 | | Guildford Show
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New venue sought for 2009
This year's Guildford show was busy with around one hundred and seventy people in attendence. Exhibitors have commented that sales were strong. This was due to organiser John Sawyer's cunning plan: charge £5 for an entrance ticket which then becomes a voucher worth £5 off anything in the hall. This encouraged visitors to spend. Exhibitors were later reimbursed £5 for the vouchers taken in part payments.
The day featured a full theatre programme, with informative talks from several RISC OS personalities. In spite of the successful day, the 2008 show is to be the last at the college in Guildford. John Sawyer told RISCOScode, "The two problems with the Guildford College Hall are the size and the expense. With Iyonix Ltd, Electric Font Foundry, Icon Technology, MathMagical & Virtual Acorn not exhibiting this year it was not possible to fill the hall."
This was the sixth show organised by the Surrey And Sussex Acorn User Group (SASAUG). The first, in 2002 was a riotous affair when Castle Technology unexpectedly announced a couple of weeks before the show that a new RISC OS computer, the Iyonix, would be on display. John reminisces: "A substantial queue had formed by opening time. We were optimistic that we would get the 200 visitors needed to break even. We actually got 660. We were overwhelmed. The theatre was not big enough. Jack Lillingston gave two presentations about the Iyonix but many people could not squeeze in. The Hall was gridlocked, the car park overflowing and the refectory ran out of everything."
These days, each company has a website with a facility for customers to buy on-line. Even so, the various shows around the country continue to be important focal points. They give a target for software developers to work towards and reassure visitors that they are not the only eccentrics who use RISC OS. A year in which there was no show in the South East would be a sad one. Not only is the South East the most populous part of the country, there are also many RISC OS clubs located there and a significant number of developers and dealers.
John concluded his conversation with RISCOScode with the comment, "There is some suggestion of finding a smaller venue in the same area next year. But for now I'd like to thank Neil Thurlow, Phil Spiegelhalter, David Lane, Doug Luxfort-Watt and the rest of the SASAUG team for putting on six good shows in the Guildford College Hall".
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