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Creative Pro Expo- don't bother

Avatar Stuart Affleck
Seriously, I went today, and it's the worst excuse for a Mac show since the shambles in '98. If not worse than that. I go to hear/see interesting seminars, check out kit I'm either thinking of buying or would buy if I could afford/justify it, and ask all those technical questions. Notwithstanding all the Linux stuff and Adobe seminar theatre, there's a lot of empty space. No great deals. No MacFormat presentations. No MacWorld giveaways. No Microsoft. No Computer Warehouse selling kit at discount. No gaming area. No iPod/iPhone tat (they could have done with it). Not even any free pens. I usually come out laden with bumf to read on the train. This time, nothing. The seminar list doesn't tell you anything about the topics, just a list of presenters (presenting on what?!) the Adobe sessions seem focused on the whole Creative Suite packages, not sessions on Photoshop/Illustrator etc). I wasn't going to sit in the Adobe theatre or at the other presentation areas, on the off-chance I might hear or see something of use. I was in there just after 11, out again by noon. Entered a couple of prize draws, that was it. Went off to a bike shop- time much better spent than in Olympia. I saw Kenny Hemphill of MacUser there, and he looked bored stiff.
Want to see Apple kit this weekend? Go to an Apple Store, or a reseller (Solutions Inc in Chichester's a nice place btw, finally managed to find it after walking past it on my last few visits there).

Re: Creative Pro Expo- don't bother

Avatar Michael Corgan
I have spoken to the organiser of this year's Creative Expo and he has a few questions that he would very much appreciate receiving opinions on, both from yourselves and from as many of your members as you can galvanise into responding. He said that "we will not run the event without committed industry support" but that
"five Apple Premium Resellers (APRs) ... may possibly agree to get together and contribute to an ‘Apple Village’ for next year" .

He would be interested to get not only the reaction of Mac Users that visited the show( he pretty much knows how that is going to go), but how they feel about no MacLive event to support the brand.
And finally he would like your views on:

Dates
Venue (incl NEC)
Companies most want to see (other than Apple, Quark and Adobe)
How many would think it worthwhile coming with no Apple stand, but knowing that the 5 big APRs have put a Village together and we had more features?


Looking forward to the opportunity of finally getting across to the Exhibition Organisers the way the people who visit the show would like to see it.

Finally, he had one email from a visitor who asked ‘ who’s decision was it, not to include Apple, anyway?’ – he told him, along with others that it was Apple’s decision and his email would be better directed to Apple UK. To be fair, he doesn’t think it was the UK’s decision, but that it was dictated from HQ.

Re: Creative Pro Expo- don't bother

Avatar Stuart Affleck
I'm keen to see the show continue in some form or other- I hope that like the fiasco in '98, this year's mess leads to a rethink, and a big improvement for next year. The Apple 'ecosystem' (Macs, iPods, iPhones) has been going from strength to strength, and that simply wasn't reflected in the show, credit crunch etc notwithstanding. It must have been really depressing to be on those stands all weekend and, well, stand around....
A good friend of mine recently got a MacBook. She should be the kind of person the show was a must for- go along, pick up some tips and hints, try things she might want to buy, and hopefully (from an exhibitor's point of view, particularly) buy stuff too. But there would have been nothing for her there, or many home/small office users (eg myself).
In addition to my comments I posted on the day I went, I'd add as per Michael's query:
The date is fine as it is. Let's face it, Apple's not going to come, so it doesn't have to fit in with anything Steve Jobs wants to do.
For the venue: previous shows at Olympia, even last year's, have filled out the place properly (i.e. a packed show floor and the gallery) so if they can get enough to do the job properly there, fine. But the Islington shows were great too. Better area for refreshments etc, and easier to get to for many people.
I would add that the whole cross-platform thing just doesn't work, at least not the way they did it this year (or '98). There should be enough interest for Apple enthusiasts alone for the show. No offence to Linux users but I want an Apple show, thank you very much, not an Apple village in a cross-platform show- not like this year's anyway. Linux as a sidebar in a packed hall, maybe.
Companies: Microsoft were the other obvious absentee, but there was no Quark either, of the 'big fish', no Intego, few if any of all those small-but-great software developers (IRISLink, to name one). I bought Fusion last year after chatting to someone on the VMWare stand. This time, not there, though they had version 2.0 to plug. You could buy Call of Duty 2 but you couldn't see it running as there was no gaming area, or any Mac games dealers there either. On the hardware side, again, sparse...LaCie spring to mind as missing. Wanted to buy a Mac on the day? I think there were two stands that were actually selling them. Camera dealers had just high-end stuff, and what tutorials there were on Photoshop etc weren't properly listed. No point telling us who the presenter is if we don't know the topic.....
And the Mac magazines didn't make much of an effort. MacFormat and MacWorld usually have good stands and make a real effort, hosting tutorials etc- this time nothing, except trying to sell subscriptions. Shame on them, frankly. I think I will drop them a line, they could and should do better.

Shows like these don't need Apple. What they need is a decent turn out of exhibitors, and something of interest to all Mac (etc) users, as previous shows have done. Hopefully, getting the APRs interested will be a start....

Re: Creative Pro Expo- don't bother

Avatar John Surtees
I don't feel Apple's presence at a show is all that important. In the past I've found most the people on the stand are pretty clueless when you want specific information. Although the very professional demos can be informative, they might as well be on video and shown on a big screen.

Dates are pretty immaterial. But the Thursday, Friday and Saturday format seems to work well as long as it's not in the school holidays. Know-it-all kids can be a real pain.

As for venues; It would be nice to get away from London. They should try approaching somewhere that would appreciate the use of their buildings, say The Heritage Motor Centre J12 of the M40 or Bletchley Park, Near Milton Keynes – Both fascinating places, with good facilities, who would welcome the revenue. Also, most horse and car race venues have excellent expo facilities. But if the capital is a must, I feel 'The Aggie' at Islington has a better atmosphere than Olympia.

When I attend a show, I want to be able to see and compare a good range of hardware. If you are just going to see the same kit that your local Apple dealer is stocking, there doesn't seem to be much point. Manufacturers I'd like to see include: Microsoft (their Mac people are very helpful), Lacie, Iomega, HP, Epson, Brother, Lexmark, Kyocera, Konica Minolta, Panasonic, Cannon, Olympus, Nikon, Richo, Viewsonic, Philips, Samsung, Eizo, Netgear, Devolo, Logitech, Lindy, Matias, Belkin, Dymo, Sonnet, Kingston, Crucial and thinking slightly outside the obvious, maybe TomTom, Garmin.

I'd like to see all the Mac software companies represented and demonstrating their products and answering questions. And as exhibition space is so expensive, it would be nice to see the magazines or Apple, sponsor an area for the smaller software people to show their products.

 
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