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Photos from Fort Worth 2019

martie6621

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2001
Messages
436
If the venue is locked in at the FW hall then so be it. I will still make the drive over from Dallas but I know some who won't. The show promotors would do well to make the hall a little more user friendly IMO. Arlington had the "lounge- like" area in front with lots of sitting space. They had tables in the small meeting rooms in back where show attendees could sit,eat, talk, etc. I for one go to a show and plan to stay the whole day. Legs and feet get tired ya know? Dealers have chairs and tables to take a break.

I bought lunch at FW and looked around for a table and chair to sit. There was "1" (one) table and One chair - period. Not one as in "occupied" - One as in "One only" there. Nice. The Amigos do shows all over the country. How could they not notice this? How much would it cost to rent a few tables and chairs for us old guys to eat and sit at? Not a lot I bet. Sorry but there are not a lot of Millenials coming to these shows but that's another story. If people are comfortable they stay longer and maybe buy from dealers there. Know what happens when you've been there for 2-3 hours and your legs are tired from walking on concrete for 3 hours? - You leave! The shows may be changing but the promoters need to get out of the 1990's and try to make the show experience better. Maybe they can't change the location but they can make the show itself better. I used to say that GuitArlington was THE show with the Dallas show #2. Not any more.
 

Mieko8

Member
Joined
May 24, 2010
Messages
91
If the venue is locked in at the FW hall then so be it. I will still make the drive over from Dallas but I know some who won't. The show promotors would do well to make the hall a little more user friendly IMO. Arlington had the "lounge- like" area in front with lots of sitting space. They had tables in the small meeting rooms in back where show attendees could sit,eat, talk, etc. I for one go to a show and plan to stay the whole day. Legs and feet get tired ya know? Dealers have chairs and tables to take a break.

I bought lunch at FW and looked around for a table and chair to sit. There was "1" (one) table and One chair - period. Not one as in "occupied" - One as in "One only" there. Nice. The Amigos do shows all over the country. How could they not notice this? How much would it cost to rent a few tables and chairs for us old guys to eat and sit at? Not a lot I bet. Sorry but there are not a lot of Millenials coming to these shows but that's another story. If people are comfortable they stay longer and maybe buy from dealers there. Know what happens when you've been there for 2-3 hours and your legs are tired from walking on concrete for 3 hours? - You leave! The shows may be changing but the promoters need to get out of the 1990's and try to make the show experience better. Maybe they can't change the location but they can make the show itself better. I used to say that GuitArlington was THE show with the Dallas show #2. Not any more.


I agree 100%. I ate my lunch in the entrance hall using a trash can as my table. I stood there and ate as fast as I could so that I could get back inside. Yup, nowhere to sit. No atmosphere to enjoy the day. I desperately miss Arlington and all that came with it. It’s just not the same.
 

david plues

Active member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Messages
897
following on from my last post - if the conference center is out why not the sheraton itself - there are a couple of large rooms upstairs plus the landing and actual lobby. just a thought. not as handy as the drive in loading bays which would be a blow to many.
 

4string

Active member
Joined
Apr 17, 2004
Messages
2,140
Link is active, at least it was about 30 seconds ago. If it's not, let me know and I'll take a look.

Walked past Tom's booth a couple of times but there was always a crowd. Took about 90 minutes to do an initial walk-through and take some photos this year. At Arlington it was typically 2 hours. Had Fuller's brought their usual inventory the show might have looked more like last year. They had a small booth at Dallas last spring too.

The "low energy" comment seems to have been reflected in other posts. Not a bad thing, just unexpected. Two dealers told me the same thing. A number of dealers who attended last year were not there this year and vice versa too. One Japanese dealer's booth had a good two dozen instruments they were preparing to ship. Chicago Music Exchange had at least that many too. Norm's had purchased at least 50 guitars and maybe half that number of amps when I left Saturday.
 

56Goldtop

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2001
Messages
24
Agree with the comments about the show. I had gone to every show in Arlington for almost 30 years and skipped last year's show in FTW. I decided to go this year and was pretty disappointed. Nice to see old dealers and friends but the selection of vintage gibsons and fenders and general "cool guitar" vibe was sorely lacking compared to the hey-day years in Arlington. I think the number of vintage dealers was down significantly as well. And being able to walk from the show hotel to the show in Arlington was great. The so-called "show hotel" was definitely a non-event. I know that nothing stays the same. Guess I'm getting old, reminiscing about the good-ole days!
 
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