[Terry Moore]

Just returned from my first Guildex in Telford.

Quite a size but oddly small in many ways. The bevy of supporting small traders were a welcome sight but I was surprised by the following:

1. Hardly any 7mm buildings kits apart from Invertrain and NMB.
2. Many traders did not offer to sell either a catalogue or even a list of products.
3. One trader had been lucky enough to be featured in MRJ but did not have either a photocopies of the feature or could recall when it was featured in MRJ
4. The Wild Swan stand did not possess a database/index of MRJ articles.

As a relative born-again British modular, I can only compare the experience with my other interest. I do not dare criticise the business acumen of small manufacturers but I wonder how many of them manage to stay in business (or don't) without these basic requirements of a trader.

However the most powerful impression of Guildex was the incredibly friendly atmosphere, thank you the GOG.

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE I do not dare criticise the business acumen of small manufacturers but I wonder how many of them manage to stay in business (or don't) without these basic requirements of a trader.

Maybe they're in business because they love the hobby rather than being business men. Sounds like they don't know how to run a business.

 

[mozzer34]

QUOTE (El Tel @ 10 Sep 2006, 09:16) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Just returned from my first Guildex in Telford.

Quite a size but oddly small in many ways. The bevy of supporting small traders were a welcome sight but I was surprised by the following:

2. Many traders did not offer to sell either a catalogue or even a list of products.
However the most powerful impression of Guildex was the incredibly friendly atmosphere, thank you the GOG.

well i came back with a sack full of catalogues but i went on satarday so maybe they had run out of them

 

[Gary]

Just a reminder to those reading this that Guildex 06 was an O gauge exhibition.

I suspect many of the traders (all?) were hobbyists who had developed material for their own use at home and considered that there may be others who might benefit from their work. Sale proceeds would help to subsidise their expenditure on their hobby.

Hobbyists are not business people. Lets be honest about this.

However these cottage industry type suppliers to the hobby do an excellent and essential job!

I suspect that within the O gauge community in the UK there are higher than average number of hobbyist suppliers.

As an aside it seemed a bit daft that the major N gauge exhibition for the year was on over the same weekend of the major O gauge exhibition for the year, both being within about 50 miles of one another.

Happy modelling
Gary