from work, or people who live several hours away and stop by the show for a quick run through on Friday before a full day of shopping on Saturday. If you're talking about Friday day hours only then I'd be against it.
If you're talking about something like CECE or Philly that's strictly a non-sports card show then I think it needs to be 2 days as most dealers (and attendees) have a bit of a drive to get there and I don't know how many people would think it would be worth it for just one day.

I prefer artists and manufacturers as guests. Actors (depending on how well known they are) will draw in attendees that might not normally attend a non-sport card show, and some of those people may buy cards but... at $20 a signature the actor is also taking a fair amount of money out of the room.

I'd actually like to see a 2-day toy and nonsport card show (2 days because nonsport dealers need travel time). For whatever reason the people who collect toys (or friends they drag to the show with them) like non-sport cards and many don't know they exist until they are at a show and someone has cards.

I'm gonna have to agree with Wandering Rebel, for an all nonsport card show, like Allentown, Saturday and Sunday is awesome. I travel from out of state like most people do to most of these shows and fridays would just mean another vacation day to use. As far as the number of days I think 2 is great, if the show is large enough(like the Philly show), because sometimes your spending alot of time at one dealer/artist and one day would just be limiting to what you might see.

I would like to keep seeing artists and manufacturers as guests, but having an actor there maybe to help promote an upcoming set would be fantastic. I think that having an actor/actress there can also draw non card collectors to the hobby. I have asked a few non card collectors if that would draw them into a show and they all said that it depends on the actor but yes it definitly would. Maybe some unsigned auto cards could be given out to the first 40 guests or so to be signed or personalized by the guest actor/actress, then anyone that did not get the promo auto card could be charged for a photo autograph like at the comic conventions if they choose(just a thought).

quote:

Originally posted by Mccheese8472:
I'm gonna have to agree with Wandering Rebel, for an all nonsport card show, like Allentown, Saturday and Sunday is awesome. I travel from out of state like most people do to most of these shows and fridays would just mean another vacation day to use. As far as the number of days I think 2 is great, if the show is large enough(like the Philly show), because sometimes your spending alot of time at one dealer/artist and one day would just be limiting to what you might see.

I would like to keep seeing artists and manufacturers as guests, but having an actor there maybe to help promote an upcoming set would be fantastic. I think that having an actor/actress there can also draw non card collectors to the hobby. I have asked a few non card collectors if that would draw them into a show and they all said that it depends on the actor but yes it definitly would. Maybe some unsigned auto cards could be given out to the first 40 guests or so to be signed or personalized by the guest actor/actress, then anyone that did not get the promo auto card could be charged for a photo autograph like at the comic conventions if they choose(just a thought).

I whole heartedly agree!

A lot of Toy & Comic Shows have A & B list actors there to sign. Even if it's for just a day. And maybe have another actor for the second day ? That would bring in a lot more people to a show.

When I attend the 'Super Mega Fest' show, in Framingham, Mass. every November, they have actors, wrestlers, comic book artists and such. That brings in a very wide spectrum of people. You should see the pics I take every year. {Well, you can if you friend me on Facebook to see them. Drop me a PM first}.

Just something to think about I guess.

Fred

Two days...no matter what!!!

Cards...CARds...CARDS!!!

Having guests at a show does make it fun but they are getting way too expensive to bring in and the prices that they want for signatures is now far and above what thier pack pulled signature goes for. There was a guest once at the Philly show that wanted $5 OR $10 MORE TO SIGN CARDS THEN HIS PACK PULLED CARD WAS SELLING FOR IN THE DEALERS ROOM. Many pack pulls except for some higher end guests go in the $10-15 range on you know where. Most celebrities now charge $20-$25 or more at a show to sign things.

The experience of seeing the clebrity in person
can be a cool thing. I guess it depends how much of a fan you are.
What would you rather buy a pack pulled or a non-pack pulled signed card? I still continue to get some of my cards signed at shows but I do it because I like to have them signed.

I know if I ever wanted to sell them I could never get back the money it cost me to get them signed in the first place.

Thankfully most artists will still sign cards for free. It would be nice to see more card artists at the show especilly ones that do the art on base cards. I have lots of cards in my collection that are crying for signatures Having Drew Friedman and Joe Jusco in Philly was amazing!

I know a lot of artists that do artwork for cards at at the bigger shows like Wizard World and NY Comic con.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FRANK AMICO,

quote:

Originally posted by FRANK AMICO:
The experience of seeing the clebrity in person
can be a cool thing. I guess it depends how much of a fan you are.
What would you rather buy a pack pulled or a non-pack pulled signed card?

If I'm a fan I would want the pack pulled certified autograph card, but I would be more excited about getting a personally signed card and I would expect to pay more for it as you are also getting the chance to meet the person.

Its true that in-person signatures are harder to sell, but I have no intention of selling them. I even ask for an inscription to my name because that is what makes that card special from all the others to me.

Since it's been brought up, here's the logic on having a show Friday/Saturday.

If a dealer it traveling much distance, he usually comes in the night before so he can be set up by 9am for opening (at a typical Saturday Show).

However, if you open the doors at 3 or so, that same dealer can drive in that day, set up, and makes some sales in the same day. Hours would be 3-8PM or something like that.

So it saves a dealer (or collector) a night's stay at the hotel by doing it that way. It also means 1 less day off for work for both collector and dealer as well.

Sundays of a 2-day show have been historically light on sales, so Friday/Saturday is an option to allow people to have a 2 day show without as much overhead on the dealers part.

And if the dealer's costs are less, they are more likely to make a few more deals.

Still interested in opinions. As much input as possible is a good thing when planning...

Ed

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:

So it saves a dealer (or collector) a night's stay at the hotel by doing it that way. It also means 1 less day off for work for both collector and dealer as well.

Ed

I don't understand your logic here Ed from the collector side.
If the show is Sat / Sun. the collector has no days off work and one night hotel.