I swear, some gun show promoters TRY to fail.

[Brad Johnson]

Found out just a few minutes ago that we have a gun show in town today. 

This is one of the two promoters I've set up a table with over the last year.  I haven't received any kind of notification on the show or I would have set up.  I presumed that my contact info must have been incorrect so I called.  Nope, it's correct.  They don't call or email past vendors because (direct quote) "it's just too much trouble" and got really snippy when I mentioned they might consider starting.  They rely on the vendors to keep track of the show schedule and call the promotor when one is coming into town.  No call, no e-mail, no nothing to the vendors.

They do their advertising at about the same level.  I guess they rely almost completely on word of mouth, presuming the gun community will talk up the show.  That happens, of course, but it might be nice to get something a day or two in advance letting you know a show is around

Jeez, it's like they are doing everything they can keep the show from being successful.

Brad

[Manedwolf]

Show promoters have apparently never heard of that "web" thing. Any listing just misses 3/4 of them.

I just went to the poorly advertised one in Concord today, and found a bayonet for my K-31 and some Saiga .308 hicap mags. Most everything else was overpriced.

Someone had a complete Civil War field medicine kit, though, with all the bottles with the medicines still in them. Kind of cool to look at.

[The Annoyed Man]

Show promoters have apparently never heard of that "web" thing. Any listing just misses 3/4 of them.

I just went to the poorly advertised one in Concord today, and found a bayonet for my K-31 and some Saiga .308 hicap mags. Most everything else was overpriced.

Someone had a complete Civil War field medicine kit, though, with all the bottles with the medicines still in them. Kind of cool to look at.

Anything with some serious dope left in it? I know that morphine and laudanum and such were OTC back in those days.

[Bigjake]

Those may be useful on the Privateer expedition.... You picked em up, right?

[Manedwolf]

I didn't look that closely! I did notice sulfur in one bottle, wasn't sure what others were.

And hell no I didn't pick it up. It was priced at its reasonable value, in the high four digits!

I did get a bunch of 9mm that hangs on a magnet, though, forgot I'd put that in the backpack.

[Perd Hapley]

But if they don't promote, how will we know where to get our dream-catchers and white supremacist literature? 

[Declaration Day]

But if they don't promote, how will we know where to get our dream-catchers and white supremacist literature? 

And our collectible plates and Chinese electric scooters?

[Regolith]

But if they don't promote, how will we know where to get our dream-catchers and white supremacist literature? 

And our collectible plates and Chinese electric scooters?

Not to mention our jerky and Nazi memorabilia.

[Perd Hapley]

But if they don't promote, how will we know where to get our dream-catchers and white supremacist literature? 

And our collectible plates and Chinese electric scooters?

Not to mention our jerky and Nazi memorabilia.

And the nesting quote boxes.  Oh, wait, we can get those online. 

[Regolith]

But if they don't promote, how will we know where to get our dream-catchers and white supremacist literature? 

And our collectible plates and Chinese electric scooters?

Not to mention our jerky and Nazi memorabilia.

And the nesting quote boxes.  Oh, wait, we can get those online. 

I've always called them quote pyramids, myself.

It's just as well we can get them online.  If you got them at a gun show, they'd just be overpriced reproductions. 

[Sergeant Bob]

But if they don't promote, how will we know where to get our dream-catchers and white supremacist literature? 

And our collectible plates and Chinese electric scooters?

Not to mention our jerky and Nazi memorabilia.

And the nesting quote boxes.  Oh, wait, we can get those online. 

I've always called them quote pyramids, myself.

It's just as well we can get them online.  If you got them at a gun show, they'd just be overpriced reproductions........

....made in China.......

[Hawkmoon]

I had an opposite experience a couple of years ago.

Gun shows are rare where I live. I had gone to one at a regional, country fair ground. At about the same time the following year, I received the obligatory post card announcing a gun show at the same place, with the customary $1 off (the unspecified) admission with the card. So, on the appointed day, I drove 35 miles to the fair ground, to find ... nothing. No show. Not even a warm body to indicate what might have happened. Got home, sent an e-mail, and a few days later got an answer that they couldn't notify people of the cancellation because they didn't know how to reach us.

They didn't have any problem sending me a notice announcing the show. I don't believe they cancelled the show so close to the date that they couldn't have sent us a post card. So I don't go to that show any more. I'd rather go to other states, where the shows are bigger anyway.

[K Frame]

My parents and their business partners promoted a series of very successful rare and antiquarian book and paper shows in Pennsylvania over the span of about 20 years.

The mailing list for dealers/potential dealers who would get contracts and other show-related mailings was EXTENSIVE.

One of my jobs at every show was to walk around to all of our dealers who were set up and ensure that the contact information we had for them was, in fact, correct.

We had more than a dozen dealers who did every single show with us.

The advertising budget? We were small beans compared to some of the shows (but we were hosting these in York, Lancaster, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, not one of the major metro areas) so by comparison our advertising budget was small, but we still hit every trade paper in the country as well as newspapers in most major metro areas in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware.

You knew it paid off, too, when you would look out just before the doors opened on Saturday and see 500 people waiting to get in.

[Balog]

It seems like a lot of people in gun related businesses are the same way. Simply incompetent at the business part of the equation. I see the same thing at gun stores, ranges etc all the time. Kinda sad really.

[Gewehr98]

Gun shows just need more beef jerky and eyeglass cleaner vendors, and more Luger-under-glass collections that aren't for sale, that's all.   

[wmenorr67]

Nothing torks me off more than going to a gun show and some people only are there to display their collections.  If I wanted to look at a collection without wanting to buy I would go to a museum.