WW Shows 2013 - 2014

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  1. cestout
    cestout
    Joe,
    I and my faithful side kick will do the So Cal WW Show Nov 1,2. & 3. I demonstrate and answer questions and she sells. Is the setup the same as the last time I did it (2 years - no So Cal show last year)? I don't remember, how many tables? Do you know if OC Fairgrounds has WiFi?
  2. Capt Bruce
    Capt Bruce
    I'd like to host the March 2014 Atlanta Show again Joe. Please let me know if and when confirmed. Thanks

    Bruce Kinney
  3. chcraft
    chcraft
    I can do the Dallas Show in Mesquite in October. Just let me know when confirmed...

    Cecil Craft
  4. myshop1044
    myshop1044
    Joe, I learn so much from Bruce at the Atlanta show last year, I would like to sign up for the Houston show in March.
    it will be near my sons house in Katy and this will be great for me.
    Perry B.
  5. fwharris
    fwharris
    Put me down for Denver...
  6. Capt Bruce
    Capt Bruce
    Hey Perry,

    If you decide you might want to Tag Team here in Atlanta again I'd be happy to host you at our home to reduce your out of pocket expense. No house guest at the same time I promise. It sure was easier and more fun having a Co-Host for the three days. Good fortune either way if Houston works out for you.
  7. cestout
    cestout
    It is getting close to show time and I have not heard anything more?
  8. chcraft
    chcraft
    Just completed the Dallas Woodworking Show.

    Kudos to Joe, Connie and the staff in Dallas for the great kit they shipped to the show. It was waiting in the booth when I arrived Friday containing a demo machine tools and a very complete sample set of items for the show. It was well packed and easy to setup. The booth was on a corner and I originally setup the booth up in an 'L' shape with the tables along the back and side wall. As I was driving home on Friday it dawned on me that most of the visitors were congregating around the CW machine which was at the end of the table on the side wall, so Saturday morning I moved the table on the back wall to the open side of the booth and placed the CW machine on the end of that table where it was in the open and easily accessible to all who came by. I filled the back wall with a screen for my projector so I could show the software on a large screen for those who wanted to see how easy it was to use.

    Special thanks to Wayne Proctor and Jerry Barrera for stopping by on Friday and Sunday and adding their experience and helping with fielding questions and providing advice to the visitors.

    Now for the downside. Attendance seemed low from what I had seen in previous years when I was at the show with the North Texas CNC Uses Group. No sales but lots of lookers. Passed out a lot of business cards and price sheets with my contact information on it. Other vendors were also reporting slow sales based on conversations with several of them. The other issue was with power it seemed that breakers were tripping regularly shutting down equipment all around the show.

    All in all I enjoyed the show and especially talking to prospects and customers who stopped by to chat and ask questions. It is very gratifying to show someone how easy the system is to use and if price is an issue ask them to compare the price of the CW machine to the price of other machines especially when there are other CNC vendors at the show. At this show Legacy was there showing their Gantry machine.
  9. Capt Bruce
    Capt Bruce
    Hi Cecil,
    Thanks for a good report on your experience at the Dallas WWS manning the booth. Sorry to hear people were not buying in general. Were you able to hang the CW Banner and also use the screen you mentioned for demo of the software after you rearranged the tables? Were you using 2.0X Designer or an earlier version? I'll have to make an upgrade decision prior to March here in Atlanta. Thanks
  10. chcraft
    chcraft
    I did not have the Banner. One of the Show organizers said it was still a work in process. Without the Banner the screen was not an issue I had the whole back wall to work with. The screen that I have opens from the middle and expands horizontally rather than vertically. It allows me to adjust the width of the screen to about 60" across. Friday when I had the tables in the 'L' arrangement I sat the screen in the corner and used a smaller screen size. My projector also allows me to insert a USB drive and when not showing something from my computer to run a slide show unattended. I copied the CW and StartU logos and some images from the CW website and built a simple slideshow with the show price list, a slide introducing me and some images of the machine. I could then toggle between the laptop and the slide show.

    I have Designer 2.0 on my system but most of the demos were pretty basic, I was trying to get people interested and concentrated on a fairly simple project. Create a basic carve region, add a pattern or two from the pattern library and some text if that seemed to fit the questions and show how to upload to the memory card. Lots of questions on importing from photos and other sources. I brought along a couple of projects from my shop, one a carving of a photo of my grandson and another a 4' long piece of molding that I carved from a model that my son had done and had imported with the STL importer. I used those examples along with the samples provided by CW to answer those questions. With the fluctuating power issues I limited the machine demos to loading the material showing how automated the process was and getting the carving started.

    There were some questions about version 2.0 but those were mostly from existing users and we did some simple text manipulation and distortion of patterns but that was very minor. If you do not have 2.0 you can explain the new features and reference the CW site for additional information. I also explain that 2.0 has a number of behind the scenes improvements that improve performance and build a base so that the software can be extended with new features in the future.

    In my opinion, having spent the past 45 years in the software industry, it is those changes that improve the base processes in the software that will allow for new features and significant enhancements in the future. They are not readily visible now but I expect they will have a significant impact going forward. If you consider that Vectric's Aspire sells for $2000 and that the upgrade changes for the past couple releases have been around $400, the 2.0 upgrade is a steal.
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