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8.1.2000...My
wife Kathy and I have just returned from another long road trip.
For us, getting ready for this show was a tremendous effort.
Working 16-20 hours a day for over a month is enough for anyone.
This was really the debut for me as a cuemaker. It
certainly has been a long road. We had traveled all the way to
Kansas City, MO for the BCA Trade Show from July 27-29.
Naturally, we were a day late. I was still wrapping the
cues for the show on Thursday at 9:00AM in Westover, MD.
We did not even leave our home until noon on Thursday. It
was a 1300 mile trip for us, driving straight through in about
17 hours. Just for the record, the show started on
Thursday at 9:00AM. We got there at 5:00AM on Friday
morning. I am sure there were many other vendors (cuemakers)
attending this show whose lives are just as crazed as ours,
though I doubt if any of them were late! All that matters
is that we made it, alive, with cues! Unbelievable...
For
those of you that do not know, this is the premier event in the
billiards industry for all the billiard enthusiasts throughout
the world. People come from the farthest reaches of the
planet to attend this event with the intention of finding
everything needed to equip the finest pool rooms, whether they
be in someone's house, or a multi-million dollar billiard
establishment. There are people of every race, creed, and
color, that represent virtually every aspect of the industry
present at this enormous event. There are three categories
of people admitted to this event; vendors, buyers, and
non-buyers. According to Amy Long, Director of Marketing
& Business Development for the BCA, there were 260 vendors
occupying approximately 1,200 booths. 2,336 buyers &
vendors alike came from such countries as China, Italy, England,
France, Germany, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Belgium, South
Korea, and many more. Present also were 220 non-buyers for
a total of 4,656 attendees. Amy Long also said
"Although foot traffic was down approximately 15%, buying
was up. Many exhibitors stated that they had their best
show ever with more dollar orders written than ever. "
Another interesting fact is that the BCA just relocated it's
offices to Colorado, from Iowa City, Iowa, and John Lewis is the
only veteran that relocated with the BCA to Colorado.
There are a total of 12 BCA employees, and 11 of them have
started no earlier than February, and as late as April.
Knowing this, the shows success is quite an accomplishment.
The shows producer, William T. Glasgow said "It was a
pleasure working with you (BCA) at the recent show in Kansas
City. I might add it was our biggest & smoothest show
ever for the BCA. "
On
another note, I would also like to add that Kansas City has so
many nice people, and it must be the BBQ capital of the world.
I hope everyone there had the chance to go to Arthur Bryant's
BBQ. It was the best I and everyone else in our little
entourage had ever enjoyed. I saw many other show attendees
there during our outings there. We must have eaten there
at least three times. Arthur Bryant's was indeed an
institution in Kansas City. I cannot wait to return there
for that fabulous BBQ at the next show. After the show, we
went to our friends and fellow cuemakers Andy & Vicki
Gilbert's house in Clever, MO, a suburb of Springfield, and they
treated us like a King & Queen. What a beautiful
spread they have!!! The people of Missouri are indeed a
hospitable group. I will certainly look forward to my next
visit to Kansas City.
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