GOOD NEWS - SOS 2013 will be BIGGER!!

J

Jeff Shrader

Member
Posting this on behalf of Bill Combs and the OVMS board. They want to get the word out asap! Personally, I hope to be able to 'expand the empire' by at least 2 tables, but they are going to ration expansions - they want to accommodate as many people as they can who have been waiting for years to get a table.
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There is exciting news about the 2013 Show of Shows. Because there have been some inaccurate rumors and information floating out in the collecting world about this news, we wanted to give you the straight story from the office of the OVMS.

Before you start to panic, let me remind you that this information is about the 2013 SOS which is over a year away, not our next 2012 SOS which is just a few weeks away. There are no major changes for the 2012 show; same hall, same weekend and in conjunction with the National Gun Day Show. So set back, relax and enjoy the good news about 2013.

Here is the story. About the middle of last November the OVMS was informed that in 2013 the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center was moving both the SOS and the gun show off of our traditional date of the last weekend in February to the first weekend in February, three weeks deeper into winter weather, to accommodate events that the KFEC believed were bigger money makers for them and the Louisville area. We had no say in the matter, that was just the way it was going to be. Because the OVMS felt that the move was not in our members' best interest, and because we believed that a move to this bad date would likely become permanent, we began to explore other options, including (as a last resort only) moving the show to another city.

As everyone knows, the SOS has been sold out for many years with a long waiting list of those wanting tables. The society has been unable to add more tables to the show as it now exists due to the limits of the hall size. Naturally, we have long wanted to meet the needs of these loyal members who have been unavoidably shut out from participating at the SOS as table holders. We have also hoped for a date in March that would possibly put us in a little better time of the year, weather wise, and would get us off the car show weekend. With this criteria in mind, we approached the KFEC to see how we could work together to solve the problem of the bad early February date and, at the same time, get a bigger hall on a potentially warmer weekend.

What we were able to get was pretty grand! The 2013 SOS will be held on the first weekend in March. Not as far into warmer weather as we would have liked, but a lot better than early February. Plus, it is a weekend without major conflicts with other important shows. Best of all, we were able to move back into South Wing Hall A, our original hall from a few years back, which now opens on to the East Hall, a space as big as our Wilmington show, with room for almost 400 additional tables. This will make the SOS a 2000 table event! That's enough to cover the waiting list hopefuls and some expansion of exiting dealers who have wanted to add a table or two for a long time. As the East Hall opens fully on to Hall A there will be no feeling of being in the "Back Room." Even with all this additional space, however, it would not be surprising if the 2013 SOS is still a sell out.

However, no important gains are ever accomplished without a sacrifice. In our case, the price of expanding the Show of Shows, getting a better weekend, and remaining in the familiar and comfortable Louisville location was this: we will no longer be on the same weekend as the National Gun Day show. Because of KFEC scheduling, the National Gun Day Show was not able to move with us. We had hoped to work a deal that would have both our events on the same weekend as usual. We tried to find a date to which both shows could move. However, the Fairgrounds only had the one slot that met all of the needs of the SOS. To get this date we would have to move off our shared weekend with the gun show. Many long-time SOS attendees will remember that we have not always been on the same weekend as the gun show. Our first 4 SOS shows held in Louisville were not in conjunction with the gun show. The National Gun Day Show is a great event and we would have certainly preferred to continue sharing the venue with it, but for the SOS to grow, as our membership has repeatedly requested, the choice had to be made.

So welcome to an exciting new period of growth! The 2013 SOS will be the biggest ever and, with the additional table holders and their new-to-the-market militaria, hopefully the best ever. Keep watching the OVMS website at http://www.sosovms.com for news and additional information as it becomes available. Thanks to everyone for your loyal support of the SOS and the OVMS.

Bill Combs - OVMS President
 
Hey Jeff,
I think being on a different day than the NGD show will be good for the SOS, as we will not have the mass exodus on Friday night. As a person who drives neatly two thousand miles to attend, it was nice to hit the NGD show too, but to be honest, it is difficult to cover all of SOS, and I have not been able to more than a run through of NGD any of the times I have actually made it to their hall.
Best
Gus
 
I like visiting the gun show. I bought a few things there last year, but I think it also makes SOS a ghost town on Saturday even late morning. That's a shame for anyone who can't get there on Thursday or even Friday.

The March dates are also better. It makes it worth the wait!
 
Bill Combs offered some excellent news for next year's SOS:

As you may be aware, the OVMS recently took advantage of a major opportunity to move the Show of Shows to the first weekend in March, starting in 2013. Although this was originally done to avoid a forced move to the deep winter first weekend in February, it worked out to the Society's advantage by putting the show one week closer to better weather, theoretically. More importantly, it allowed us to increase the size of the show by an additional 400 tables! The only downside to this move had been that we would no longer be on the same weekend as the National Gun Day show. That has changed.

We have just received some very good news. The North Hall at the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center has become available and has been offered to The National Gun Day Show. We understand that our friend Ron Dickson has been able to secure this hall and will be able to continue holding his outstanding gun show along side the SOS in March, 2013.

This is a major victory for the collecting community. Between the expanded Show of Shows, the largest militaria collecting event in North America, and the National Gun Day Show, the biggest gun show east of the Mississippi, these two shows may well be the world's finest collecting venue. Militaria and gun collectors everywhere are the real winners here!

The officers and directors of the OVMS are very happy with this news. We had hoped that these two complementary shows, that have worked together so well for so long, could continue to share the same weekend. That is now, again, the case! We are very pleased that circumstances have worked out in such a positive way.
 
Yes this is the very best news we could hope for!!!
See youse guys in a few daze at da biggest and best show on da planet.
Jerry
 
Credit cards–historically the show has been a cash only proposition. But thanks to mobile card readers for your iPhone and iPad and reasonable service plans even I intend to start taking credit cards for the little bit that I sell. I do not think this will be a tidal wave but it certainly is going to exist in some corners. Seems like I will charge 3% and just go for it. Sounds pretty simple. This will be especially good for people who are “saving their cash” for the right moment.-- Don't worry lunch will still be free! Gus will try to get you to leave your coat so that he can go through the pockets looking for loose change when you are gone.
 
Hey, the credit card idea is a good one, maybe more people will leave their money in their coats, I think we will drive the model T to Kentucky this year.
 
joerookery said:
Credit cards–historically the show has been a cash only proposition. But thanks to mobile card readers for your iPhone and iPad and reasonable service plans even I intend to start taking credit cards for the little bit that I sell. I do not think this will be a tidal wave but it certainly is going to exist in some corners. Seems like I will charge 3% and just go for it. Sounds pretty simple. This will be especially good for people who are “saving their cash” for the right moment.-- Don't worry lunch will still be free! Gus will try to get you to leave your coat so that he can go through the pockets looking for loose change when you are gone.
Click to expand...

Joe--
Actually you should offer a "cash discount" instead of trying to charge the fee. There are different rules with the card issuers, and various laws (state and national) on how you can actually pass on the fees.

This site offers some explanation:
http://www.cardfellow.com/blog/charging-customers-a-credit-card-convenience-fee-at-check-out/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I actually see this as a potential issue and/or headache going forward as it becomes easier to accept credit cards at shows. The problem is compounded by the fact that a lot of part time dealers don't take the time to understand these rules. It is the same as someone who tries to add fees when selling and accepting PayPal. I sometimes point out that it is against the rules to charge the fees, and I've upset more than a few sellers over the years. I never understood why dealers/sellers don't just build it into the price and offer a discount, but obviously they want the price to seem attractive. As for the shows it will be interesting to see how these rules are enforced as it could be argued that OVMS will have to at least let sellers know the state rules on fees.

There is another issue in that PayPal doesn't allow Nazi items or guns as items that you can use the service for, so again another gray area/headache - especially if items turn out to be fake. I'd be curious what PayPal says when someone tries to file a claim.

The other issue that credit cards at a show like SOS is going to do is seriously affect those dealers who sell thousands of dollars worth of uniforms and helmets, and then try to settle up with the State of Kentucky with the taxes by paying $15 - as if claiming their sales were in the low hundreds of dollars.

But having another payment option should be good. Of course the final piece of this equation is whether wireless connectivity, which is obviously required to process a transaction will work in those halls. Generally I get decent mobile service but there is no Wi-Fi, so that could be something of a problem.

So I'm sure this will be interesting to see. I think I'll stick to accepting cash and pointing out that there is an ATM in the lobby! :-"
 
Thanks for the link Peter! It certainly is not worth the hassle for the 3%. I do not intend to break any rules or laws. However, I have been able to get 3G activity in the past. While I don't know about the New hall it was my intent to use an iPhone as well as connect my iPad. If I get on my Flickr site I can do searches for postcards far easier. What I would like to do is be able to show a customer what is available without having to sit down and page through books for hours. We lose a lot of business especially early in the show because people do not want to slow down for a long time to look at our books. So I will give up any idea of a surcharge and hope that there is some information About Internet access. We have always been able to send pictures out using the telephone so this is just an expansion on that concept.
 
Hey Joe,
You normally offer a discount to everybody but James, so it would be easy to tell a buyer that there is no discount when using the card.
Best
Gus
 
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