Some activities to enliven coin shows
RogerB
Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
Here are a few ideas that could be used to help add interest and public attention to increasingly dreary coin shows. What are your ideas?
Authors' Table - Numismatic authors chat informally with anyone who comes by the table(s). no selling - just show the books & talk. (This was suggested for FUN and Central States. Both groups rejected the idea. That sounds like a very good reason to do this!)
Authentication & Valuation - Free, walk-up authentication and rough valuation for the public. Good way to sort out the junk counterfeits (all kinds) from real coins. Also saves dealer time.
Minting Technology - How coins were made. Include a small toggle press that visitors can use to strike their own medal. (Small fee for this.)
Coin & Medal Design and Sculpting - Old versus new technology. Live demonstrations and Q/A by prominent professional sculptors. Display samples and artist information.
All of these require a little planning and a lot of publicity via the usual means and via "social media" and related stuff. Expenses would be low since the only cost are a few nice signs and unused bourse space. To help the shows, this CANNOT be in some isolated cattle pen as at the Denver ANA last summer. 
Comments
Fresh merchandise. Stale, overpriced mistakes drive customers away.
RE: "Fresh merchandise. Stale, overpriced mistakes drive customers away."
OK. That covers the hot dogs and other food items....What about the meat of the show?
"Dunk the Author" Booth! Imagine the lines at the door, they would rival the Kennedy fiasco in Chicago.
Barndog -- Excellent, as long as the barrel is filled with beer!
It's worth a shot. Guest appearances of Laker Girls and Ram's cheerleaders has been tried around here to liven things up. But......That didn't seem to help out much. So, yea, I say Go for it. What have we got to lose?
I guess I am a true coin nerd - I go to shows for coins only. I only eat because I have to.
It would be nice if we (PCGS coin forum) had a table where we could all meet whenever we had a chance. That would be great.
I think #1 and especially #3 are good ideas.
I used to know a dealer who brought a "lady" with him. She...um...well..... there were spiffs to buy from him.
For YN's it's always fun to take some cent and nickel books, pop them all out, salt a bag of wheats and have them go at it.
For female YN's, setup an area with women only for an aura of comfort. I imagine as an young female, "crusty old men" might be intimidating. My wife suggested this.. to be fair I'm becoming a crusty old man myself haha.
Invite boy scouts and girl scout groups.
Buy a keg and setup the grill for everyone else post-show.
Rest of the ideas in OP are awesome.
Free TPG & including CAC service drawings during the last two days of the show.
My wife was at a trade show for the law enforcement community.
They had a demo, once per hour, where a volunteer would tased for $100.
Attracted huge crowds. It was the best trade show gimmick ever.
They could put a track around the tables and have all the dealers race around on their walkers or motorized scooters. Like the Geritol olympics
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
would they be able to ever get RogerB out of the dunk tank?
I like most of the ideas... as long as they are set up at the back of the venue (where no dealer wants to be anyway) so that the participants have to walk thru the bourse twice!
I remember a couple of years ago at the Charlotte NC show, that a booth was set up where you could pan for gold. It was a big hit with the kids and some adults, but nobody hit the mother lode.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
I remember, many years ago, this subject came up, perhaps in one of the numismatic weeklies. There were a few suggestions made similar to those given here .... except for one. Someone suggested that the show promoters place a grand piano on the bourse, with a classical pianist to set the mood. I thought the idea had merit, but after reading some of the suggestions here I would be afraid to even suggest such a thing.
I like the idea of author tables for sharing information, Roger. I would also like to see a sample press making commemorative coin show pieces to show how coins were made. Probably too much, but would be so informative.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Cornhole.
Some good ideas Roger. I know I'd be more interested if some of these ideas were executed. Here are some thoughts.
This is very popular for sci-fi and comic book conventions. At the sci-fi conventions, the actors typically sell photos that they sign. At the comic book conventions, typically you bring your own comics to get signed.
I would ask why not sell books? It seems like people may be much happier to buy a book and get it signed, than to not get a book.
This could be nice if Pawn Stars or a famous authenticator, like JA or HRH, was there. Get some famous people to give authentication and valuation and it could be popular.
This could be neat, especially if the dies were provided by well known sculptors, like Dan Carr or Ron Landis.
Being able to see Ron Landis do live die engraving is a treat. I'd also love to see how Dan does his digital sculpting.
You could also combine some of these by having Ron Landis do a hobo nickel of a Pawn Stars celeb providing authentication/valuation and then sell it at the show like the following:
_Authentication & Valuation - Free, walk-up authentication and rough valuation for the public. Good way to sort out the junk counterfeits (all kinds) from real coins. Also saves dealer time.___
I believe ANACS and ICG have both provided free grade impressions and commentary in the past at the winter FUN show.
Here's a warning parable for coin collectors...
Things like "Guest appearances of Laker Girls and Ram's cheerleaders has been tried around here to liven things up. But......That didn't seem to help out much," don't work because they have no content - just nice butt wiggling and then nothing.
Activities and demonstrations should be oriented toward answering questions of collectors and the general public. That approach, combined with media and social/electronic media exposure are more likely to be successful. Many times, people have questions they don't know how to ask , so a little prodding is necessary to begin the conversation.
Hopefully someone from one or more show sponsors will read members' comments and try to do something to change the dour, downward lurch we see today.
Mustard stain size contests!!!
Different categories.... length of stain, diameter of stain, and position of stain.
Seriously though a table for people to meet each other would be good and shoot anything for yn's is good in my book!!!
HAPPY COLLECTING
Grading contest! Would be run something like the ski racing challenge that they often have at ski resorts.
Might be fun....might be ignored. I'm not sure which.....
My suggestion is for any auction that is at a major show, serve beer and wine before an auction starts, hell even while it is running. You might see some record prices! As for shows, it's about the venue. Nothing adds to the dreariness like a dreary conference hall, even worse if it's an equally dreary area around the show.
Quite a few ideas above have merit, so I'll add this one. Try to have a show when there is another kind of "fun" show going in the same place, like maybe a home and garden show, an animal show or a surf show (in Orlando FUN I got quite a few people to check out the coin show just by answering questions, they were just curious. I wanted to go to the surf show, but I had to be a vendor for that one). Sometimes you get new blood by cross-pollination.
10-4,
My Instagram picturesErik
My registry sets
Full service Coin Bar with some big screen on coin related highlights? Double CoinUp Stirred but not Shaken?
Blackjack tables, roulette, craps and the like inter disbursed throughout the Bourse?
On second thought, put them right next to the grading services. A lot of gambling going on there already!
Educational activities are popular at other venues (and Roger's ideas are along those lines). At sporting venues there are activities such as fly casting training and dog training..... So activities that appeal to collectors interests would be an excellent draw.... grading lessons, counterfeit/alteration detection training... there are so many possibilities..... These would appeal to both young and old. Cheers, RickO
A Pit of Misery would be pretty cool. They could put it right in front of the PCGS submission pick up table
m
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
God I don't know why but nothing disgusts me more than seeing vintage US coins being defaced like this. Even if it's just a common coin with little to no value. Should be illegal imo.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Wooooha! Did someone just say it's officially "TACO™" Tuesday????
I'm not sure if the big shows already do this but why not arrange day and night excursions to areas of interest. Have participants sign up and pay in advance or at the show and then have a bus pick them up right at the show and take them to local places of interest and bring them back later. The FUN show could get a package deal on places like Epcot or Walt Disney. Take a group to a historic restaurant, rock climbing, hiking, the beach or a ball game. Arrange fun, family friendly activities so my wife and kids want to come with me. Make them easy, no hassles, and affordable. Take groups to a museum, a show, the mint, a brewery, a casino, whatever. Get a local charter bus service to help arrange it.
I asked my wife what it would take to make her WANT to come to a show. She said nothing about coins interests her
but if the show had other fun vacation stuff to do she would come just for the fun. I would have to believe any multi-day show in a larger city should have some interesting and fun social activities for large groups.