ghodges
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Posts posted by ghodges
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The idea of restricting access to the vendors in order to give IPMS members an advantage comes with the need to actually PHYSICALLY RESTRICT access.... After all, it does no good to try this idea and then not stop and check badges, tickets, or whatever "system" is used to make it work.
Who will do that? Local volunteers? Not only are the local show hosts already overtaxed for manpower, but this would entail adding a particularly onerous duty to their list of jobs to be filled for the show. How many of YOU would be willing to step in front of, or even grab an arm to STOP an attendee who's waltzing into the vendor entrance? How many want to play the "ID CHECK game" at the start of the hall or at the vendor room doors? Want to talk about the possibilities of creating a lot of BAD feelings among attendees if you get someone who likes to throw their weight around in those situations?
Or will we hire local Security Guards to at least be present to help and act as intimidators? Even if that worked like a charm you're still adding yet another expense to the cost of hosting a Nats. And what for? To give some people a one or one and 1/2 day head start at the vendors, who DON'T WANT any restrictions to start with?
Restrictions are a bad idea.
We need to instead investigate the idea of raising the costs of NON-IPMS MEMBERS to attend the show. Welcome them, but don't give them such a price break. Make it worth their while to join IPMSUSA, even if only for that year as compared to shopping and looking at models for 2-3 days. And perhaps we could even add a "PREMIUM CHARGE" to the general entry fees for the first 2 days, Wednesday and Thursday and make them a pay a bit more for that early access. AND DON'T BE APOLOGETIC about it! It's OUR convention for OUR members. BUT, after they pay more for their access, don't try to control where they go and what they see or do.
Gil
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PHIL: After ALL of the hoopla on the room reservation failures, I stand in wonder at your statement above about Madison having added THREE MORE OUTLYING HOTELS for attendees. I do so BECAUSE even TWO DAYS after your response to a private inquiry above there has been NO ANNOUNCEMENT on THIS DF, or on the MAIN IPMSUSA PAGE.
Here's a link to which IF you SCROLL DOWN (and pretty FAR down too!) you'll find the Madison team update on 2/2.... which you WON'T read on their page unless you click the "DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION" in small letters below the MISSION BRIEF 2/2 update banner on their main page.... and is not even part of their HOTEL info page (still dated 12/15) if you click on that on their main page.
It also includes updated info on what to expect for anyone interested in trying to book at the Embassy Suites when that opens up....
I know the Madison staff is a bit miffed.... but I'd STILL think that after the egg on their face about hotels that IF they'd booked 3 more hotels (and evidently they have) they'd have been VERY upfront and got it posted front and center on their home page AND on the 2024 Nats Topic here. And as President, shouldn't IPMSUSA be making sure that info is front and center and easy to find on the main IPMSUSA page? And what about a Wild Sau email to all of us about it at the very least?
Nope.... all we get is a cryptic sentence from you.... requiring a search on everyone else's parts while these hotels can evidently be booked by interested people IF they were only aware of it.
Things go wrong..... mistakes are made.... by why are we compounding them instead of making efforts to avoid them going forward?
Although this info ought to be in the 2024 Nats topic area.... I'll leave that to you (as an officer) or someone on the Madison team (since it's THEIR topic) to get it posted there.... hopefully soon!
Gil
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Now THAT'S unusual! From the first angle it almost looked like a flying grocery cart! Was this designed as an attempt at personal transportation, or for a military use? Nice job!
Gil
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Shaping up quite nicely!
Gil
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I hope the people who always say "why don't we just" (for the Nats) read Mike's detailed reply above. It gives great info and a glimpse of the complexities involved in hosting the Nats, as well as explaining WHY things are done the way they are and have been done.
As well intentioned as most suggestions are... most do not have a clue....
Gil
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Interesting thought Michael.... and the IPMSUSA Nats is, in those terms of the growth of the contest and the vendors, a victim of its own success!
Having attended 32 Nats since 1978, and having seen it in just about every possible "setting" from convention centers, to hotels, to even a large motel, today's Nats makes those of 20-30-40yrs ago pale by comparison. I can remember when we ran out of vendor space the vendors would overflow into HOTEL ROOMS; not another hall! Now you routinely have major manufacturers like Eduard/Hasagawa/Revell that buy 30-50 tables just for their own purposes, let alone all of the lesser model makers and garage industry types, and the vendors alone take up 2-3 halls. I can recall when the model contest first broke the 1000 model barrier, then the 2000 count, and now 3000+ is not out of the norm.
The HUGE growth in both of those areas has meant we HAVE to find the larger convention centers and facilities, BUT at the same time we cannot afford the prices of those places in the BIG cities and thus have to target "2nd tier" cities to find something big enough and yet affordable. And that limits our choices in both places AND clubs.... as their ALSO needs to be a willing, capable host near enough to that facility!
How do you put limits on the vendors or the contest? To a degree, the vendors already DO have a limit; that being the capacity of whatever facility is being used. But do we cap it JUST to be able to afford and find slightly smaller facilities? You could also put limits on the contest simply by charging a fee per model after the first 1 or 2..... but do we want to do that? If you believe the few polls taken, viewing the models rates among the highest of the things enjoyed most by the attendees. It would seem to be a bad idea to give attendees less incentive to bring fewer models and everyone have less to view. And to cap it off..... MOST attendees rate the vendors and the models as the reasons they even decide to come..... being more important than winning in the contest, tours, the banquet, or seminars. Changing or limiting either of those areas might start a downward spiral in attendance and revenue.
And therein lies the problem with trying to make "change" at the Nats, especially seemingly JUST for the sake of change. Our Eboard really needs to be careful not to destroy the foundation of success the Nats stands on while trying to introduce new ideas and changes to its structure. It'll take a fine balancing act to be able to do both going forward!
Gil
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Travel points all well and taken..... Even IF the US ever invests in and builds a network of high-speed rail lines making travel easier here, it'll probably not be in OUR lifetime, at least not in the immediate future (5/10/20yrs).
So, IPMSUSA will have to continue its policy of making sure our Nats are within relatively easy driving distances (8-16hrs) of large population centers that can provide the attendance and revenue to sustain their success.
While I personally think having it in one central location could be made to work, THAT would be a distance problem for at least 1/2, if not 2/3rds of the country every year (which is, ironically, the SAME problem EACH year, just for different sectors each year).
The one location in the UK works, and they can sustain it year in and year out because their ENTIRE local population (those from the Continent and the US are just gravy!) is within 6hrs distance! Heck..... here in Florida it takes that to get to Pensacola or Miami from here in Jacksonville, and we're not even leaving the state!
As I said.... comparing our Nats and the UK's SMW is an apples to oranges comparison. We have to EACH approach our own attendees and our own membership to see what we need to do. We can certainly ask and poll non-members too, but only after FIRST making sure we're taking care of those who are actually paying to go to the Nats and those who're paying to be IPMSUSA members.
Gil
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I may be ahead of you for the moment... but give you one good week and you'll triple my finished model count! As for quality.... i know the angles to take pics from to hide the horrors! 😉
GIL
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There's individual topics for each genre in the second section of the DF as you scroll down the main page. You can post whatever you've built (and will build) in the appropriate area to share with others who build those same types. Post pictures of your models or ask questions if you need help on a technique or need to be pointed to a product you're looking for.
Gil
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The only other thing I can think of is that 54mm figures are 1/32 scale.... so you might go searching for 108mm (or thereabouts) figures and see if there's something there you can adapt.
One thing about WWI pilots was they were adapting the use of civilian clothes so you might find something with a heavy leather/winter coat that might pass, as long as an RAF uniform wasn't needed.
Gil
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Just finished this 1/48 Hasagawa A-7E kit, built as an "Iron Hand" SAM suppression A-7C with a load of Rockeye bombs and Shrike missiles. The A-7C was externally the same as the later A-7E, but still had the Pratt-Whitney A-7B engine. The paints used were Model Master and I did the panel lines in pencil. The markings came from the "Going Downtown" Wild Weasel IPMS Nats convention decal sheet.
There was an Aires resin cockpit and a Seamless Suckers intake in the box, so I used them in the build. Both fit with only minor modifications needed. I especially liked the film backing for the instrument panel, seen here sitting behind the PE main panel. Other than these additions, I closed up all the open avionics panels and built the model OOTB. The folded wings are a kit option.
And on to the finished pics!
This my 3rd build for this year, and I only jumped on it because I was waiting for some instructions for my O-47 to come in the mail. That's what will be up next!
Questions, critiques, and comments welcome, as always!
Gil
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Here's a link to 1/16 WWI pilot figures... though at first glance most appear to be German.... but perhaps from there you may find what you need.
Gil
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Welcome Scott! You sure sound just like most of us, including the "stash" we'll never finish off. Glad to have you here. Let us know how we can help you have FUN!
Gil
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Nice! Just glancing at the resin castings show you obviously had some molding challenges to overcome. And it's yet another esoteric air machine I had no idea existed.
Gil
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The words that immediately come to mind are "museum quality build"! It shows the complexities of the model which also in turn infers the degree of skills you posses to build it to that level. That's going to turn some heads wherever you put it down! Thanks for lettings us ride along and I look forward to the "glamour shots" when you complete its display.
Gil
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Excellent work and progress! That loop antenna really has a scale look to it. Did the metal gear "drop fit" in place of the kit gear, or did they need some modification?
Gil
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There is one other significant difference between the UK, Europe, and the US.... TRAINS!
The UK and Europe have extensive passenger train service EVERYWHERE.... from across a country, to across the continent, as well as even under the English Channel for those going to the UK from Europe and beyond. I'm betting the majority of Telford visitors drive and ride, and only a very few fly in. The train system makes it much easier to travel with the models as compared to flying.
We don't have that here in the US. Our passenger service is almost strictly local commuter, and that is limited to the northeast for the most part, and longer passenger service for vacationers which is MUCH less extensive and also generally more concentrated on the east coast. Also, passenger service is not much less expensive than flying here, making for even less incentive to ride than to fly. Add to that, our passenger service is notoriously s-l-o-w.... adding time to a long trip that many may not have. Express train service here in the US is pretty much a thing of the past.
That means here in the US if you have to travel more than 12-16hrs, you usually try to fly; and that raises the expenses of attending our Nats, and also greatly limits what you can take with you to the show. That's also why our shows that are in the eastern half of the country draw more people.... they're close enough for more people to drive to. When held in the middle of the US and on the west coast, they HAVE to be near the larger population centers so they can draw enough driving attendees to be profitable.
While it may be interesting to compare Telford and the IPMSUSA Nats.... you really cannot. It IS an apples to oranges comparison. Their abilities to bring more models and other items and set up club displays/booths has always made Telford more display oriented with a smaller contest. The travel distances in the US have always dampened the ability to do the same, so our models all got lumped into the "contest" area without many displays. BOTH have served each convention very well. Trying to make one more like the other isn't the answer going forward. Instead, EACH show would need to poll attendees to see what changes THEY desire and would support going forward.
Gil
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Actually, after reading your post more carefully.... I got its BIG BROTHER.....the very rare 1/8 Scale kit! It looks complete, but the wings and the engine have been partially built (and very well it seems).
I have NO plans to build it, but will probably see if one of our Jaxcon vendors wants it as it for a bargain price. The average price on Ebay is $1000+!!
Gil
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I think leaving the cowling and prop off and displayed beside it would go right along with the uncovered surfaces that show all of the interior rib detail. I think I would create a base for it all to sit on for that type of display as opposed to just sitting them beside it on a shelf of table surface.
Astoundingly, I was able to find THIS kit in a nearby estate and get it! I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it on the floor, as the guy generally built 1/72 a/c and tanks.... but there it was!
Gil
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Welcome! Glad to have you here with us. Please be sue to post these great looking builds down in the Gundam and Sci-Fi build topic areas further down the page so more people get to see them. Let us know how we can help you have more fun with modeling!
Gil
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Cameron remarked (to my post):
Correct me if I am wrong. It sounds like you do not want our maybe care about having a bigger organization. Are you worried that if we are more inclusive that they will become the main event and traditional plastic models becomes a side event?
Seeing what other events, even visiting quilt con as I have, to be successful will make us more successful. What I hear is that successful to you is Catering to the current membership and making them happy. Not worrying about growth.
Yes, you are reading me correctly...
I am NOT in favor of growth JUST for the sake of growth....
I am NOT in favor of courting paper model builders, wooden model builders, RC builders; over trying to attract PLASTIC model builders. Each of the others have their own societies and clubs. Do WE have the right to go to them and expect THEM to change to accept us? No.... and thus if they want to join IPMS, they have to be willing to accept IPMS as a PLASTIC model group that either limits or excludes their participation at some levels (like the Nats contest, NOT at LOCAL club meetings).
I AM in favor of catering FIRST to the current membership, who PAID US to DO SO. Go figure! That is what I meant by tempering any future changes to be sure we're not throwing away what works or destroying who we are; which is PLASTIC model builders. And as a paying member, I expect our Eboard to take care of MY needs ahead of "potential" members who may or may not join. RETAINING current members is a higher priority than "growing".
I AM in favor of growth, but in two specific ways, and I don't care what the eventual size ends up at:
1) Look at what we can do to KEEP members from dropping/lapsing their membership and get past members who didn't renew to look at us once more and join again. In other words, look at what changes and perks we can offer to "IPMS" members, current and past. Grow IPMSUSA by first keeping more of our members for longer time periods.
2) Target the vast majority of PLASTIC model builders everywhere who never joined IPMS and may not even know about us. We made need to make some changes for them and offer more "bang for the buck" to do so, but at least they're a group with a like interest, as opposed to train hobbyists or your quilters (and I doubt you'll find crocheters welcome to display at the quilting show, by the way!)
Doing both of the above has the potential to substantially grow IPMSUSA from its steady 4000+ membership to probably 5-6000 or more, and is much more realistic because it targets people familiar with us as well as those with the EXACT same interest.
If that sounds like I'm a bit less inclusive, or even inclusive ONLY to PLASTIC modelers for growth, then you ARE reading me correctly! I am NOT for "diversity" for the sake of being politically correct and do not feel the need to appeal to other types of model builders, as much as I might enjoy and even envy their skills.
Gil
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To begin, I want to extend my thanks to you Jeff AND your staff for your hard work, as well as your outstanding communications for your show that set you and your committee head and shoulders above past shows.
As one of the people who followed the rules and got screwed, I appreciate your clarification of what actually happened and why most of us had no honest shot of getting a room even if there were no glitches. As a past Nats host member (1997 Contest Chairman) I can also appreciate the feelings of frustration and even mortification when something you tried to make work blows up in your face, whether it was within your direct control or something unforeseen. I personally appreciate your answering the questions I posed in starting this topic.
Perhaps the lesson to be learned from this year, and last year, AND the years before is that the idea of creating a "room reservation date" is a bad one, or at least one that has since become unwieldy and unworkable. Why not just leave it up to the hotels involved to take reservations whenever they want, and as far in advance as their systems will let them? Why saddle future hosts with the extra job of trying to control who gets rooms? The real "reservation fight" isn't a brawl among all of our members, it's just generally among those of us who attend regularly and plan to go to as many as we can.... and leave THAT to the hotels and that group.
As for myself.... I'm hoping to score a room at the ES when they become available. And don't be surprised when many of those at the outlying hotels book the ES too, and then cancel their first reservations at the outlying hotels. You may run the risk of not meeting your room nights AT THOSE, or it may seem so til closer to the show when others may fill those cancelled rooms. In other words, your frustrations with room reservations probably aren't over yet....
On a side note.... I do hope that between now and the end of the convention, or at least the end of the year you'll reconsider quitting IPMS. I know we disagree on some issues going forward as to the overall direction IPMSUSA should take, but IPMSUSA needs clear thinking and dedicated people like you. We'd be a better Society with your input and membership. Cheers!
Gil
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Vision..... that is a good question to ponder for the future of IPMSUSA.
To begin, I completely disagree with the "2030 Vision" proposed my ex-Eboard member Rob Booth. I disagree with its basic premise of growing and expanding the Eboard and also with the idea of being ALL inclusive and trying to appeal to ALL modelers, instead of targeting PLASTIC modelers. I also vehemently dislike its ideas of Ethics Committees and "periodic training" to educate the membership as to what they should think according to IPMS and to be an IPMS member. And it's not just a problem of "philosophy".... creating more board positions, more committees, and more tasks for both creates more work and the need for more people in a volunteer Society that has a tough time finding enough qualified people now. The entire thing is designed and offered as if IPMSUSA is some sort of corporation with "employees" instead of paying members, vast resources, and a much larger budget than it has.
That said, I agree that there HAS to be a solid vision proposed going forward that while allowing for change, secures and preserves the things that have served IPMS well and that have been proven to work. It needs to be simple enough going forward so that when one Eboard eventually steps down the next can easily pick up the reins and continue that work. And it has to be a vision with LESS direct control of of our membership, not more.
Consult "outsiders"? Why? What other group? Anyone else we might look at has a singular advantage over IPMS: they all have a vested appeal to ONE group. NNL serves CAR modelers and doesn't worry about pleasing aircraft and armor builders. AMPS attracts armor builders and isn't concerned with including sci-fi builders. A show like Wonderfest is targeted at figure and sci-fi modelers and only include VERY limited categories for "others" out of politeness, and not in order to attract them to the show. IPMS, on the other hand, has to try to appeal to ALL PLASTIC model builders.... and THAT in and of itself is a big disadvantage because most modelers just aren't interested in genres they don't build themselves. THAT limits who we can appeal to, even within the plastic modeling community itself.
We do indeed need a vison going forward. But FIRST we need to decide HOW big we really want to be, and then exactly WHO we want to target to join us. That will hopefully tell us IF we need to change and HOW MUCH we need to change. Then we can seriously consider our options that give us the best chances to achieve those goals.
But I can say that having been a member of what has been a solid, successful hobby group like IPMSUSA for almost 50yrs, that we need to be very careful not to destroy WHO WE ARE in trying to be something we were never designed to be to begin with.... a club that welcomes every sort of non-plastic model builder like the 2030 Vision proposes.
Gil
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It's with a very heavy heart I announce that James Corley passed away on Monday afternoon in Pensacola. He suffered a severe stroke last Sunday and didn't recover. His wife Debbie is requesting some privacy at this time, no flowers be sent, and will announce when a memorial service may be held in that area.
For those of you who didn't have the privilege of personally knowing James, he was a very long time, very active IPMSUSA member. He served on past Eboards as Secretary, was RC-3 for many years, as well as helping run his local chapters. He was a long time Atlanta GA resident and in those years ran a very popular hobby shop and also was one of the principles who helped host the famed 2005 Nats there.
I know I'm going to miss his grin, as well as his posts here.
Gil
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More Resignations
in News and Announcements
Posted · Edited by ghodges
Keep in mind that if you're talking about "the first hour", or the "first day"; that's Wednesday.....
Who comes then? The people who HAVE to be there..... the vendors, the show host folks and IPMS officers, and die-hards like me who try to make every convention I can. In other words.... mostly ALL IPMS members. You wouldn't be restricting many people at all.
THURSDAY is really the only day you might have an impact with "restrictions" on a LOT of non-members who get there that day, and again, I think there's more problems with setting up and carrying out restrictions than any benefits it would provide.
I advise applying Ron Bell's idea of the KISS principle.... it's easier to charge non-members more than to try to control where and when they go somewhere once they arrive!
Gil