Hey I LUV NY.
Who's going. ?

Darrel, I already told you Coffee and Scotch! and maybe a little arguing over the merits of thin crust NY style vs thick Chicago style. You know who you are!

New York Show - New York, NY - November 2, 3 & 4, 2001
Sheraton New York Hotel (811 7th Avenue at 52nd Street - Phone: 212-581-1000).
Friday: 12pm to 8pm
Saturday: 10am to 6pm
Sunday: 10am to 3pm

Ill be there!

Probably my last year. As I suspect the tables will have to be raised to $700 in order to keep the room ;) .

I will be sharing a table with Bob Neal. However, I am planning on having the best selection of knives I have ever had at a show.

Thin crust V Thick crust. This is no contest, just as thin crust pizza have no merits.

Well that is what I heard. True, I did hear in the finest Pizza Resturants in the World. Oddly enough the epi-center for this seems to be Chicago!

I almost went to the AECA show this year in lieu of Southeastern Custom Knife Show, just for the pizza.

Georgia is truly a desolate wasteland for pizza.


Les

We'll be there....
But since I'm a NY native, Thin crust all the way...

larry

All I'm doing right now is gearing up for the NYC show...

Last year was my first year and I was -so- far behind schedule due to some screw-jobs at the Small Business Administration... and my relative newcoming to the Craft.

Even so I sold almost everything I brought.

This year I'm pulling out the big guns...

Can't Wait! Let's all meet up somehow.

I know -no one- wants to hear this, but from a high-end Arts / Crafts perspective in general, $700.00 is up there but not all that bad... -Especially- in NYC. We're extremely fortunate in the knife market that $700.00 is the most expensive show around and that we can get by with a nice cloth and nameplates on a simple table...

I know fellow Craftsmen who drop $1500.00 just for the booth fee at some NYC venues...

Jonathan, I usually organize a dinner for the TKCL, but it's not limited to those people. At the last NY show (in March) we had 15 people. Johnny Stout, George Dailey, John Lewis Jensen, Conny Perrson, Roger Bergh, Alan Elishewitz, Howard Viele, were some of the makers there. Closer to show time I will let people know what the scoop is. The time and place and whatnot.

Hi John,

$700 is bad for a table at a knife show. Especially when you consider that 4 years ago the show was $400 for the same size table.

With the Internet helping sales all year round and another NY show just 4 months later @ $600 a table and if you want a 5 foot table it is $500.

Hotel rates, airfare and food prices being what they are in NYC. If you are travelling from out of town, you need to sell about $8,500 to cover expenses. Right now that show is not generating that type of sales for most of the people who go there.

I agree it is a great place to meet and greet old and new customers alike. However, that is not enough.

Not when you compare the amount of customers who attend other major shows, Blade Show, Guild Show, East Coast Custom Knife Show. This year, due in part to the SHOT Show and Antique Arms show all being the same weekend, the Las Vegas Classic Knife Show will put thousands more through the doors.

Having put on custom knife shows, I understand the costs associated with this endeavor. One thing is for sure, they are not spending that money on advertising.

Just some observations.

Les

Les,

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp I couldn't agree with you more when it comes to wondering where the money goes at the NY Custom show in particular. After I first paid my deposit for last year's show I became quite nervous as November approached about both the level of advertising and communication from the show organizers. Other knifemakers have since told me that they think the organizers are '... a little odd to deal with,' too, so at least it isn't just me. As soon as someone pulls together a better show around the same time and place I expect them to learn a hard lesson. But it is still a good show for the likes of me... so I'll just bite the bullet!

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp I also don't mean to question that $700.00 is dang expensive for a knife show... correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it it is -the- most expensive show. I'd be much harder pressed to do it if I couldn't drive to NYC and stay with friends... I just want to make sure bladesmiths know what a great market we have in many ways... like relatively low competition & in-fighting, we have loyal collector bases and -usually- ;) not-too-expensive shows. Although what we do is one of the most demanding Crafts in terms of labor... many other artisans have it a lot worse when it comes to selling.

&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Funny, I have the reverse problem that you and many others here have... the shows down South and out West are prohibitively expensive for me to get to...

Jonathan, there has been a show directly against this one. The one in Seattle, of course they advertized that one more, but it still didn't work out. The thing is NYC is a very good marketplace. You've got a lot of people in a small geographic area. Also it's fairly convienet to get to. Other than that I agree with all your other statements regarding this show. I'll see you there, look for me at Darrel Ralph's table.