this was my first time at the “big” AAW event. I did go to the segmented symposium in StLouis in 2018. it was a much more specific show I am more of a segmented guy any way but not limited to that.
My experience was great I had an amazing time and talked to a lot of people. All the demos that I attended were amazing. I can only speak for what I saw. The people were kind as well. I have been to a lot of trade shows over the years, BIG YRADE SHOWS.. there are always those guys walking around with the I’m better than every one attitude I have even see some pretty good fights at trade shows. This was nothing like that at all I really enjoyed every thing.
Having said all of that I would like to put a few things out there that I heard over and over again. I talked to over 100 people while I was there And I heard many things over and over again.
1- The show is not what it use to be. It would bring in more money and so on. I can’t attest to that this is my first one so I have Nothing to gauge it by. Some said it changed when the economy crashed and never fully recovered some said it was because the members were getting older and there were not as many collectors because some had passed away. I took the class in grants through the AAW. They pretty much echoed this by saying in recent years they have seen a serious decline in people seeking grants..
A. Why does the AAW not hold an open panel discussion that brain storms new ideas to possibly help grow the AAW. What are clubs doing to grow memberships and so on
B. Why not give one of the raffle lathes to an AAW member that is serious about wood turning and is a 5 year or less member. Create an incentive for new members.
C. Cultivate the SoCal media presence of the AAW. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, a weekly short instructional video in the YouTube channel these can be submitted by clubs or individuals and attention can be diverted to the persons group or page that supplied the video. A weekly meet the turner. Shop tours and other related videos.
D. A pod cast. I watch a lot of pod casts don’t just bring in wood turners. Talk to all kinds of artists. Social media experts. Video and photography experts bring gallery owners on and talk to them. Pro wood turners, beginners, people changing the industry with new tools, methods, or materials. Talk to business owners even if they are not in the Woodturning world about how to grow a business. A good pod cast with a good verity of guests will make some money and draw a crowd. Imagine getting Mike Roe on there just to talk about work ethic. That could be an amazing opportunity for the AAW. All kinds of wood workers and artists the possibility’s are endless
2- this has little to do with the AAW or symposium but I was told by many that there are not a lot of places for wood turners to show there work seriously the number of serious gallery’s that deal in wood art can be counted on 1 hand.
A. Would it be possible for the AAW to do there own on line gallery like wood symphony. There is no actual gallery. Hire some one to curate it pay them with commission. Allow all wood artists to be able to show there work in various gallery’s and category’s with a commission going to the AAW.. again just a thought
3- i was told by probably 4 people that my prices were a bit high on the prices that I took with me and I would not be able to sell them at that price. I was also told by several people that if I didn’t change certain aspects of my work serious collectors probably would not be interested in purchasing my work. I also heard from no less than 10 people that people just didn’t understand what they were looking at and could not wrap there head around what they were seeing while looking at my work. I was also told by several people I should expect for my work to not be recognized for about 10 years.
A. I sell a high % of my pieces. And they ship around the world. My sphere series all sold long before any of them were ever finished for the asking price. I have never had a problem getting asking price. Some pieces I will admit I price high because I have an attachment to them. In those cases I don’t care if they sell or not if they do it’s cool. Am I being told this in an attempt to get me to lower my price to what they want to pay? Or are my prices really to high
B. Changing my work to fit collectors. Should I do that? I didn’t start doing this to appease people I did this for me. Of corse I would like to sell my work. Every thing I make is fore sale. On commissioned pieces I ask what’s your budget and I stay inside of it but over all even with that I will take a basic shape or object that the buyer is interested in and I do what I want with it. I tell people up front that I need a lot of freedom on my pieces. I am selling a lot of my work to people OUTSIDE of the Woodturning community. Doesn’t catering to a small group of people inside the community decrease the amount of NEW people I’m reaching. I don’t want to be limited to people just inside the community. I want to reach them all. I want my pieces to be right at home in the biggest art gallery’s that have never sold a single wood piece. I want it to help bring new people in and not just make happy what’s already here.
C. Should I tone down my work if woodworkers don’t understand will others? Does it matter ? Should it just be visually stunning? So no matter who you are your drawn to it because a lot of the work I have shown so far is just practice. I’m experimenting and planning. Developing new ideas and Techniques. I have things in the works that are going to confuse a lot of people but it’s going to take some time before I’m ready to show it.
D. The work won’t be recognized for about 10 years that kinda bothered me a bit. If that’s the case I should just drop my AAW membership and stick to what I’m doing because I’m doing pretty well on my own my social media accounts are growing pretty quick and the majority of people I interact with are normal people outside of the wood turning community. I’m not just going to Twittle my thumbs for 10 years I’m going to make my own way. So there is a question here are people in the AAW group hurting them selves with some of these ways of thinking. Should the goal not be to cultivate the industry instead of saying your going to have to take a back seat for 10 years. How many AMAZING turners have just walked away from groups like this just for that reason.
Every thing I written about is intended to be positive I’m already planning on going to next years event. I really enjoy this stuff I just wish I had more time to invest into it.
My experience was great I had an amazing time and talked to a lot of people. All the demos that I attended were amazing. I can only speak for what I saw. The people were kind as well. I have been to a lot of trade shows over the years, BIG YRADE SHOWS.. there are always those guys walking around with the I’m better than every one attitude I have even see some pretty good fights at trade shows. This was nothing like that at all I really enjoyed every thing.
Having said all of that I would like to put a few things out there that I heard over and over again. I talked to over 100 people while I was there And I heard many things over and over again.
1- The show is not what it use to be. It would bring in more money and so on. I can’t attest to that this is my first one so I have Nothing to gauge it by. Some said it changed when the economy crashed and never fully recovered some said it was because the members were getting older and there were not as many collectors because some had passed away. I took the class in grants through the AAW. They pretty much echoed this by saying in recent years they have seen a serious decline in people seeking grants..
A. Why does the AAW not hold an open panel discussion that brain storms new ideas to possibly help grow the AAW. What are clubs doing to grow memberships and so on
B. Why not give one of the raffle lathes to an AAW member that is serious about wood turning and is a 5 year or less member. Create an incentive for new members.
C. Cultivate the SoCal media presence of the AAW. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, a weekly short instructional video in the YouTube channel these can be submitted by clubs or individuals and attention can be diverted to the persons group or page that supplied the video. A weekly meet the turner. Shop tours and other related videos.
D. A pod cast. I watch a lot of pod casts don’t just bring in wood turners. Talk to all kinds of artists. Social media experts. Video and photography experts bring gallery owners on and talk to them. Pro wood turners, beginners, people changing the industry with new tools, methods, or materials. Talk to business owners even if they are not in the Woodturning world about how to grow a business. A good pod cast with a good verity of guests will make some money and draw a crowd. Imagine getting Mike Roe on there just to talk about work ethic. That could be an amazing opportunity for the AAW. All kinds of wood workers and artists the possibility’s are endless
2- this has little to do with the AAW or symposium but I was told by many that there are not a lot of places for wood turners to show there work seriously the number of serious gallery’s that deal in wood art can be counted on 1 hand.
A. Would it be possible for the AAW to do there own on line gallery like wood symphony. There is no actual gallery. Hire some one to curate it pay them with commission. Allow all wood artists to be able to show there work in various gallery’s and category’s with a commission going to the AAW.. again just a thought
3- i was told by probably 4 people that my prices were a bit high on the prices that I took with me and I would not be able to sell them at that price. I was also told by several people that if I didn’t change certain aspects of my work serious collectors probably would not be interested in purchasing my work. I also heard from no less than 10 people that people just didn’t understand what they were looking at and could not wrap there head around what they were seeing while looking at my work. I was also told by several people I should expect for my work to not be recognized for about 10 years.
A. I sell a high % of my pieces. And they ship around the world. My sphere series all sold long before any of them were ever finished for the asking price. I have never had a problem getting asking price. Some pieces I will admit I price high because I have an attachment to them. In those cases I don’t care if they sell or not if they do it’s cool. Am I being told this in an attempt to get me to lower my price to what they want to pay? Or are my prices really to high
B. Changing my work to fit collectors. Should I do that? I didn’t start doing this to appease people I did this for me. Of corse I would like to sell my work. Every thing I make is fore sale. On commissioned pieces I ask what’s your budget and I stay inside of it but over all even with that I will take a basic shape or object that the buyer is interested in and I do what I want with it. I tell people up front that I need a lot of freedom on my pieces. I am selling a lot of my work to people OUTSIDE of the Woodturning community. Doesn’t catering to a small group of people inside the community decrease the amount of NEW people I’m reaching. I don’t want to be limited to people just inside the community. I want to reach them all. I want my pieces to be right at home in the biggest art gallery’s that have never sold a single wood piece. I want it to help bring new people in and not just make happy what’s already here.
C. Should I tone down my work if woodworkers don’t understand will others? Does it matter ? Should it just be visually stunning? So no matter who you are your drawn to it because a lot of the work I have shown so far is just practice. I’m experimenting and planning. Developing new ideas and Techniques. I have things in the works that are going to confuse a lot of people but it’s going to take some time before I’m ready to show it.
D. The work won’t be recognized for about 10 years that kinda bothered me a bit. If that’s the case I should just drop my AAW membership and stick to what I’m doing because I’m doing pretty well on my own my social media accounts are growing pretty quick and the majority of people I interact with are normal people outside of the wood turning community. I’m not just going to Twittle my thumbs for 10 years I’m going to make my own way. So there is a question here are people in the AAW group hurting them selves with some of these ways of thinking. Should the goal not be to cultivate the industry instead of saying your going to have to take a back seat for 10 years. How many AMAZING turners have just walked away from groups like this just for that reason.
Every thing I written about is intended to be positive I’m already planning on going to next years event. I really enjoy this stuff I just wish I had more time to invest into it.
