"Top 5 Things to Do at Salute are..." Topic

You were asked – TMP link

12% said "Have a good look round the traders"
10% said "Check out the traders you've never seen before"
8% said "Buy what's on my shopping list"
5% said "Play at least one participation game"
5% said "Meet fellow enthusiasts"

So it's mostly a shopping con? Just kidding, looks like the biggest answer is "no opinion".

So I guess the rest are too busy playing Games or organising at the event?

looks like the biggest answer is "no opinion".

Probably the ones who haven't been yet!

Most games at British cons are display or demonstration games. There are participation games, but they aren't the core of the event.

1. Get along to Peter Pig to see what is new.
2. Take part in the PP pirate ships game. About 45 minutes in length.
3. Buy some PP pirate ships.
4. Wander around a bit.
5. Arrive after 12pm to avoid the big rush. Do bring a bottle of drink, plus a couple of mars bars.

So absolutely nothing to do with your relationship with Peter Pig then…?

For US readers – there are very few gaming shops around nowadays, so if you want to see the soldiers in the fle..metal Conventions is really the only wy to get them if not buying on line.

Darn. My Scarlett O'hara disguise has failed. Should have tried pimpernel instead?

Number 1 thing to do at Salute…

Bring a very large mackerel or halibut, find the con organizers, and beat them soundly about their heads and shoulders until, in their groggy stupefied state, they promise to extend Salute to at least a Friday to Sunday format, as any sane and civilized group of people long ago should have.

….. and beat them soundly about their heads and shoulders until,…….they promise to extend Salute to at least a Friday to Sunday format…..

Possibly extra costs would factor in then.

Just how expensive could a really big fish be, anyway?

But, really. Of course, a 3 day format would jack the costs thru the roof, and admission would have to go up, but the benefits would also be enormous. Many times I have salivated over their vendor list. Enough to make planning a trans-Atlantic sojourn a feasible notion, BUT for the simple reality that there is no way that anyone could effectively peruse HALF the vendors adequately in 9 flipping hours. WTH?!

The real sticking point is probably getting the vendors into the mind set that there is an advantage to being up and operating for 3 days instead of 1. It will avail no one anything if the con is extended to 3 days and half the vendors bail.

There is simply no way that I will ever be able to justify a full pond round trip flight for a 1 day con. As long as it is, Salute might just as well be held on Mars.

I can't imagine I am the only North American who is caught on the horns of this dilemma.

MMV. This is just mine.

Hey come March the exchange rate may be so good that our American friends will be able to afford a weekend trip for one day of Salute and do visit Peter Pig one of the best traders out there.

On a more serious note don't think of it as just Salute, we have plenty of other sites to see. Imperial War museum to name one. So make its family weekend or week, the exchange rate has never been so good for our American friends…

Hard to believe it but Americans and Brits have certain cultural (and financial) differences. There are now very few 2-day shows left in the UK because they aren't financially viable for the organisers, traders and attendees. Your costs are effectively doubled but the overall footfall isn't significantly increased. As someone pointed out above, shows in the UK are primarily about traders and eye-candy demonstration games. Most of the participation games now are set up by traders to entice us to buy their new stuff. And as someone else pointed out, there's a lot more to see and do on a trip to the UK than "just" a 1-day war games show (albeit one of the best in the world).

I'd come for a month long visit and visit all the vendors at leisure, but I'm sure my first attempt to right hand drive thru a roundabout would result in a bigger mess than Brexit.

"There are now very few 2-day shows left in the UK because they aren't financially viable for the organisers, traders and attendees. Your costs are effectively doubled but the overall footfall isn't significantly increased. As someone pointed out above, shows in the UK are primarily about traders and eye-candy demonstration games. Most of the participation games now are set up by traders to entice us to buy their new stuff."

Interesting observations; from what I've seen at wargaming conventions I attend in the states, it's just the opposite, it's mostly about gaming and shopping is secondary (check out the thread regarding the reasons people attend conventions; for the most part, the dealer hall is secondary).

When I first started attending the three major HMGS conventions, to me the opposite seemed true, there were loads of shoppers, specifically on Saturday, ie, day trippers. I remember my first Historicon, you could barely move in the dealer hall, now there are periods of time where you could shoot a cannon down the aisles and not hit anyone.

The grown of the internet/ECommerce plays into this, but again, it's interesting to see how things are different in both countries, thanks for sharing.

Bowman and Advocate and all. I think the data slightly argues against the 'its all about traders' and 'only trader demo games'. I've been the games organiser at Salute for a few years and around Salute/SLW for several years and this year is pretty typical;

We have 93 game stands, a few with more than one physical games table.
60 of those are participation games and if those at least half are clubs not trader run participations. Also trader games tend to lean towards the trend of small 2'x2' low figure count sckirmish, while clubs indulge in mega games.

And at Salute we have equal alternating rows of games and trade stands , plus trader edges so a big game presence. Can't speak for other shows but my sense is other shows are seeing a lower % of traders. I'm not being smart but business tend to treat Salute as their new games launch pad , there and eg Games Expo

While I'm here …over 50 of the games are firmly historical. And on sheer acreage, historical wins: not many trader demo sci-fi skirmish have tables over 12' long … (there are at least ten club games of that scale booked in).

Cheers
Phil