Just came back from the Baltimore show today.....

mintluster

and it sucked bad.
I got there at 10:00 AM and it was a ghost town.
Over HALF of the place was empty.
I spent $15 to park and 1.5 hours to get there and I was really disappointed.
I guess I know now to NEVER go to a show on the last day, but some dealers were telling me that some dealers left on Saturday after the show and others left on FRIDAY after the show!!!
We see advertisements of "1000" or "800" tables at the show but thats really only the first day.
What makes it worse is that I had my son with me and I was bragging to him about how big this show was gonna be.
In fairness it was bigger than a local community show, and I did pick a few things up for my son......

mintluster

Oh yea..the show hours were supposed to be 10 AM to 4 PM.......

Peaceman

I think you answered your own question.......

Tootawl

Some dealers packed up and left around noon on Saturday!

mintluster

<< <i>I think you answered your own question....... >>

Yeah, I will NEVER do this again. I had to work Friday and Saturday otherwise I would have went with my friend who went on Friday. Oh well, live and learn.......

ksteelheader

They set an attendance record on Saturday....

FatMan

It is a problem and gives the hobby a black eye. Experienced collectors know not to attend on Sunday but new collectors and folks who are thinking about collecting show up and are always disappointed.

ealandg

I think it is like this in most industries with trade shows. I used to go to Stationary/Gift trade shows and they were always empty by the last day. You're not supposed to close up early, but the traffic gets so light...

merz2

I learned that lesson about six years ago.

Shamika

"It is a problem and gives the hobby a black eye."

Yep. Many collectors can't take a Friday or a Saturday off. But who cares about the collector.