Show promoter Bob James of Armacost Antiques Shows recently responded to some of the commentary by John Fiske,. James agreed with some of the commentary, and also, politely disagreed with some of the conclusions. I know both Bob and John, and find them to be both strong advocates of the antique trade and true professionals. We should listen to what they have to say.
This was recently sent out in the Armacost Antiques Shows newsletter, Early Edition. It can be read by clicking HERE.
"Social Interest" Shows Still Fill Important Needs
As always, John Fiske’s column in the April edition of New England Antiques Journal ("Shows in the Age of the Internet”) pushed me to think hard about the pluses and minuses of antiques shows. "The problem for show promoters," John writes, "will lie in making real-life browsing efficient and enjoyable enough to counter the Internet’s huge advantages in time-costs."
He goes on to distinguish three types of antiques shows:
1. Although time-consuming to navigate, “general interest shows” will thrive in the future, John believes, because, "despite all that the Internet has to offer," these large shows provide "unparalleled browsing."
2. “Collector interest shows,” on the other hand, face stiff competition from the Internet, specifically from specialty dealers' Websites. But they will continue to muddle along, because they offer sufficient depth of category to satisfy browsers.
3. “Social interest shows” (boutique-size shows that benefit nonprofits) are in the greatest jeopardy, John believes. That's because most of the people browsing these shows "are motivated by the lifestyles of their social set," which today embraces "exotic vacations, self-pampering services, cutting-edge technologies from home theaters to gadget-laden cars and sometimes art, but rarely antiques."
To survive, social interest shows have to innovate, John argues. "These are the shows that most urgently need to re-invent themselves. They are vulnerable both to changing fashions and to category-rich searching on the Internet or at collector interest shows." The single advantage he grants social interest shows is that a few represent "special occasions," attractive in and of themselves to status-conscious browsers. But most don't offer much at all.
Of course, while I'm a proponent of re-invention, I don't agree completely with John’s analysis. I believe social interest shows (the kind I produce) satisfy three well-defined needs that neither the Internet nor the other two types of shows can fill:
1. Social interest shows offer exclusivity. Comparing a social interest show to a general interest show is like comparing the Hamptons to Coney Island. Not only are large antiques shows unattractive to wealthy browsers, they're unattractive to a lot of high-end dealers.
2. Social interest shows are a source of new customers. Dealers who acknowledge that at-show sales are not the only yardstick of success (and that the cultivation of important customers takes more than a momentary encounter in a booth) count on social interest shows for meeting prospects (not-yet customers).
3. Social interest shows are convenient both to dealers and customers. Dealers value the relative ease of exhibiting in small shows, compared to the ordeal they typically face when exhibiting in large shows. And shoppers enjoy the fact that a high-end antiques show comes once a year to "our own backyard."
Cheers and happy hunting,
Bob James
President
Armacost Antiques Shows
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