My thoughts of Salute might be a bit different to yours – I'm member of the Warlords, so I was there working for at least a part of the time. I thought it might be interesting to say a few words on Salute from the other side. Bear in mind that this is just what I was involved in, and I'm not committee or anything, just a club member.
I'm going ignore the work that was done in the days, weeks, months and year leading up to Salute-Zero-Eight and just talk about what was done on the days of the show itself. Yes, I said days. We were up at ExCeL on the Friday to get the place laid out and to let in those traders who could make it on the day before the show.
Friday morning, 9am, arriving at ExCeL via the DLR. I stopped off at Canning Town to see where the replacement buses would be running from so that my sons could use them to the show on Saturday. Seemed straight forward enough, so on to ExCeL.
I wasn't the first into the hall, and there were already a couple of box vans there unloading tables – I think I counted six vehicles delivering tables in all! The space seemed even larger than last year, but it turned out that the inside wall was in the wrong place by a good 30 yards… so that was going to move in at some point during the day. Jokes were cracked about whether we could get an aircraft into the hall next year – until it was pointed out that the exterior wall could be removed and that it was quite possible – that's why they run defence fairs at ExCeL!
My first job, along with a couple of other guys, was to get the tables spaced out according to the plan – all the gangways and spacing had to be in line with the layout we had agreed; fire regs and health and safety, I guess. Oh, and making sure that the power was at the right tables, too. Made more interesting by the bloke from the table hire company who locked his keys in a van, which then sat in the middle of the hall for an hour or so while they got replacement keys from somewhere. The first trader appeared at about midday, I think, and just wanted to drop stuff under his tables; not a problem.
With all the tables positioned, I took a look round the hall – that wall had moved in now – and could see that we had a show on our hands. All the tables were laid out, the stage was in place, Warlords were starting to lay out our own stuff like the Lord of the Rings / Battle of Isen Fords game, the painting competition cases, the banners and suchlike. Time for a sandwich.
It was about 2pm by now, so it was on with the safety jacket and outside to traffic for the rest of the afternoon. Our first trader van turned up a few minutes past the hour; check them on the list, check that they had paid, direct them to their stall, with a runner to make sure they get there safely. ExCeL had told us to get vehicles into the hall and out again as quickly as possible, but that seemed less important on the Friday. Memo to self – bring gloves on Saturday, it's freezing!
The shutter doors came down at 5pm or so, and after a few minutes of tidying and ensuring that everything was secure, I headed off to the DLR about 5:30.
Saturday morning came round all too fast. The alarm went off at 4:30, I was on the tram to Ric's by 5:20, picked up my lift soon after 6:00 and arrived up at Docklands and ExCeL shortly before 7:00. Again, there was already some activity, but as I was on traffic again, I found my gloves and went outside. Shutters open, vehicles arriving, same job as Friday afternoon. The hall is freezing, with three sets of shutter doors open, but we have to close them at 9:00 so it should warm up after that.
Stood at the door, you see all sorts. Some traders are really cheerful, others not so cheeful. Amazingly, the trader with the front of his hire van stove in seemed pretty happy about it! ExCeL sucurity and traffic were more alert on Saturday, and we had to remind traders to be in, unload and out as quickly as possible; preferably before setting up their stalls as we had so many vehicles to get through. Shutters were supposed to be closed by 9:00; we got the last van out of the hall about five past, and closed it all down.
Half an hour of tidying – removing tables where games hadn't turned up (I think we had every trader), clearing pallet boards, helping traders find an extra table or some item they needed. Half nine was the security briefing, a cup of tea and a bacon buttie. Another few minutes of clearing and settling, and the show was open.
I was only on the first Saturday shift this year, so my story of the day stops about now. For other members, it went on for the rest of the show, and again after the show to help traders out, clear the tables, check through, count the takings, pack up the painting competition, the daleks, the RC tanks, the cloths, the…
And then Sunday, back at the church hall where we have our Monday club night, to unload everything we had taken back into the cupboards.
That's another Salute.
We are amateurs, volunteers. The show is our way of putting something back into the hobby, and I think we all enjoy it – we certainly enjoy it being over for another year. We're already considering games, the theme and suchlike for Salute-Zero-Nine on the club forums.
If you're anywhere near Dulwich Village, South London, you might like to come down to the club on a Monday evening – all the details are on our website salute.co.uk/mainframe.htm . So why not make contact, come along and have a cup of tea and a game.
Cheers,
Colin
