Another Definition of Frustration

[Dazzled]

Okay, I'm going to have a little vent now. I'm not sure if I should put this in the "Displays and Shows" section but I'm sure it can be moved if necessary. I'm also sure that other SIG leaders, past and present will empathise and share my utter frustration with show organisers.

My main aim as Cold War SIG leader is to try and promote the SIG, both online and in the real world, at shows. Having some experience at organising events, mainly in the heritage railway and charity fundraising world, I find it unbelievable how difficult it is to get any communication out of some show organisers. I have to chase most of them for any sort of commitments to dates or tables and even to who I should actually be talking to We've shown up for shows before uncertain of whether we've had display space booked. At one show last year the organising club even had to set up a table for us while we waited as there had been a communication foul up and weren't expecting us even though they'd confirmed by e-mail some time beforehand. (fortunately I'd brought a copy with me)

I've had people from clubs approaching me at shows asking for communication details to provisionally book the SIG for their shows and never hearing from them again despite assurances that we should "keep a window open" for a given date, and trying to chase up dates for some club events is like some mythical quest. To all clubs out there; if you have a web page, USE IT!! Announce your next show and update the contact details to somebody who is an active organiser and who will reply (and is still alive ). I know that these shows are run by volunteers with little training or experience but I've been there too and I honestly fail to understand how some shows go ahead at all.

I know that it doesn't have to be that way. SMW is huge and goes without a hitch. Fill in your members returns and wait for the invite, simples, The Cosford Show is similarly well run and causes no headaches, however.....

The main inspiration for this small rant is, actually, one show. The inaugural model show at the Tank Museum, Bovington. I've been trying to book us a place since it was announced back in November. Trying to book the SIG into this show has, without doubt, been the most frustrating experience I've had since becoming SIG leader. Now I can, to some extent, understand why a small club running a show with volunteers may not exhibit the best organisational skills but this is a museum with a full time events team for Pete's sake! So I contact them in Mid November. A couple of weeks later one of their team replies with an 8 PAGE (!) application form telling me that they require the SIG to take out a £5,000,000 public liability insurance policy and requiring a risk assessment. They also informed me how much I would have to pay per table and per parking pass (it isn't cheap ). Really? When we're bringing a display that we've constructed at our own expense to provide an attraction for them on an otherwise dead February weekend and they then charge the public £14 each for admission! Not to mention the time it takes to build all the models and the travelling expense of getting there.

I decided that I would pay for us to attend the show in any case as we don't do much "down South" but no way would I take out insurance that should be the responsibility of the organisers so I contacted Andrew Armstrong, the IPMS UKLO. Andy's a great guy and he's been very helpful to me since I took over the SIG. It turns out that I'm not the only SIG/Club representative that's contacted him about this show and he had already sent them the relevant blanket insurance documents for the IPMS. They just weren't sharing that bit of information with me. So I sent another e-mail.....and received no reply.

I've just sent another e-mail and I'm waiting on hearing back. I'm not holding my breath.

I'm not sure how many exhibitors the Tank Museum show will have but, the way they're going about it, I don't think it's many. Maybe somebody is trying to kill it off before it gets started? I wouldn't like to speculate. All I know is that I've wasted a lot of time chasing these "professional" organisers when I could have been communicating with the amateurs, and probably with more success.

Rant over. I wish I felt better.

[rob_van_riel]

A couple of weeks later one of their team replies with an 8 PAGE (!) application form telling me that they require the SIG to take out a £5,000,000 public liability insurance policy and requiring a risk assessment.

Well, that one sentence explains everything. There are lawyers involved.

This show is lost beyond hope of redemption. I realise it doesn't do the SIG any good, and that it doesn't reduce frustration, but when organisations start throwing around conditions like this, I bail out as a matter of principle. Any event that turns into a source of irritation rather than enjoyment simply loses my participation; I can do without the elevated blood pressure, and life is way too short.

Unless they offer a serious bribe of course, in which case it becomes just another paid job, but somehow, that never happens

Good luck surviving this mess..

[IronMan129]

I felt your pain before I handed over the rains to you Daz.
I had problems with alot of shows trying to get in touch and getting the packs various shows had "sent", A couple that srand out are Huddersfield, they said they had sent the show pack out to me with our wrist bands in but I hadnt recieved anything so the guys on the door had to help us all out and I sent our return forms back to IPMS twice and still we didn't get a table for 2015 as they never received either of them.
I had serious problems getting in touch with various problems but due to the situation at the time I wasn't in a position to do any serious chasing.

[gbrwn56]

Rather you than me my friend, communication is everything and these people dont seem to see that, as for the insurance................

[vacant]

I also feel the pain on this one with regard to the Bovington show. I wanted to go as part of an SIG that does not have PL insurance. I was told that IPMS members might have PL insurance as part of the membership, but I am not an IPMS member. I say 'might' because it is not clear. That means I can not take part in the SIG's display. So I checked if I would be covered if I went as part of my local model club's display. At first, nobody knew. Fortunately, however, my local club appears to have a separate PL policy that applies to all its members, whether IPMS members or not. So I can go, but only if I only display models on my local club's tables. So what does this mean for non-IPMS members who are in local clubs that do not have separate PL insurance? At the moment, it appears that no non-IPMS member in a club or SIG that does not have separate PL insurance is able to display at the Bovington show.

Like dazzled, I am now trying to work out how a small fragile piece of plastic that could break if someone breathes on it is ever going to cause £5.5 million worth of damage to anyone. Just what kind of extreme sport have I been doing for the last 60 years?

[rob_van_riel]

Like dazzled, I am now trying to work out how a small fragile piece of plastic that could break if someone breathes on it is ever going to cause £5.5 million worth of damage to anyone. Just what kind of extreme sport have I been doing for the last 60 years?

Simple, really. Despite warning, some bratty kid mishandles and breaks one of the models. The owner of said model inflicts some choice words on said brat. Parents of the precious snowflake in question sue for emotional anguish inflicted...

More likely, there's a blanket rule requiring this of all the exhibits. A bit of plasic won't do much damage, a tank on the other hand will. I suspect there might be a few vehicles actually moving out there (tank museum throwing a party, after all), and everyone is treaded as the worst case, just to cover the organisation's behinds.

[Dazzled]

It still doesn't explain why, as the owners/operators of a museum open to the public, and who are charging for admission, the Tank Museum don't have this insurance in place? It's a legal obligation that they have this so why are they insisting that potential exhibitors also provide this? I used to be a manager of a heritage railway and we had to have this kind of insurance with specific cover for times when we were open to the public. Without it the Tank Museum can't legally operate in the UK.

Whatever their reasoning, I've thought long and hard about it and decided to pull the Cold War SIG out of contention for the show. I'm also going to be drawing up some guidelines about show attendance and maybe a blacklist of shows to avoid.

[jamesaw]

Sadly the Insurance issue seems to be universal. As a Company, we have to carry a separate cover every time we do something outside our main place of business even though we are insured to the teeth. Company picnics in the Town park require a venue specific cover although you know full well that the Town, like the Tank Museum, is insured against everything up to and including Vogon Constructor Fleets.