National Electric Show type thing

[Jon]

Is there a national event/show to feature all that is electric innovations like cars, ebikes, escooters, eanything really and somewhere retailers can have a stall to sell ebikes, componets, accessories etc and then have maybe some sort of display from the flying ebikes lol, maybe not flying ebikes but you get what i mean a good 1 or 2 day thing at say the NEC like the motor show or similar events.

 

[flecc]

There have been some environmental shows including e-vehicles, I remember one sponsored by David Mial of Wisper which was held at the O2 in London. There have also been other central London area ones.

One at the NEC would be very welcome to many.

 

[Jon]

There have been some environmental shows including e-vehicles, I remember one sponsored by David Mial of Wisper which was held at the O2 in London. There have also been other central London area ones.

One at the NEC would be very welcome to many.

Thanks flecc, how big were these events and were they well attended?

So to your knowledge there is no annual one in the UK? I know Monaco has one and Detroit has something but not really sure exactly what but it does involve electric cars

 

[PennyFarthing]

Can I suggest that such a thing needs to be at the bottom of a very steep hill?

 

[Jon]

Can I suggest that such a thing needs to be at the bottom of a very steep hill?

He he yeah. Although i would expect such an event to have artificial hills to test bikes or other e-products.

I was just doing some reading and came accross some motor show info. The didn run last year and hae shelved this years because of low attendance. In its hey day they had over 900,000 people through the doors. I nearly choked when i saw that figure, thats huge. The have predicted that this year the would only get 500,000 people so its not worth them running it. I dont know what they admission fee is but lets say its only £10. £10 X 500,000 is £50m plus you have sponsorships on top etc. The cost of running a motor show this year would be £20m which again i was astonished. Either way it would still make a proffit. Just not big enough for the organisers.

Thats not my point though, after seeing those figures i got wondering how much it would cost to run a e-event surely it would cost nowhere near that! I was then thinking is there enough people that would attend to make the investment worth it

 

[flecc]

The O2 one was very big but I think from memory it wasn't well attended. There was another one at Camden in London, open air, which was blessed with good weather and I think was quite successful, though it's vehicle content was small and I don't think there were any facilities to try out e-bikes.

I don't know of any annual one.

I think that around 2007/8 they were before their times and with so much more attention to the new electric cars etc now, a repeat would be much more successful.

 

[funkylyn]

Jon you are really wetting my appetite.....please just get on and organize one.....we'll all be happy and who knows.....YOU could end up a millionaire

Lynda

 

[Trevor Holloway]

" I dont know what they admission fee is but lets say its only £10. £10 X 500,000 is £50m plus you have sponsorships on top etc. "

Unfortunately you would not be on your way to even clearing the costs as £10 X 500,000 is only £5m !

 

[Jon]

" I dont know what they admission fee is but lets say its only £10. £10 X 500,000 is £50m plus you have sponsorships on top etc. "

Unfortunately you would not be on your way to even clearing the costs as £10 X 500,000 is only £5m !

Ha ha yea your right doh!!!

 

[Jon]

The O2 one was very big but I think from memory it wasn't well attended. There was another one at Camden in London, open air, which was blessed with good weather and I think was quite successful, though it's vehicle content was small and I don't think there were any facilities to try out e-bikes.

I don't know of any annual one.

I think that around 2007/8 they were before their times and with so much more attention to the new electric cars etc now, a repeat would be much more successful.

Well if you dont know of one there cant be lol. I would hope one would be more successful but is it te right time with people stil worried about money?

Jon you are really wetting my appetite.....please just get on and organize one.....we'll all be happy and who knows.....YOU could end up a millionaire

Lynda

Well i would organise one and i most probably could as i have organised large events in my job, this would be a step on from that though and i couldnt do it alone i would need a team so i can coordinate and delegate and i would also need a large investment. I have spoken to the NEC and they wont even give estimates on pricing unless you are sure on your figures as they charge you depends on stalls, activities and attendance from the public. They then have on services such as event management, marketing, ticket handling and they also charge you if you want them to tidy up after so thats not even factored in. I could imagine it costing £10s of thousands rather than £20m and to make it worth the effort you would need corporate sponsors and an attendance of at least 10,000 people.

I think to make it worth the while it would need to be in the NEC or the o2 si its not weather dependent and you have a decent amount of room to let people play.

 

[funkylyn]

Well Jon I would think your next step will be contacting all your potential sponsors and then bike stallholders to get some idea of figures as soon as you have decided whether you have the time to expend on such a huge undertaking.
I think the idea is sound and to make it pay should be amalgamated with other stands of interest to a wider audience such as crafts and garden stands.
An attendence of more than 10000 would be easy if its got other things to keep the rest of the family happy who would maybe not be so interested in the electric bike etc side.
I would be happy to help in organizing the craft side of it but first concentrate on talking to the electric guys your biggest nightmare being finding money then choosing the venue and date.

Perhaps a smaller venue might be less daunting cost wise ?
Keep the NEC for later years there must be somewhere else suitable thats not as huge or expensive.......


Lynda

 

[Jon]

Thnaks Lynda, yea maybe the NEC is something to build up to its just that case of finding a suitable venue. I have a stall at some craft shows around north staffs and south chesire my wife makes scented candles and we sell them, last week we were at the staffs county show.

 

[funkylyn]

Its difficult to get the right mix.....big enough to inspire confidence in sponsors and standholders and small enough not to bankrupt you.
How about that famous country hall there......sorry...not had my coffee yet so brain cells still on my pillow !

My next show is FibreEast....( although I mainly supply shops and galleries )......I am a knitwear maker/designer, also sell my handspun art yarn, knitting kits.....felting....anything textile related......I'm also a mosaic artist so keep busy whilst over here
Hope you had a busy show.
Keep us posted with any ideas but first see what the main e-bike guys think.....they are the most important to get on side obviously
Lynda

 

[Wisper Bikes]

I organised and put on The Sustainability Show at the O2 in London four years ago, it took many months of organisation and cost me personally many tens of thousands of £ to put on but that is normal for a first show.

The Sustainability Show at The O2 on October 26th, 27th, 28th 2007

The problem was then that it was hard to get many companies to commit to spending money on a stand whilst they were not making profits. That may have changed now. We had about 15,000 people through the event with about 60 exhibitors including a very early Wisper, Vectrix, BMW, TfL, Eden Project, etc.

I would have loved to carry it on however I needed to make a choice between Wisper and TSS, I didn't have the money or time to continue with both. Maybe if one day I sell Wisper I may go back and re launch. Maybe the interest would be there now?

All the best

David

 

[Jon]

I organised and put on The Sustainability Show at the O2 in London four years ago, it took many months of organisation and cost me personally many tens of thousands of £ to put on but that is normal for a first show.

The Sustainability Show at The O2 on October 26th, 27th, 28th 2007

The problem was then that it was hard to get many companies to commit to spending money on a stand whilst they were not making profits. That may have changed now. We had about 15,000 people through the event with about 60 exhibitors including a very early Wisper, Vectrix, BMW, TfL, Eden Project, etc.

I would have loved to carry it on however I needed to make a choice between Wisper and TSS, I didn't have the money or time to continue with both. Maybe if one day I sell Wisper I may go back and re launch. Maybe the interest would be there now?

All the best

David

Thanks for that David, thats interesting.

For anyone interested

I have managed to squeeze a figure from the NEC this is purely a ball park (obviously) and does not include anything other than room hire. For a prediction on 10,000 people attending in April/May time on a weekend your talking £77,500. With on costs in terms of waste, advertising, travel costs any form of salary or honoraria type payment you could be talking in the region of £110,000 for a decent event.

That is far beyond me a consortium would be needed to facilitate and finance this.

 

[tombs]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Electric Bicycle scene and looking at the Fudges store local to me in Epsom, but I just had a thought...
Would a smaller venue be of interest? I have use of the Stafford County show ground, Bingley Hall on 17th & 18th September 2011, I was thinking of a dedicated Electric Bike show. Location is quite central, cheap to hire so cheaper for exhibitors to exhibit than say the NEC, electricity will be provided and the venue even has camping facilities. It would be the upper mezzanine in the hall for those of you who know place, could hold about 30-40 traders with 4mx4m stands, maybe more? The other use is you can from the mezzanine use the ramp access to the Hall to go outside and test/demo the bikes so your customers can have trial rides on an uphill environment, so you get the best of both worlds a static display and demo rides. There will be a few thousand already attending the venue over the weekend as there is an antiques fayre taking place in the other halls, a Mini show (Mini Magazine) and Kit Car Show (supported by Kit Car Magazine) in the Bingley hall but down stairs. One entrance fee (£10.00) would allow you access to all 3 shows (not the antiques fair), does this sound a good idea? Would the industry be interested in exhibiting? Would you the community attend and do you like the idea?

Admin, if this breaches forum rules I apologise, I was just trying to gauge interest. Regards Tom

 

[mike killay]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Electric Bicycle scene and looking at the Fudges store local to me in Epsom, but I just had a thought...
Would a smaller venue be of interest? I have use of the Stafford County show ground, Bingley Hall on 17th & 18th September 2011, I was thinking of a dedicated Electric Bike show. Location is quite central, cheap to hire so cheaper for exhibitors to exhibit than say the NEC, electricity will be provided and the venue even has camping facilities. It would be the upper mezzanine in the hall for those of you who know place, could hold about 30-40 traders with 4mx4m stands, maybe more? The other use is you can from the mezzanine use the ramp access to the Hall to go outside and test/demo the bikes so your customers can have trial rides on an uphill environment, so you get the best of both worlds a static display and demo rides. There will be a few thousand already attending the venue over the weekend as there is an antiques fayre taking place in the other halls, a Mini show (Mini Magazine) and Kit Car Show (supported by Kit Car Magazine) in the Bingley hall but down stairs. One entrance fee (£10.00) would allow you access to all 3 shows (not the antiques fair), does this sound a good idea? Would the industry be interested in exhibiting? Would you the community attend and do you like the idea?

Admin, if this breaches forum rules I apologise, I was just trying to gauge interest. Regards Tom

I think that an add on to an existing show is the easy and cheapest option.
I went to the Traditional boat show at Pangbourne a few weeks ago. From trad. boats they have now expanded to include classic cars. There was one electric bike trader there and it would be minimal cost for others to join in. The show is held in Beale Park, it is an open air show. There is camping in abundance available to reduce costs.

 

[Kudoscycles]

I am currently in conversation with one of the niche show organisers to tag the national electric bike show onto another show which is not a long way away from the principles of e-bikes. The venue will be Stoneleigh Park in the spring ,the stand cost will be less than £500 for a 6mtr v 4mtr stand and the entry fee about £10.00. Please have a bit of patience I will report back in a few days. By tagging onto another show much of the basic costs will already have been absorbed by the larger show. The organiser promises a dedicated area with a bike ride area adjacent. Anyone who knows Stoneleigh Park exhibition centre knows it is a well placed venue,nice buidings,good refectory and friendly atmosphere. Thats got everyone guessing as to what is the parent show.
I think this will work well,the NEC cycle show is all very well but it is so expensive for both exhibitors and attendees,it also is confused with sports bikes-we really need our own show.
Dave Elderfield
Kudos Cycles

 

[Jon]

Hi All,

I'm new to the Electric Bicycle scene and looking at the Fudges store local to me in Epsom, but I just had a thought...
Would a smaller venue be of interest? I have use of the Stafford County show ground, Bingley Hall on 17th & 18th September 2011, I was thinking of a dedicated Electric Bike show. Location is quite central, cheap to hire so cheaper for exhibitors to exhibit than say the NEC, electricity will be provided and the venue even has camping facilities. It would be the upper mezzanine in the hall for those of you who know place, could hold about 30-40 traders with 4mx4m stands, maybe more? The other use is you can from the mezzanine use the ramp access to the Hall to go outside and test/demo the bikes so your customers can have trial rides on an uphill environment, so you get the best of both worlds a static display and demo rides. There will be a few thousand already attending the venue over the weekend as there is an antiques fayre taking place in the other halls, a Mini show (Mini Magazine) and Kit Car Show (supported by Kit Car Magazine) in the Bingley hall but down stairs. One entrance fee (£10.00) would allow you access to all 3 shows (not the antiques fair), does this sound a good idea? Would the industry be interested in exhibiting? Would you the community attend and do you like the idea?

Admin, if this breaches forum rules I apologise, I was just trying to gauge interest. Regards Tom

Good idea Tombs an add on is a good idea only issue is i might be in Texas that weekend, i cant remember if it get back just before that date or just after it.

I am currently in conversation with one of the niche show organisers to tag the national electric bike show onto another show which is not a long way away from the principles of e-bikes. The venue will be Stoneleigh Park in the spring ,the stand cost will be less than £500 for a 6mtr v 4mtr stand and the entry fee about £10.00. Please have a bit of patience I will report back in a few days. By tagging onto another show much of the basic costs will already have been absorbed by the larger show. The organiser promises a dedicated area with a bike ride area adjacent. Anyone who knows Stoneleigh Park exhibition centre knows it is a well placed venue,nice buidings,good refectory and friendly atmosphere. Thats got everyone guessing as to what is the parent show.
I think this will work well,the NEC cycle show is all very well but it is so expensive for both exhibitors and attendees,it also is confused with sports bikes-we really need our own show.
Dave Elderfield
Kudos Cycles

I agree that the NEC is far too expensive to hold such an event but i dont think there is any issue with confusion. The NEC holds many different type of events and the only problems would come from tagging onto a sports bike event thats the only time an issue may arise from your point but at the same time it may open eyes.


Tagging on will be the best way forward whether it be Stoneleigh or Staffs county