Scalefour North 2012

[dcockling]

Scalefour North will take place at the usual venue in Wakefield on 21st and 22nd April 2012.

Preliminary details are now on the Shows Page of the website and will be updated as more information becomes available.

All the Best
Danny

[Tim V]

I see that the shows page has been updated.

I'm there on Rolvendon.

[David Thorpe]

I note that Premier Inn now have £29 rooms available at their Wakefield hotels throughout the weekend. Last year I stayed at Wakefield Central and have booked there again this year - it was very acceptable and, being on the edge of Thornes park, it is only a very pleasant walk across the park to the show venue. Lots of parking and an adjoining pub.

DT

[David Thorpe]

I've been wondering if it would be a good idea for members attending Scalour North (or any other of the S4 shows for that matter) to be given name badges when they come in. They can then choose to fill them in and wear them or not. It's just that with internet groups like this you chat to quite a large number of paople, but when you go to a show you can pass them in the aisle and have no idea who they are. This is a really friendly and helpful group and I've always thought that it would be really nice to meet some of the people behind the names!

DT

[Andy W]

Yes good idea DaveyTee - name badges with this board's usernames included as well. These might be a bit of trouble for the organisers to put together but I suppose attendees could do their own?

[chrisf]

I have been advocating on RMweb for ages that forum inmates should wear name badges in public but I seem to be the voice in the wilderness. Now I keep forgetting to bring mine ...

Chris

[Terry Bendall]

Yes good idea DaveyTee - name badges with this board's usernames included as well. These might be a bit of trouble for the organisers to put together but I suppose attendees could do their own?

Well ... it could be, and there would be a cost. The simplest and cheapest solution would be self adhesive lables for people to write their names on themselves. Not very long lasting and they do tend to fall off, but probably sufficient for the purpose.

What the good folks who organise Scalefour North do is up to them but I will see if we can do it for Scaleforum, and the organisers of the AGM might like to do the same.

Terry Bendall

[David Thorpe]

Well ... it could be, and there would be a cost. The simplest and cheapest solution would be self adhesive lables for people to write their names on themselves

Yes, there would obviously be a cost. A quick look at ebay shows that you can buy 90 x 60mm "conference badges" (ie plastic holders with a pin and clip at the back) for £45 for 250, including postage. You'd then have to have suitably sized bits of card, ideally printed with the S4 Soc logo but acceptably plain, on which people could write their own names and, if they like, forum names. People could be asked/encouraged/told to hand the badges back in when they leave, or they could even be asked to pay a deposit on them, returrnable when the badge was handed back.

I appreciate that this would mean extra work and expense, and on these grounds proper badges may be impractable - can you say what the footfall is at, say, Scalefour North? Badges could, perhaps, only be given to S4 Soc members. I can only say that as a visitor to these shows from a far-flung area I know next to no-one by appearance, though I do by name, and badges of this type would be extremely helpful to me and, I'm sure, others like me.

As this goes beyond just Scalefour North, I wonder if the topic would be better moved to another thread?

DT

[DougN]

Have to say that this is a good idea! Last year at Scaleforum I wore my BRMA Name badge.... not something you would see all that often in the UK. (it is the British railway modellers of Australia!) Being able to identify individuals was handy. I still have no idea of the guy's name, I chatted to for about 30minutes infront of the "viaduct". It is also a polite way for people with a
"goldfish" memory for names, to actually remember!

[David B]

I have a few of the pin-on badge holders in my drawers . They don't do anything but breed in there.

I would happily donate half a dozen - more if I can find them. There must be many members who could provide their own. Donated holders could be given to S4 members to keep and bring with them to exhibitions.

David

ps. Just found another couple.

[Philbax]

Excellent idea, as for the cards, why not use bring and your membership card in a plastic folder supplied by the exhibition organisers

[Penrhos1920]

when do the advance tickets go on sale? I've not bought them in the past, but in these hard economic times....

or is it only me that can't find the webpage?

[allanferguson]

I've been wondering if it would be a good idea for members attending Scalour North (or any other of the S4 shows for that matter) to be given name badges when they come in. DT

I would find it helpful to be reminded of who I am..............

Allan F

[dcockling]

when do the advance tickets go on sale? I've not bought them in the past, but in these hard economic times....

or is it only me that can't find the webpage?

Richard, there aren't any advance ticket sales for Scalefour North, so no webpage. We've done advance tickets for Scaleforum for the last two years and intend to continue with that: sales start in July. Take up has been around 20-21% of member visitors buying their tickets in advance. If the take up for Scalefour North were similar, then with its smaller footfall I doubt that it would be worth the work involved.

All the Best
Danny

[Jim Summers]

Just to say that I have discussed this question of name badges with the ever-helpful Scalefour North team, who are keen to try something this year.

As they have printed tickets and so on already, what will probably happen is that a stick-on label will be supplied for you to write your name on. And probably it will be obtainable from the Scalefour Society stand, to avoid congestion at the ticket desk.

See you all there.

Jim

[Tim V]

Three weeks away, time for a bump.

[David Thorpe]

Have just been advised that the Premier Inn where I'll be staying is hosting a wedding on the Saturday. Chances of a good night's sleep greatly diminished, I fear.

DT (in grumpy mode)

[Rod Cameron]

But they guarantee it don't they? You should get your money back if not!

[David B]

A very nice girl from Premier phoned me and offered to put me in a room on the opposite side to the noise. I thought this very considerate of them. It's much more than you get from other hotels which host weddings.

David

[David Thorpe]

Yes, I thought it was very good of them to phone. I too elected to stay and will also be in a room at the back.

DT

[andrew jukes]

I’m sorry to announce that Exactoscale will not be at Scalefour North next weekend. Len Newman is not at all well - he’s had various family problems and it seems likely the stress of dealing with them caused old health problems to return. Now he needs an operation and meanwhile is in a lot of pain. He’s clearly not able even to help sort out stock to make it possible for me to do something at Scalefour North on my own.

From our point of view, it’s a big loss as Scalefour North is one of the best shows for P4 sales. I shall attend as an ordinary visitor, probably on the Sunday, but will not be in a position to do any Exactoscale business.

Obviously, as Len manages all our mail orders, Exactoscale are basically not able to do any business at all at present and it is not clear when things will get back to normal.

I am very sorry about this - there have been difficulties for some time and we will have frustrated or disappointed many potential customers.

An additional complication is that, following upgrading to MacOS 10.7, I am not yet able to update the Exactoscale website (I need to upgrade Dreamweaver too!) and so am not able to advise customers of our problems. If non-members comment on Exactoscale’s non-performance, please pass on the information I’ve given here.

Andrew Jukes
Exactoscale Ltd.

[Andy W]

Get well soon Len. Best wishes.

[Rod Cameron]

Thanks for the update Andrew - obviously the most important thing is Len's return to health, please pass on our best wishes as and how you can.

[Paul Willis]

An additional complication is that, following upgrading to MacOS 10.7, I am not yet able to update the Exactoscale website (I need to upgrade Dreamweaver too!) and so am not able to advise customers of our problems. If non-members comment on Exactoscale’s non-performance, please pass on the information I’ve given here.

Andrew Jukes
Exactoscale Ltd.

All the best wishes to Len for a swift recovery. I last saw him at Watford and he seemed rather upbeat.

On a practical note, the only thing that you need to update your website is an FTP link to the host.

I've just looked at the code and it's a piece of the proverbial to edit it. You can even do it in something as simple and Notepad, or whatever the Fanboiz equivalent of it is.

Save revised page under same filename, upload, CTRL+f5 and job's a good 'un.

Cheers
Flymo

[Hardwicke]

Best wishes to Len and hope he recovery soon.
I'm not going to be able to make it there either this year sadly. Too much work on and not enough time.
Michael.