Less Sword Shows?

[TETSUGENDO]

This has always been a relatively small community.  In the past all the "small" shows referenced, were in vast majority not sword shows, but gun and militaria shows which included a relatively small number of dealers in things Japanese.  Many legal issues have contributed to the ever ongoing extinction of these venues......as mentioned the internet is eroding that which remains.

 

-S-

[Blazeaglory]

We need more hype...

 

Do I remember someone saying they found a Masamune? Wink wink

[Valric]

Makes perfect sense to me. Old times will cling to what they know, but the industry is changing and failing to adapt will assuredly become ruinous. 

 

"I like sword shows, therefore they are good and should continue as they are" is not an argument by any kind of measure. This is a real product/market optimization question. And as things stand now, consolidating all US-based shows into one major show, six month apart from DTI, stands out as an excellent idea. And get away from airport hotels. 

 

You want to get the thirty-somethings who have disposable income into the hobby. This means the you go for trendy and more expensive conference centers, which are better located. You want to  follow a similar model as Art Basel, the upscale Museum + Gallery model. The grungy table layout, D&D convention in airport hotel style is just not going to kick it anymore. 

[raynor]

Being a mentioned 30 something a location does not have to be trendy to reel me in, I'd travel to the boonies or airport hotels if it means being able to look at good swords in hand. My main hurdle is schedule.

 

Not saying aiming for people who do care more about comfortable traveling and location is a bad idea at all, it certainly is not if a goal is to get new people off the street interested and not just the usual suspects together.

 

I think the main issue is availability. Popular culture can do the majority of advertising, but where do you go from there? Most people will stop after some googling or at best a trip or two to a museum if available. Maybe pickup a book.

 

I'm convinced anyone who sees a genuine Nihonto in hand will not easily forget it. For people who does not actively seek the hobby out, usually coming from other relatable backgrounds, I think that is the best hook.

 

Does not need more then a well lit plexiglass case with a sword and an informative text placed at a good location to captivate someone's attention, can be anything from museums, exhibitions, public buildings et cetera.

 

Getting information out there is easy, getting the best advertisers, the swords, out there is offcourse harder.

 

And I know I would think twice about putting an item like that in such a possibly vulnerable position.

 

I dont have any data, but I would be surprised if the Truman Masamune is not among the most buzzed about attractions at that Presidential library, for example.

[Blazeaglory]

I kinda agree about the airport hotel thing. Gives the impression of boredom, etc... Now it could be totally opposite once there but from the outside looking in, with so much stimulation and hype around todays events, the dreary brown meeting rooms/hall with thick curtains/table cloths is probably off putting to those 30 something (and under) crowd

 

I mean, young adults nowadays get more stimulation before lunch than our grandparents got during the first 90% of their lives. With so much to choose from in this "swipe right" society, we need something that grabs attention and holds it. For me and Im sure many of you, the Nihonto is all the stimulation we need but for the young newbie, he or she is going to need a serious tug on the ol' short and curlies if ya know what I mean!

 

I like the idea of consolidation into fewer but bigger shows,  maybe 3 per year. West coast, Mid America, East coast. We also need more hype and advertising, or individual themes built around certain aspects of Japanese society and Nihonto. Bring up myths and stories, battles, love triangles and use certain contemporary weapons to tell the story. Maybe raffle off some high value items to get some buzz. Bring on famous ppl who also share the love of Nihonto, maybe some cute woman with swords! Over play the "body cutting tests", have demonstrations, etc... Or maybe put the word out that some dip $hit is going to use a Kamakura blade for cutting mats or something. Hey, even bad press is good press

 

At least were talking about it. Somethings got to change/adapt otherwise its lights out

[lonely panet]

So Steven Siegel is booked hashtags

[TETSUGENDO]

More people are involved today than in the "good old days", all these ruminations....simply, "The Times They Are A Changin".  Rest assured the collecting of Nihonto, and related Japanese arts will survive, things may look different from what many had become accustomed to....relax and rise with the tide, or struggle and sink like a stone.  Things are what we make of them!

 

-S-

[Brian]

I suppose for maximum new feet and walk-ins, you would want to tag the shows onto another large militaria event. Such as one of the large antique gunshows.
But you also don't want too many novices and wannabee ninjas walking around pawing the merchandise. Have to find a middle ground.
But you would have a lot of new swords coming in.
Maybe something like the antique arms show that happens in Vegas around the time of the SHOT show. HUGE....and I think there are extra halls. You already have a captive audience of a few thousand people.
Worth thinking about, but there are downsides too.

[TETSUGENDO]

So back to the way things were but on a larger scale, makes sense. The "newbies" and "loonies" are part of the charm.  A little defensive merchandising should keep mishaps to a minimum....most of the best stuff is not displayed, or kept out of easy reach anyway.

 

-S-

[DRDave]

Here's a big gun show.  4,200 tables.  11 acres.  The trick is to convert all those gun collectors into sword collectors.

[Lingonberry]

I tried making a post on a large social media site frequented by people my age. I tried to dispel common myths I thought kept most interested people away from the hobby but I forgot one highly pervasive and damaging myth: "Japanese swords were crap. Made from bad steel, that's why they had to fold them so many times."

 

We all know that's only a half truth (iron sands were poor but tamahagane was pretty good) but that doesn't matter to those folks who happily spread the myth that Japanese arms were of poor quality and highly fragile. Trying to politely disagree with those folks is like arguing with a brick wall. They just don't care.

[Stephen]

DD

 

Youll find tables of swords there.

I'll rephrase that, good luck finding the sword tables.

[Pete Klein]

This is my take on it:

 

[TETSUGENDO]

"Buy the ticket, Take the ride".

 

-S-

[Pete Klein]

YUP!  And Bill Murray was right.  Once he gets under your skin he does tend to re-appear through you from time to time...

[TheGermanBastard]

Shows of just about any kind are nothing but an anachronism ... even strip shows! They have something in common: They are mainly attended by aging men.

 

In times where peopel prefer to get their daily things delivered home it just sounds crazy to travel to see some old stuff ... even acquiring stuff not to mention OLD stuff sounds so out of time when you pay with a virtual wallet and true friends are to be found on face book only ....

 

You won't bring back the VHS tape and you won't bring back shows. Also the internet will be succeeded by modern high tech stuff like fax machines or teletex ...

[Tom Darling]

Both Hamfish and Ken,

 

Nailed it!

 

 

Tom D.

[SAS]

Honolulu has (or had) 2 gun shows a year, spring and fall; there were always sword displays as well, with some for sale. Robert Benson usually had a display and polishing togidai set up.

[Ken-Hawaii]

Yup, we still have those gun shows, but the two sword club Nihonto exhibitions we held a few years ago brought people in droves! Too bad the new sword club board thinks it's too much trouble....