My .02
I have been involved with the Gi Joe Collector¹s club and their annual
show. Granted this is a Hobby based get together with a wider audience.
They routinely receive 3 to 5,000 visitors at each show. However, they have
concentrated their shows in central part of the country as much as possible.
Atlanta, St. Louis, Kansas City, and some others over the past couple of
years. The organizers will not do any shows in California or even Las Vegas
due to the poor turn out for these past shows. The only reason they are
doing something on the East Coast this year is a tie in with the
manufacturer.
I might be comparing Apples to oranges but that¹s my take.
--
Justin Wilson <j...@mtin.net>
CCNA CCNT Mikrotik Advanced
http://j2sw.mtin.net/blog
From: Jeff Broadwick <jeffl...@comcast.net>
Reply-To: WISPA General List <wireless@wispa.org>
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:50:35 -0500
To: 'WISPA General List' <wireless@wispa.org>, 'WISPA Board Members List'
<bo...@wispa.org>, <memb...@wispa.org>, <wispas...@wispa.org>
Subject: Re: [WISPA] [Board] [Wispashow] Decision on WISPA Show
Hi Rick,
You asked...
Personally, I don't think that putting a small to medium sized show on is
that big of a production. FISPA does it with minimal staff.
I think you could hire someone to do the footwork, working with the venues,
sell the vendor sponsorships, etc. I know that Greg Boehnlein (ran Ohio
LinuxFest for years) is available for contract work.
IMHO, the best show that Wispa could do at this moment would be one that
would:
1. Raise some money
2. Provide a fun environment for members and prospective members to meet,
share ideas, and bond (think Wispcon 1-4)
3. Give a solid tech track and management track
4. Be in a central, relatively inexpensive venue with a reasonable sized
airport (STL, Indy, Columbus, Grand Rapids, etc.)
I do not think that hiring someone to manage this is the way to go. It adds
cost and (IMO) adds little value. Big shows are DYING. Smaller, well
focused, regional shows are doing pretty well. I think the day will come
when a big show will make sense, but not this year.
Regards,
Jeff
Jeff Broadwick
ImageStream
800-813-5123 x106 (US/Can)
+1 574-935-8484 x106 (Int'l)
-----Original Message-----
From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On
Behalf Of Rick Harnish
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 10:45 PM
To: 'WISPA Board Members List'; 'WISPA General List'; memb...@wispa.org;
wispas...@wispa.org
Subject: Re: [WISPA] [Board] [Wispashow] Decision on WISPA Show
Butch, Members and Observers,
There is a WISPA Board meeting this Thursday. Now is the time for all to
weigh in on opinions on a WISPA Trade Show.
I have met with one tradeshow developer with Matt and Forbes and have spoken
to several others by phone/email. There is great interest in outside
parties working with WISPA to develop a show. It seems many of these
options wish to leverage the WISPA reputation and branding to produce a show
which will be financially rewarding to private interests. The question is
whether WISPA can produce and own its own show as a successful venture.
Our lobbying costs have skyrocketed the last six months, there are calls for
an Executive Director by many and there is the cost of producing a
tradeshow. Financially, WISPA is not in a position to do all three in my
opinion. WISPA still needs to build membership or raise dues to accomplish
all three of the above goals. It is another typical chicken and the egg
dilemma. Give us your input.
We can do anything we set our minds to; we have all proven that by building
our businesses. But at some time we need to recognize that the revenue
generated by 300 WISP members at $250 per year just is not going to
accomplish everything that is desired. Put some serious thought into the
financial aspects of what I just said and really think about the solutions
that you suggest and what is more important to your business and our
industry.
I will tell you that several factors are weighing on this decision but these
are some of my thoughts:
1. The desire of the Board and Members to have a successful show which
encompasses the following:
a. Is educational to our membership
b. Is affordable to our members
c. Is cost effective to our vendor members
d. Is productive in terms of attracting new members
e. Is breakeven at a minimum in no more than two years
f. Is in a venue that is easily accessible and has plenty of options for
lodging, entertainment is not overpriced
2. The Board realizes the effectiveness of planning a successful show will
be compromised if done as a volunteer effort.
a. Dedicated staff/manager is essential to the success
b. Beginner's mistakes should be minimized
c. Options are to hire a tradeshow development firm, partner with an
existing tradeshow, hire a consultant and college interns
3. A successful Tradeshow venture will take a substantial amount of capital
to plan, coordinate, down payments, signage and many other expenses. The
options currently under consideration:
a. Partner with a developer who will front the investment needed, but will
control the profits (WISPA would benefit from new memberships)
b. Hire a consultant and obtain key startup investment from our Vendor
Members as High Level Sponsors
c. Produce a small show in a low cost venue with all investment coming from
the WISPA Bank Account Reserves at the risk of forfeiting important lobbying
efforts.
4. Location is a factor
a. Everyone wants the tradeshow near them.
b. Maximum attendance will most likely be produced by good marketing and
reasonable cost/benefit tradeoff.
c. Popular tradeshow venues are Las Vegas, Dallas, Orlando, Chicago, Lower
cost venues may be St. Louis, Indianapolis, Denver, Columbus, Atlanta.
d. Location should have access to direct flights
e. Location should be comfortable in terms of climate/time of the year
f. Location should have activities nearby for those bringing families
5. Everyone will have an opinion
a. There is no solution that will satisfy all
b. No matter what solution is decided, be prepared for criticism
c. Use member input to determine the best solution for members, vendors and
WISPA
d. Find ways to produce valuable productive volunteer assets out of those
who take great interest in the program
Respectfully,
Rick Harnish
> -----Original Message-----
> From: board-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:board-boun...@wispa.org] On
> Behalf Of Butch Evans
> Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 8:36 PM
> To: WISPA General List
> Cc: WISPA Board Members List
> Subject: Re: [Board] [WISPA] [Wispashow] Decision on WISPA Show
>
> On Mon, 2010-02-08 at 12:03 -0800, Forbes Mercy wrote:
> > While I initially had the same concerns you had and was not even
> > that
> > personally impressed in our meeting with their promoters, I
> eventually
> > decided it was the way to go for one reason, membership.
>
> So, here is the board (one member anyway) stating that you (not a
> committee) decided to go with them.
>
> > Also for those who have stated we have made up our minds, those
> people
> > are just people stirring s^&t, they speak from no fact whatsoever
> > and
> > just like to say the board just does what they want, it's crap,
> untrue.
>
> Even YOU say that the board made this decision. Well, not the board,
> but you and Matt. The message posted to the committee said the same
> thing. Who is the "those people..." you are referring to? I have
> stated nothing more or less than fact.
>
> > We've been very transparent and this debate is us taking that input
> and
> > using it to weigh heavily in our decision.
>
> Which input are you referring to? There has been only one message
> (mine) posted to the committee list and I didn't say one way or the
> other beyond stating that IF we (WISPA) were to put on a show, it
> would
> have to be late in the year due to the timing of the messages and
> discussion (or lack of discussion, to be more precise). FWIW, it
> would
> appear that the board is not even in complete agreement that the path
> you and Matt chose is right, as Marlon has been posting things to the
> show committee list indicating that HE thinks the show should be a
> WISPA
> event, too.
>
> > It's a huge decision, easy
> > for members to say "hey you put on your own show" but just think
> about
> > the work that would put on a volunteer board versus the idea of what
> I
> > stated above.
>
> But isn't this a member focused organization? At least this should
> have
> been a committee decision. We did not even have opportunity to
> discuss
> it. We were simply told that you (Forbes) and Matt had made the
> decision. There was no input to consider.
>
> > Most opinions I've read have been self serving ones, 'put
> > it five miles from my house' kind of thing. We're trying to serve
> the
> > entire country and those with the middle America approach are very
> valid
> > for that reason. We'd really enjoy hearing these kind of ideas but
> > if
> we
> > sit here and argue where all day we'll never get to put it on and
> > yet
> > another WISPA initiative gets buried in minutia, as a board this is
> > exactly what we are trying to stop.
>
> THEN SEND THE QUESTION TO A COMMITTEE! Isn't that what the committees
> are for? This isn't even a member's list that you are posting this to
> (me, either).
>
> --
> ********************************************************************
> * Butch Evans * Professional Network Consultation*
> * http://www.butchevans.com/ * Network Engineering *
> * http://store.wispgear.net/ * Wired or Wireless Networks *
> * http://blog.butchevans.com/ * ImageStream, Mikrotik and MORE! *
> ********************************************************************
>
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