We have been concerned for some time about two problems with both our shows and other shows we have attended in the North East of England and have been searching for a way we can do our bit to address them, the problems are as follows:
1) The tendency for visitors to come to a show with a predetermined shopping list, visit the necessary stalls, chat to their mates and perhaps view a display game or two – and then leave. In the worst case they may not attend a show at all if certain traders are not attending.
2) The need to attract new people to the hobby to replace existing enthusiasts as they either move on to new interests or who literally die out.
We have thought long and hard and have come up with a possible approach. On 9th July 2016 we will be staging a different type of show at the same venue as the recent Battleground show in Stockton on Tees (see attached leaflet for more details). The show will be different from any of the other 40 (yes 40) shows we have staged as "Muster On The Parade Ground 2016" will have at its core public participation wargames.
Although we are still working on the details the overall approach is our wargames will use the "Hammerhead" approach – every game being a public participation game with successful participants receiving a ticket that they can enter into a prize draw (a maximum of 5 tickets per person). The prize draw would be made towards the end of the day with the prize or prizes being a voucher exchangeable for products from traders at the show (or within a short period thereafter).
We very much hope that you be able to assist us with the show by being willing to stage participation wargames, each wargame to last say 20-30 minutes with participants having a game objective to achieve (or not depending on the dice roll!) – participants who complete the game receiving a ticket to enter into the prize draw.
We intend to provide table space for as many public participation games as we can attract covering as wide a range of periods and scales as possible. There is thus no limit placed by us upon clubs or groups regarding the number of wargames they wish to stage. As has always been our policy wargames tables will be provided free of charge.
We are currently writing an article setting out our philosophy on show organising which we hope to have published in one of the hobby magazines in the near future.
We very much hope that you will be able to assist but if you have any questions or concerns then please do not hesitate to e-mail us with them. If you can assist all we need at this point is an e-mail saying that you are willing to assist (and if you wish to stage more than one wargame), we do not need to know game details or table size requirements at this point in time.
As with our other shows there will be other attractions such as a traditional bring and buy stand, displays of model vehicles etc and we intend to attract as many displays by re-enactment groups we can find covering as many periods as possible.
We intend that there will be plenty for visitors to do and see and not just go shopping – although they will be able to do that too! More details can be found on our website – teesshows.co.uk
All proceeds from the show will be donated to the Royal British Legion.
We realise that our approach to this problem might not work but to do nothing is not an option – we have being promoting the hobby publically for the best part of 35 years so cannot stand aside now and we very much hope you will be able to assist us. Thank you in advance.
