MSBA Show

[ragfly]

BillB. and I didn't make it down from Maine this year. We planned on going to the RISSA show instead, We are looking forward to it! We have never been and it looks huge.

[Flaptail]

The show was good. I had a good time but the weather surely played a part. A number of vendors were kept away and some of the old time vendors wee there. I think that Gillette is nice but not that user friendly. I thnk a hall somewhere on the southcoast in Massachusetts where the distance between the NY/CT/RI and MA folks is slightly more equitable might be an answer. Some vendors echoed that to me. One floor with ease of in and out might be better and maybe a slightly earlier date so as not to compete with RISSA only two weeks away. I am not a member of any club or organization so this is just a chumps view of course.

RISSA is perfectly situated for that but after all this was the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association show and it has to be situated in our state.

I had fun doing the seminars and always enjoy meeting new people. Thanks to Larry of BigFishBait ,Dave at Surf Asylum and Joe at PT. Jude Lures.

Salty is obviously still pissed at me and I don't blame him.

My olf friend Capt. Roger Jarvis, I got a copy of his Tuna book and read half last night until the wee hours. It's a great read by a truly great guy and expert Captain. I alway look forward to our talks.

Mr. Peterson, who introduced me as the kid next to Arnold Laine in one of the pictures in the article. I will take you up on coming over to talk of the old days and the great fisherman he knew and fished with on the beach. He related some great memories of his time with Laine, Woolner and the rest. Thank you.

Well just some thoughts and thanks to Massachusetts Striped Bass Association for having me, your a great group of dedicated individuals and my hat is off to you all.

Steve S.

[Canalman]

The show was a success for us, I want to say thanks to everyone who bought a plug or 5 and remind everyone that an improved version of the Real-Eel will be back as soon as humanly possible.

[luds]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

The show was good. I had a good time but the weather surely played a part. A number of vendors were kept away and some of the old time vendors wee there. I think that Gillette is nice but not that user friendly. I thnk a hall somewhere on the southcoast in Massachusetts where the distance between the NY/CT/RI and MA folks is slightly more equitable might be an answer. Some vendors echoed that to me. One floor with ease of in and out might be better and maybe a slightly earlier date so as not to compete with RISSA only two weeks away. I am not a member of any club or organization so this is just a chumps view of course.

RISSA is perfectly situated for that but after all this was the Massachusetts Striped Bass Association show and it has to be situated in our state.

I had fun doing the seminars and always enjoy meeting new people. Thanks to Larry of BigFishBait ,Dave at Surf Asylum and Joe at PT. Jude Lures.

Salty is obviously still pissed at me and I don't blame him.

My olf friend Capt. Roger Jarvis, I got a copy of his Tuna book and read half last night until the wee hours. It's a great read by a truly great guy and expert Captain. I alway look forward to our talks.

Mr. Peterson, who introduced me as the kid next to Arnold Laine in one of the pictures in the article. I will take you up on coming over to talk of the old days and the great fisherman he knew and fished with on the beach. He related some great memories of his time with Laine, Woolner and the rest. Thank you.

Well just some thoughts and thanks to Massachusetts Striped Bass Association for having me, your a great group of dedicated individuals and my hat is off to you all.

Steve S.

Thanks for doing your presentation. I rarely fish the Cape beaches but there was alot of info you could apply to fishing anywhere. It was helpful and got me fired up for next season.

Also going to try out some of those x-raps. just wish they made them in black and yellow/white.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

The show was good. I had a good time but the weather surely played a part. A number of vendors were kept away and some of the old time vendors wee there. I think that Gillette is nice but not that user friendly. I thnk a hall somewhere on the southcoast in Massachusetts where the distance between the NY/CT/RI and MA folks is slightly more equitable might be an answer. Some vendors echoed that to me. One floor with ease of in and out might be better and maybe a slightly earlier date so as not to compete with RISSA only two weeks away. I am not a member of any club or organization so this is just a chumps view of course.


Steve S.

I'm just a chump too, but I couldn't agree with you more.

I also think the food prices are keeping people away. If you take your kid to the show, he's going to want lunch. You have to figure $30 for the two of you to eat. Add that to the $15 you paid to get in and the $5 for him, you're 50 clams down before you ever spend a dime on gear.

It's a very nice, prestigious venue. But there are negatives associated with it, for both vendors and patrons. I forgot how much I was told it cost for a fax or internet hookup for vendors to take credit cards, but it was substantial. Very few vendors were accepting credit cards. For better or for worse, people expect to be able to use them. Plus, the main hallway is dark, and I was told there was also an additional cost for the Stadium staff to hook up auxiliary lighting.

[lurch]

Originally Posted by Mike P

I'm just a chump too, but I couldn't agree with you more.

I also think the food prices are keeping people away. If you take your kid to the show, he's going to want lunch. You have to figure $30 for the two of you to eat. Add that to the $15 you paid to get in and the $5 for him, you're 50 clams down before you ever spend a dime on gear.

It's a very nice, prestigious venue. But there are negatives associated with it, for both vendors and patrons. I forgot how much I was told it cost for a fax or internet hookup for vendors to take credit cards, but it was substantial. Very few vendors were accepting credit cards. For better or for worse, people expect to be able to use them. Plus, the main hallway is dark, and I was told there was also an additional cost for the Stadium staff to hook up auxiliary lighting.

Could not agree more. The show was AWSOME at the mall in Kingston. I do not understand the reason why the show was at Gillette, maybe someone can explain?

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by lurch

Could not agree more. The show was AWSOME at the mall in Kingston. I do not understand the reason why the show was at Gillette, maybe someone can explain?

I don't recall all of the particulars but the Kingston and Cordage locations became no longer available so Cordage not available spawned Kingston which when no longer availeble spawned Gillette. One of the advantages of Gillette is knowing you can get it on an annual basis because you can book it well in advance.

I agree with some of the issues mentioned, finding the best location for everyone is indeed very difficult.

But Kudos to the folks at MSBA for doing their darndest when the odds were stacked against them

[fishsmith]

first off msba is a great club, I'm not a member but have been to most of their shows, and these guys/gals have always put their hearts and souls into the shows.

I didn't make the show this year because I wasn't thrilled with the venue last year and $15 is to much spend when you're going to spend anyway. The food prices at gillette are criminal.
imho Kingston Mall (bestbuy)was the best MSBA show i've been to.

[BigFish]

I can tell you first hand as I have been the show co-chair under Pat Paquette for the 3 years in Kingston and an ardent supporter of the show the past 2 years. The Kingston location did become unavailable unfortunately and Patrick, myself and many other club members turned over every rock, called about every hall, location, empty storefront such as the Bob's and Filenes locations in Kingston were and we could not find a suitable location to meet our needs in particular a large space and one we could make a permanent home for the MSBA Show! We continue to make improvements though it gets more difficult all the time! In regards to scheduling conflicts with the RISSA show....may I say with the exception of this year.....MSBA has had its show the same weekend in March going back at least 10 years and RISSA is only in its 4th year? MSBA has been having shows for a considerable time longer than the 10 years I speak of and we did move our show weekend back a week because of the conflict with the other show! All I can say is RISSA plopped themselves down close to the MSBA show.....what can ya do? So we moved it a week! We also have to take into consideration other similar shows in the area such as Worcester and Springfield to name only 2 of them. As far as food prices....what are the prices like at the Rissa show in the Civic Center?? No bargain I am sure but when you move into these larger venues......things change and MSBA has tried its best to keep the show intimate, all fishing and consumer friendly! The parking for instance we always try to make sure you don't have to pay for it! You would all be amazed at what goes on behind the scenes running these shows and the minute' details we have to attend to to make it a success! Unfortunately with the weather we had on Friday we had 11 vendors cancel at the last minute and there is not much you can do about that.....you carry on and try to make it the best show you can with what you have and I bet you Patrick was on the phone Friday night trying to fill those empty slots......talk about a tall task. I do hope folks enjoyed themslves and MSBA does listen to all the feedback both positive and negative and we strive to make the necessary improvemnts each year. The club is meeting this week to get the ball rolling early for next year so stay tuned and stay supportive......we work hard at MSBA to put on a great show for the fishing public!

[BigFish]

Just to reiterate.....Patrick, myself and others investigated over 65 locations before resting with Gillette......school gymnasiums are not large enough! We checked them all....name a place and I can tell you it was on our list!

[Pete_G]

Originally Posted by Mike P

It's a very nice, prestigious venue. But there are negatives associated with it, for both vendors and patrons. I forgot how much I was told it cost for a fax or internet hookup for vendors to take credit cards, but it was substantial. Very few vendors were accepting credit cards. For better or for worse, people expect to be able to use them. Plus, the main hallway is dark, and I was told there was also an additional cost for the Stadium staff to hook up auxiliary lighting.

Pretty much all retail shows like this operate the same way. Complete robbery and it's part of the reason dealers eventually get fed up and decide it's just not worth it. Costs are simply obscene. You have to have epic sales to cover all the costs associated with the weekend. This is partly a function of the scale and location of these shows; those who organize them (RISAA and MSBA) really have no control over it other then the choice of venue.

We didn't go to MSBA, but here's some utilities/set up numbers for RISAA. Right off the bat, you've got to cover your booth cost. Electricity is approx. $90 or more for the weekend. Internet access? Only option is a T1. For $500 the first day, $250 each additional. (For other vendors who read this, I've found I can generally catch Wi-Fi in some parts of the Convention Center floor). Telephone? $165 or more... No wonder vendors don't offer credit card. Between that and cc processing fees you're generally out 4% or more on every transaction.

[Pete_G]

If you're never wrestled heavy booth pieces and and bins of things like Andrus bucktails and Point Jude Tins up and down the stairs you probably haven't noticed what was wrong with Kingston.

Also, the power going on the fritz all weekend and frying our computer/cash register wasn't the greatest either. We were ringing up sales on a calculator we bought from the Radio Shack in the mall that weekend.

ANY show isn't easy though, no matter what the venue. I have complete respect for any vendors that attend and especially those who organize these shows and feel the wrath of vendors (and the public) when things don't go perfectly. There's a lot of hard work from everyone to make these events happen.