I like the idea of hookinh up with the Dallas Safari Club. Id be willing to bet that there are more people interested in our engravings tgere tgan at the Ben. Show
DSC was an option that was determined to be much too expensive to produce a viable show for FEGA. ACGG has struggled to make it work and are still having a rough time though this year they did make a few bucks.
I admit that there's really nothing about Las Vegas that appeals to me EXCEPT attending events like F.E.G.A. and hanging with our crowd.
Like it or not, it is the best place to be for our show.
I had a wounder time meeting old friends and meeting new friends at the F.E.G.A.event I never left the hotel the hole time,special thank to my friend Ken better known as mdegaver for his planing and making all the arrangements for a great trip. J.J.
I admit that there's really nothing about Las Vegas that appeals to me EXCEPT attending events like F.E.G.A. and hanging with our crowd.
Like it or not, it is the best place to be for our show.
I'm with ya Brian. I go to Vegas once or twice a year to do shows which I really enjoy doing, but the town...I really don't like it. It's hard to beat for trade shows and conventions though.
Lots to do and see plus there is some outstanding scenery all within a days drive. Absolutely magnificent!!!
After the show we visited the other end of the strip where there are some nice el fresco restaurants and cheap shopping. Then we saw the old Las Vegas with the covered dome which is only a bus ride away. Well worth visiting with some very colourful people around.
We also had a blast on the night walk seeing Vegas in all its neon glory.....and a gondola ride with the oarsman singing Italian opera to Mary, myself, Katherine and Harry. And this was indoors above a casino!!!!! Only in Vegas
And Bryan and Betty went off to see a Vegas show.
So there is lots to discover and fun to be had.
But probably not as much fun as Toad Suck, Arkansas
The number of attendees is irrelevant. It is the nature of the attendees that matters. The Antique Arms Show crowd is not there to look at AR15s, Ak47s, cammo clothing, and survival food. The usual tactards you see at the average gun show have no interest in a show like this. Many of the attendees are very affluent and are not afraid to spend serious money on the guns and related items that they like. The attendees are from all over the US and many foreign countries. Several thousand visitors at the least.
The world's biggest gun show is the Wannamaker Tulsa show. There are probably 100,000 people who attend. The line to get in can take hours and there is no way anyone can see it all in three days. The downside is that you have to wade through tons of excrement to find the good stuff.
Well if you folks are interested in growing the show I would consider a central location. I few thousand folks isn't even a decent run of the mill gun show here. Of course with a few of the worlds largest gun collectors within a few miles of my house the gun shows do well here. Not trying to promote moving it to the midwest just becuase it would be a easy drive for me just thinking with no more in attendance than that I would try another location to hopefully boost the numbers a bit. I thought if it pulled decent numbers some chambers of commerce folks around the US might fight to have the show and spend some cash getting it there. For instance right now we have the NAIA basketball championship games here now (rough draw of 25k) granted that is a small show for here but they got some marketing help and some good hotel rates. Having an event on one side of the country keeps your attendance numbers so low I would guess. Either way have fun.
Roger is bang on the money. It is the type of people we are after, not the numbers. We are selling, displaying and promoting a custom service, not a mass produced item.
It is also our annual get together so we can socialise as well. That is a very important aspect to it. For some, it is the most important thing.
It's been a good move to Vegas and the synergy we have with Beinfeld is great.
It's just a bummer about the hotel and having to find a new one. But we will.........and it will all be good.
As I said, an announcement will be made as soon as we have put something together......no worries
I guess I will have to say, I LOVE VEGAS, I love the different architecture and design of the buildings and interiors they spend tons to make it this way. We don't gamble, but make it thru every art gallery we can find and our ride is usually crowed on the way home.....Not to many towns let you shoot full bore machine guns for a pile of bucks...I am going to go to FEGA in 2016, sounds like the place to be. Only two days travel....see you there, If Andrew Biggs can travel all the way from New Zealand I can travel two days no sweat....
Ya it was starting to sound more like a social than business event. Now it makes at least makes sense. If it was about getting in front of big money folks that buy custom guys I would think having an event in Johnny Morris back yard would bring all the buyers your group could handle.
You are speaking through a hole in your head. You seem to know nothing of FEGA or Engraving. Once you do understand, then perhaps you will have a little more insight.
Sorry man if I said something offensive to you. I just thought billionares that are big antique gun collectors would have been the kind of folks FEGA was looking to attract. Again sorry I tried to be of any help as I can see it has is some way upset you.
Dad, those billionaire types you speak of come to the Beinfeld show...I know a few of them from SCI and related social events and I see them at the Beinfeld show. Some of the well know auction houses such as Julia's have display rooms of their own at the show and some of the more prominent individual dealers of high end custom and bespoke firearms display also. Another aspect to consider is the time of year for the show when the most people, especially FEGA members, can get away for the extended weekend. It is a tough balancing act to work through but we have done well for ourselves over the 35 years of effort.
It is first and foremost the annual meeting of the FEGA membership and a time for likeminded people to gather and visit. I was at the first gathering called forth by Roger Bleile in 1980 and I rue the day I shall have to miss one!!
I thought being with the Beinfeld show was great. There was a lot of money at the show and I think Vegas is probably the best place to have the show because of that. However my wife and I and a lot of others who I talked to did not like the Riviera one bit. We made reservation about two months ahead and they did not honor them. The worst food I ever had at a casino. The motel 8 in Pendleton Oregon has better rooms. I can go on but won't. I am glad we will be moving. I will go to every one I can afford to go to.