ICCE Kansas City / Sept 28-30

Dawkind said:
Hit the ICCE Show today and it made me sad.....many fewer table holders and the 'crowd' was sparse.

At this rate it won't last much longer, too bad. :(
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I hope you are wrong about it not lasting much longer...
I went at noon and enjoyed it although I was disappointed that John Doyle's table was empty.
I checked out the TW-90 and had a nice chat with Travis.
I picked up a nice folder.
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Dawkind said:
Hit the ICCE Show today and it made me sad.....many fewer table holders and the 'crowd' was sparse.

At this rate it won't last much longer, too bad. :(
Click to expand...
It is sad and I don't have the answers. But if a show doesn't bring in a substantial number of buyers, the makers will stop coming. This is the first year I've missed it, due to another show I'm doing in two weeks.
 
Too bad to see it this way. I did it the first couple of years. First year was good but it seems to have gone downhill since then. If I want to just hang out with knifemakers and talk then I think hammer-ins are cheaper.
 
blade west next weekend i think is a major contributor to lower turnout. if you look at blade wests lineup, it's A LOT of guys who would normally be at ICCE, especially west coast makers. makes sense as its closer for em, and this will be larger audience, with a more international gathering of makers and collectors. e.g. more money flowing.

Also, its Kansas City folks... i know lots of people live in the area, and im not trying to bash the midwest, but getting people that live on the coasts, or from other countries to attend a show in KC is uphill fight. I mean, let's call a spade a spade here, they don't call em fly over states for no reason. Personally, i like the area, got family near too, but majority of people couldn't even put their finger on KC if shown a blank map. ICCE would have better survival odds if they picked a more well known, and traveled area for the show.
 
Was able to go for a couple hours this afternoon, which it was the first legit knife show I’ve attended. It was awesome to just meet and catch up with some of the makers. Everyone being so kind and willing to give advice reminded me of people back home in western KS. Very cool first experience for me at least!
 
Here is a thought I had. The venue has a awesome park area right across the street. On Saturday set up some forging demos and have a cutting competition, maybe bladesports. Make this an event not just a show. Cordinate the same weekend as the American Royal BBQ competition and advertise at that event the people doing that and attending have expendable cash. You already will have thousands of people in KC for that event from all over the country.

I got a message from a friend yesterday that told me thanks for posting the show on my Facebook page her and her boyfriend went to the show Saturday. He owns probably the biggest commercial knife sharpening and retail business in Kansas City and had no idea the show was happening. Social media is huge and I see no chatter on Instagram or Facebook about the show unless a maker post something.

Just my 2 cents from a part time knifemaking hack :confused:
 
This thread has had 47 responses, and over 2060 views. Given the negativity expressed , what impressions were the other 2000+
viewers left with...….?
 
Dawkind said:
At this rate it won't last much longer, too bad. :(
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On the one hand, this show was what it was... ok to mediocre. On the other hand, the Knifemakers' Guild as an entity has at its core the hosting of a knife show. They also have enough cash on hand to maintain a few years, even with mediocre performance. The ABS has greater interest and membership than ever, if we can get them to stick around and be committed to the show's success in the long term.

Todd Begg was voted to the Guild board of directors this year, the first of a likely wave of major changes. I hope that both makers and collectors will not give up on ICCE or the Guild, as they both hold a place in the world that deserves to be saved from decline. I believe that we are very close to the low point for both the show and the Guild, but that progress has begun, and in two to three years things will be substantially different.
 
For me it is a 3 hour drive and well worth it. I am too busy with work to make it to either of the Blade shows.
It makes a nice trip for the family also. I have them on board for 4 hours of looking at knives as long as they get to plan a couple restaurant stops.
Two years in a row people have been nice enough to give us VIP passes (thanks Durban Devil).
As someone fairly new to making knives it is great to see the level of fit and finish that some are achieving.
It's also great to get inspired (I'll definitely attempt a sword cane this year...)
 
The reason to have the ICCE in KC and be ABS&Guild-only was to make it a knife show, not another Blade show extravaganza or regional show and accessible to both left and right coasts...plus Texas :) One of the criticisms of the bigger shows is that people can't talk to makers or even buy knives, they are sold out too early, many times to flippers. One of the criticisms of regional shows, is that makers don't get to see and learn from the masters. The first ICCE show was amazing, everyone from Bose to Lisch to Hanson to Hibben were there with many others. Some only came once :( I think the KC show now suffers because the ABS, the Guild and primarily the makers don't support it because they are not serious about the non-monetary values of this type of show.

I too overheard that many makers did not come, not because it was in KC or the show wasn't good, but because there was another show in 2-weeks. Many of the top Guild and ABS makers are going to other shows but not their own society's show. Some of those makers that no longer come to the ICCE sold out in KC, so it can't be for the money. BladeWest is scheduled to directly compete with the Guild/ABS show. It's not venue, it's called competition...kill the other shows so only Blade stands tall...It's 21st century America, dominate your market at all cost :)

I went on Sunday, and when I was buying an ABS hat at the "office" one maker came and said "Are they holding this show next year, I've had the best show in years?" The lady didn't know.
 
Russ Andrews said:
This thread has had 47 responses, and over 2060 views. Given the negativity expressed , what impressions were the other 2000+
viewers left with...….?
Click to expand...

I’m not trying to be negative just my opinion and not being a Pessimist or Optimist, just realistic with what I felt and saw.

I’ve heard the glowing reports of all of the Makers and Collectors conversing and having a fine time but not so much on actually buying knives. I know a few have stated they purchased knives but certainly not too many.

I spoke at length with an ABS MS about what he had to sell to break even after it’s all said and done....and it was much more than just a simple monetary amount.

I guess it all boils down to the bottom line and just like anything else, sometimes ya win and sometimes things don’t go well.... There are always ‘Winners and Losers’ in the sense some sellout and others don’t.

I just didn’t see the crowd nor transactions on Friday...that’s all I’ve got to go by and I’ve been to all of the Shows on a Friday at High Noon.

“Love makes The World go ‘round but money greases the wheels...”
 
Richard338 said:
...
I went at noon and enjoyed it although I was disappointed that John Doyle's table was empty.
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Thanks for the mention! Had I been there, I'd have been more than happy to visit with you. The truth is, I've never been to the K.C. show.....ever. Year one, I requested an info packet and table application, but couldn't attend. I've been on their flyer and table holder list ever since. Not sure why.

I've been reluctant to attend due to accounts of slow sales from some of my close friends that DID go in years past. From a business perspective, a maker really can't afford to go just to chit-chat and lose money. I realize that's always a risk with a show but it needs to be a calculated one.

It seeme to me that it's difficult to get most makers to state publicly that they had a bad show, sales-wise. From a selling perspective, that could be taken as an indication of their abilities and business practice, whether its true or not.

Asking a maker at a show if he had/is having a good show could very possibly solicit a different answer than a private conversation between friends that asks did you sell knives/make money.
 
I don't know the answer to the ICCE. I have been going for 3 years now. Once just to see it and help out some friends who had tables and the other two times as a probationary member of the guild. I do know from my experience that attendance has dropped year over year during that time. It seemed that the folks that did attend the show this year were interested in buying. Several makers sold out or had their best show (there) in a while, although my sample size is relatively small. I'm in a position where making knives is not my livelihood, although it is nice to make sales at the show. One of the best things at this year's show was meeting a number of the folks from the forums, putting faces to screen names, and talking knives.
 
It's hard for a full-time maker with a family to support to go to a show just to support an organization. I do hope the show improves. I find the Arkansas show a lot better. It's very personal, lots of great makers to talk to, and most importantly a solid collector base supports it. I'm not sure of the answer for the ABS/Guild show...what about moving it to the Arkansas show?
 
I wasn't able to make it to the show personally because my day job got in the way at the last second, I was however able to talk my mother into sitting at my table for me and bringing my knives this way I wouldn't miss out on the exposure. From everything I heard it was really slow and there were only about 35-40 people a day the first two days who even came to my table( only stayed Friday and half of Saturday). That being said, man was this an awesome show for me. I went with 15 knives and sold 12. Might have sold out if my table was set up for the third day. I made 4x as much as I did at bladeshow. Blade was my first knife show ever. This was my second. So I'll definitely continue to go to this show. I don't know how other makers did but I hope they did really well. From what I was told it seemed like everyone who showed up to the show was looking to buy a knife, where at blade it was more of people walking around looking with no interest in buying(my experience at least). For me this is just a fun hobby so I would be willing to break even or even lose a little to help try and support the abs just so I can be a bit more active in the community :)
 
Paul, glad to hear you did so well. The work you had on the table was very, very good! I liked in particular the little blacksmith knives with the wraparound tangs. The guard work on the big knives was very good as well.
 
Jason Fry said:
Paul, glad to hear you did so well. The work you had on the table was very, very good! I liked in particular the little blacksmith knives with the wraparound tangs. The guard work on the big knives was very good as well.
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Thanks so much Jason! It really means a lot. Those are probably the most fun to make out of every knife!
My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to go and meet all the forum members who attend. But there's always next year and other shows I suppose.
 
Way to go, Paul! I'd be interested to hear how other makers like Veronique or Jean Louis did.
 
Ben Seward said:
Way to go, Paul! I'd be interested to hear how other makers like Veronique or Jean Louis did.
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I believe they were sold out on the first afternoon. Veronique's were marked sold. Stunning work. I didn't ask about Jean Louis for sale status, 'cause it would just hurt if it was for sale since I don't have that kind of money :) He had a take down knife that was getting some makers all excited.
 
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