A couple of years ago I requested ideas from the list to improve the
attendance at our Clubs annual show. I was encouraged to "think out of
the box". We obtained magazine, radio and television coverage, posters
at other shows and included origami, suiseki demo's and still less than
100 folks turned up. Last year we made a loss for the first time and
only gained a few new members. We tried everything that we could but
last years miserable performance made us very disheartened.

We started exhibiting at Southport Spring Flower Show where we were
guaranteed several thousand visitors but this was many miles away and
over three days. It needed a large commitment in travel and time and
didn't do the club any good other than getting us seen.

This led us to think again. A new event, called Woodfest Wales, started
by a local company specialising in Oak framed buildings became very
successful last year. They had 15,000 visitors over two days. They
achieved this by appealing to anyone with an interest in wood crafts.
Displays included chain saw carving, speed tree climbing, pole lathe
demonstrations and all sorts of related timber arts and crafts. This
year the event is on over school half-term for three days. They are
anticipating 20,000 visitors. I asked if we could display and they were
delighted, offering us a reasonable display space in a marquee for free.
Even better is that this event is in my home town.

We've already sorted out two bonsai traders to accompany our display, so
we really hope to generate some interest. We are gong to have a display
of our very best trees and information about the club in the form of
posters and fliers.

If anyone has suggestions that might further enhance our efforts, I'd be
glad to hear them.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
North Wales UK


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Hi Kevin:
How about doing a few demonstrations from nursery stock several times a
day? Put up several posters with times for the demos.

Carl L. Rosner - near Atlantic City zone 6/7

http://bmee.net/rosner

http://www.jamesbaird.com/cgi-bin/Ja...d=00000068 48
http://www.jamesbaird.com/cgi-bin/Ja...d=00000068 48

kevin bailey wrote:

A couple of years ago I requested ideas from the list to improve the
attendance at our Clubs annual show. I was encouraged to "think out of
the box". We obtained magazine, radio and television coverage, posters
at other shows and included origami, suiseki demo's and still less than
100 folks turned up. Last year we made a loss for the first time and
only gained a few new members. We tried everything that we could but
last years miserable performance made us very disheartened.

We started exhibiting at Southport Spring Flower Show where we were
guaranteed several thousand visitors but this was many miles away and
over three days. It needed a large commitment in travel and time and
didn't do the club any good other than getting us seen.

This led us to think again. A new event, called Woodfest Wales, started
by a local company specialising in Oak framed buildings became very
successful last year. They had 15,000 visitors over two days. They
achieved this by appealing to anyone with an interest in wood crafts.
Displays included chain saw carving, speed tree climbing, pole lathe
demonstrations and all sorts of related timber arts and crafts. This
year the event is on over school half-term for three days. They are
anticipating 20,000 visitors. I asked if we could display and they were
delighted, offering us a reasonable display space in a marquee for free.
Even better is that this event is in my home town.

We've already sorted out two bonsai traders to accompany our display, so
we really hope to generate some interest. We are gong to have a display
of our very best trees and information about the club in the form of
posters and fliers.

If anyone has suggestions that might further enhance our efforts, I'd be
glad to hear them.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
North Wales UK


---





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At 23.20 25/02/2004 +0000, kevin bailey wrote:
A couple of years ago I requested ideas from the list to improve the
attendance at our Clubs annual show.

SNIP

We've already sorted out two bonsai traders to accompany our display, so
we really hope to generate some interest. We are gong to have a display
of our very best trees and information about the club in the form of
posters and fliers.

If anyone has suggestions that might further enhance our efforts, I'd be
glad to hear them.

Kevin ,

surely someone will suggest to do demos on bonsai styling during the exhibit .
I suggest something different ideas about it : from two years in our annual
meeting
and exhibit we do a discussion called " Looking closely at bonsai" where we
open
a debate with our guests and members about some bonsai showed in the
exhibit and
preparing general questions previously , questions who can surely stimulate
the interest
of people even non bonsai enthusiasts . If you want ,I can send you the
questions we had
last September . Another way is to do slides show on bonsai with comments
for people
on Japanese or Chinese trees masters .
Hope this helps ,

marco

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kevin bailey wrote:

A couple of years ago I requested ideas from the list to improve the
attendance at our Clubs annual show.

snip

A new event, called Woodfest Wales, started
by a local company specialising in Oak framed buildings became very
successful last year. They had 15,000 visitors over two days. They
achieved this by appealing to anyone with an interest in wood crafts.
Displays included chain saw carving, speed tree climbing, pole lathe
demonstrations and all sorts of related timber arts and crafts. This
year the event is on over school half-term for three days. They are
anticipating 20,000 visitors. I asked if we could display and they were
delighted, offering us a reasonable display space in a marquee for free.
Even better is that this event is in my home town.

We've already sorted out two bonsai traders to accompany our display, so
we really hope to generate some interest. We are gong to have a display
of our very best trees and information about the club in the form of
posters and fliers.

If anyone has suggestions that might further enhance our efforts, I'd be
glad to hear them.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
North Wales UK


Kevin:
I am glad to hear you are doing something like this. I feel it is important to
expose people to bonsai in a way they hadn't expected. Having a display and some
demos at a tree-related fair is an excellent way to do this. It puts bonsai in a
context.

Later this year I'm going to be helping our local arts society organize an "art in
nature" fair in a local park. Hopefully it will include works by artists such as
nature photographers, landscape painters, etc. A centerpiece will be a bonsai
exhibit, perhaps suiseki also. I hope we'll have some demos and talks.

Best wishes on your efforts.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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kevin bailey wrote:

A couple of years ago I requested ideas from the list to improve the
attendance at our Clubs annual show.

snip

A new event, called Woodfest Wales, started
by a local company specialising in Oak framed buildings became very
successful last year. They had 15,000 visitors over two days. They
achieved this by appealing to anyone with an interest in wood crafts.
Displays included chain saw carving, speed tree climbing, pole lathe
demonstrations and all sorts of related timber arts and crafts. This
year the event is on over school half-term for three days. They are
anticipating 20,000 visitors. I asked if we could display and they were
delighted, offering us a reasonable display space in a marquee for free.
Even better is that this event is in my home town.

We've already sorted out two bonsai traders to accompany our display, so
we really hope to generate some interest. We are gong to have a display
of our very best trees and information about the club in the form of
posters and fliers.

If anyone has suggestions that might further enhance our efforts, I'd be
glad to hear them.

Cheers

Kev Bailey
North Wales UK


Kevin:
I am glad to hear you are doing something like this. I feel it is important to
expose people to bonsai in a way they hadn't expected. Having a display and some
demos at a tree-related fair is an excellent way to do this. It puts bonsai in a
context.

Later this year I'm going to be helping our local arts society organize an "art in
nature" fair in a local park. Hopefully it will include works by artists such as
nature photographers, landscape painters, etc. A centerpiece will be a bonsai
exhibit, perhaps suiseki also. I hope we'll have some demos and talks.

Best wishes on your efforts.

Craig Cowing
NY
Zone 5b/6a Sunset 37

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Hi Kev.

In regard to enhancing a public bonsai exhibit:

I know you won't forget to display a few regionally-collected suiseki. Some folks will stop to say, "What's that?" Welsh landscape & rockeries-- especially the wind-blown coast-- captures nature's fury well. I'm attracted and have collected stones, ther
e. In Wales, I could imagine stones are collected with a "mine entrance," and I've seen an expensive Japanese suiseki with an apparent cave entrance dedicated to a mine accident-- complete with documentation. FWIW, I think that is rare. The suiseki was
offered at the extraordinary shop Kagedo in Seatttle.

IBC members visiting an exhibit at the North Carolina Arboretum noted that the most popular activity arising from the exhibit was selecting a "People's Favorite" chosen by visitors-- that could get mildly interested onlookers in paying more attention.

How about offering roundtrip airfare to the next Kokufuten in a raffle... ...JUST KIDDING.... A more modest gift, however, on tickets that include contact info' might give you a list of potential members. Ask on the raffle ticket to check-off if they
'd like notice of your next meeting & see if the browsers are truly interested before contacting those that are. Don't make the gift too generous or too generic; rather, choose something a person who would pursue bonsai might value. How about a generous
bag of your mixed bonsai soil & the offer of a session to transform a nusery plant. The bag of soil could be used for several plantings & recognized as valuable if equated to the sandwich bags of bonsai soil commonly available at retail outlets, but it s
hould not be too expensive for a soil mixer to prepare.

Focus on the beauty of bonsai rather than a pseudo-Asian setting. Potential enthusiasts with horticultural interest will be excited by a sparce, meticulously maintained exhibit that provides plain background for the bonsai. I agree with your focus on d
isplay of your best bonsai rather than squeezing every member's pet project into a public display. If you can express the season with your bonsai exhibit (including companion plants et al. but avoiding props unrelated to each bonsai scene), it will draw
the eye of potential members.

Express humility regarding club members' skill and encourage conversation. Reinforce to exhibit browsers that club members are collegial students of bonsai sharing their enthusiasm and resources to the benefit of other club members & to visitors of exhib
its. The biggest turn-off I've seen in a recent exhibit was its billing as "arguably the best annual bonsai exhibit in the United States." The exhibit had great bonsai, but the display scenes were often poorly executed. It was painful to read further, "
this exhibit consistently sets and raises the national standard for quality bonsai display." Whether they assess correctly or not, some visitors will not see every bonsai as a masterpiece nor every display a well composed scene. Your humility will encour
age even the most jaded visitor to empathize with the club's effort.

Best wishes,
Chris... C. Cochrane, , Richmond VA USA

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Hi Kev.

In regard to enhancing a public bonsai exhibit:

I know you won't forget to display a few regionally-collected suiseki. Some folks will stop to say, "What's that?" Welsh landscape & rockeries-- especially the wind-blown coast-- captures nature's fury well. I'm attracted and have collected stones, ther
e. In Wales, I could imagine stones are collected with a "mine entrance," and I've seen an expensive Japanese suiseki with an apparent cave entrance dedicated to a mine accident-- complete with documentation. FWIW, I think that is rare. The suiseki was
offered at the extraordinary shop Kagedo in Seatttle.

IBC members visiting an exhibit at the North Carolina Arboretum noted that the most popular activity arising from the exhibit was selecting a "People's Favorite" chosen by visitors-- that could get mildly interested onlookers in paying more attention.

How about offering roundtrip airfare to the next Kokufuten in a raffle... ...JUST KIDDING.... A more modest gift, however, on tickets that include contact info' might give you a list of potential members. Ask on the raffle ticket to check-off if they
'd like notice of your next meeting & see if the browsers are truly interested before contacting those that are. Don't make the gift too generous or too generic; rather, choose something a person who would pursue bonsai might value. How about a generous
bag of your mixed bonsai soil & the offer of a session to transform a nusery plant. The bag of soil could be used for several plantings & recognized as valuable if equated to the sandwich bags of bonsai soil commonly available at retail outlets, but it s
hould not be too expensive for a soil mixer to prepare.

Focus on the beauty of bonsai rather than a pseudo-Asian setting. Potential enthusiasts with horticultural interest will be excited by a sparce, meticulously maintained exhibit that provides plain background for the bonsai. I agree with your focus on d
isplay of your best bonsai rather than squeezing every member's pet project into a public display. If you can express the season with your bonsai exhibit (including companion plants et al. but avoiding props unrelated to each bonsai scene), it will draw
the eye of potential members.

Express humility regarding club members' skill and encourage conversation. Reinforce to exhibit browsers that club members are collegial students of bonsai sharing their enthusiasm and resources to the benefit of other club members & to visitors of exhib
its. The biggest turn-off I've seen in a recent exhibit was its billing as "arguably the best annual bonsai exhibit in the United States." The exhibit had great bonsai, but the display scenes were often poorly executed. It was painful to read further, "
this exhibit consistently sets and raises the national standard for quality bonsai display." Whether they assess correctly or not, some visitors will not see every bonsai as a masterpiece nor every display a well composed scene. Your humility will encour
age even the most jaded visitor to empathize with the club's effort.

Best wishes,
Chris... C. Cochrane, , Richmond VA USA

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Ken Rutledge++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++

Hi Kev.

In regard to enhancing a public bonsai exhibit:

I know you won't forget to display a few regionally-collected suiseki. Some folks will stop to say, "What's that?" Welsh landscape & rockeries-- especially the wind-blown coast-- captures nature's fury well. I'm attracted and have collected stones, ther
e. In Wales, I could imagine stones are collected with a "mine entrance," and I've seen an expensive Japanese suiseki with an apparent cave entrance dedicated to a mine accident-- complete with documentation. FWIW, I think that is rare. The suiseki was
offered at the extraordinary shop Kagedo in Seatttle.

IBC members visiting an exhibit at the North Carolina Arboretum noted that the most popular activity arising from the exhibit was selecting a "People's Favorite" chosen by visitors-- that could get mildly interested onlookers in paying more attention.

How about offering roundtrip airfare to the next Kokufuten in a raffle... ...JUST KIDDING.... A more modest gift, however, on tickets that include contact info' might give you a list of potential members. Ask on the raffle ticket to check-off if they
'd like notice of your next meeting & see if the browsers are truly interested before contacting those that are. Don't make the gift too generous or too generic; rather, choose something a person who would pursue bonsai might value. How about a generous
bag of your mixed bonsai soil & the offer of a session to transform a nusery plant. The bag of soil could be used for several plantings & recognized as valuable if equated to the sandwich bags of bonsai soil commonly available at retail outlets, but it s
hould not be too expensive for a soil mixer to prepare.

Focus on the beauty of bonsai rather than a pseudo-Asian setting. Potential enthusiasts with horticultural interest will be excited by a sparce, meticulously maintained exhibit that provides plain background for the bonsai. I agree with your focus on d
isplay of your best bonsai rather than squeezing every member's pet project into a public display. If you can express the season with your bonsai exhibit (including companion plants et al. but avoiding props unrelated to each bonsai scene), it will draw
the eye of potential members.

Express humility regarding club members' skill and encourage conversation. Reinforce to exhibit browsers that club members are collegial students of bonsai sharing their enthusiasm and resources to the benefit of other club members & to visitors of exhib
its. The biggest turn-off I've seen in a recent exhibit was its billing as "arguably the best annual bonsai exhibit in the United States." The exhibit had great bonsai, but the display scenes were often poorly executed. It was painful to read further, "
this exhibit consistently sets and raises the national standard for quality bonsai display." Whether they assess correctly or not, some visitors will not see every bonsai as a masterpiece nor every display a well composed scene. Your humility will encour
age even the most jaded visitor to empathize with the club's effort.

Best wishes,
Chris... C. Cochrane, , Richmond VA USA

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What a very good -- excellent, even -- idea. I'll suggest it for our next show.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL



You could also get a master gardener (or someone like me) to sit at a table and give plant care advice- not necessarily bonsai care advice, just plant care advice. That would attract people who like plants but may never have considered bonsai.

Nina


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What a very good -- excellent, even -- idea. I'll suggest it for our next show.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL



You could also get a master gardener (or someone like me) to sit at a table and give plant care advice- not necessarily bonsai care advice, just plant care advice. That would attract people who like plants but may never have considered bonsai.

Nina


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Kevin,
Unfortunately, you an only do so much, if Joe Public does not want to go
they won't. I am going to Swindon Satuday weather permitting, and I am
looking forward to it, but I doubt there will be any but bonsai growers
there. We do the Salisbury Garden Show in July and although there are a lot
of visitors it does not generate a great deal of interest for long,
sometimes a new member if we are lucky.
Geoff.



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Kevin,
Unfortunately, you an only do so much, if Joe Public does not want to go
they won't. I am going to Swindon Satuday weather permitting, and I am
looking forward to it, but I doubt there will be any but bonsai growers
there. We do the Salisbury Garden Show in July and although there are a lot
of visitors it does not generate a great deal of interest for long,
sometimes a new member if we are lucky.
Geoff.



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Cheers

Kev Bailey
Vale Of Clwyd, North Wales

Yes Jim, there were again some excellent ideas thrown up. I feel that
this one could now be a much greater success. I'll report back in due
course.

Thank you Marco, Chris, Craig, Carl and Nina.

Kev Bailey
North Wales UK


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Cheers

Kev Bailey
Vale Of Clwyd, North Wales

Yes Jim, there were again some excellent ideas thrown up. I feel that
this one could now be a much greater success. I'll report back in due
course.

Thank you Marco, Chris, Craig, Carl and Nina.

Kev Bailey
North Wales UK


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In regard to enhancing a public bonsai exhibit:

I know you won't forget to display a few regionally-collected suiseki...

I liked all of Chris's ideas, particularly since they will suit people of different temperments. My problem with show'n'demo productions is that they attract macho, competitive extroverts more than shy contemplative introverts (I'm exaggerating, but you k
now what I mean). Not everyone wants to show a plant or use a chainsaw.

Every year the local Long Island bonsai nursery (Jui-San Bonsai) would have an open house with free food. Every newcomer would be given a [pretty lame] potensai; the owner of the nursery would look at newbie trees and give advice, restyle, or whatever the
newbie wanted him to do, while everyone else watched. People could wander around the nursery and look at the finished bonsai, the suiseki, and the stock for sale. It was a nice afternoon for participants at all levels and all temperaments. The only pro
blem was getting people who had never thought of doing bonsai to attend, and the free food and the free tree took care of that.

You could also get a master gardener (or someone like me) to sit at a table and give plant care advice- not necessarily bonsai care advice, just plant care advice. That would attract people who like plants but may never have considered bonsai.

Nina

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