Canadian Society of Military Medals and Insignia Annual Show
 

Canadian Society of Military Medals and Insignia Annual Show / Sale, Friday June 7th and Saturday June 8th. Burlington Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Centre. 3063 S Service Rd, Burlington, ON L7N 3E9
Open Friday 1 - 4:30, Sat 8:30 to 4. Early admission for CSMMI members in good standing, 12 pm.

How was the show?

Greg

Hi Greg, Lots of dealers. In fact the number of dealers may have been more than the number of entrants. It was poorly attended.
Aside from the numbers, there was a very interesting selection of material, right across the board.

Hi Bill,

I enjoyed this years show...in particular catching up with you and others. I managed to pick up a few pieces to add to my little collection.

I noticed there were a few big dealers absent this year...was there a competing show/event that was responsible for the lower numbers?

All the best,
Mike

Too bad I had other plans for this weekend. I am in Toronto on Tuesday, but had to be here in Ottawa to finish up some stuff before heading out. Leaving tomorrow morning for Peterborough.

I would like to attend at least one of these shows before I check out

I showed up for a brief visit. Nice to see old friends (the Clines, Bill Alexander, Dave Hiorth and others), make some new ones (mike McHenry) and put faces to names of e-mail friends (Mike Reintjes, Mike Kennelly and others).
I don't think there was a competing event that kept some dealers away, it was simple economics. The show draws very few people but the cost of tables is very high. Once you factor in the cost of travel, meals and accommodation the show just doesn't warrant attendance.
Clive

Hi Bill,

Could you post some dates for upcoming CSMMI shows, please?

Thanks,

Andy

Here is a link to the date. Double check on the December date, as there was discussion about cancelling it.
http://www.thecsmmi.com/CSMMI-Web-Pa...s-for-2013.htm

I attended the show and found it to be lightly attended as del unfortunately. It is a show that I look forward to all year because I get to see vendors that don't make the regular circuit around the GTA.
Having said that I managed to pick up some really rare and nice items for the collection as well as catch up with other collectors. I hope this show will not be cancled in the future.

Are there any large Canadian shows?....

Haven't been there in a long while but, the Etobicoke show used to be pretty good with lots of vendors and good stuuf most of the time.

Jo

Morning cw2311, Not sure what you mean by "large" Canadian shows? The Etobicoke ones have lots of dealers and attendees, as does the bi-annual Ottawa show. The MCC of C annual show is held in conjunction with the Calgary gun show, and by all reports is huge.
With Canada's vast territories and disperse population centres, one has to look regionally.

Been following this discussion & feel I should comment as I too had a table at the the Fri/Sat show & the conclusion I have come to is it is the last time I will set up at this show.

I could go on about former CSMMI shows as I have been attending them both as a vendor, displayer, & attendee since the "old days" of the 1970's, but I will try to be brief as I don't wish to bore readers ---

This show back in the 1980's period was a super show, actually it would have been the "main attraction show" of southern ON back in those days - many dealers attended from UK & USA & the displays were of a very high quality - comparable with the major shows in the UK & USA.
The decline stated when the show moved to the St Catharines location around the mid '90's & I cannot say why this decline got going but it did over the yrs, & both vendor & attendee attendance gradually became poorer & poorer. The show moved briefly (2 yrs I think) to Kitchener & this turned out to be a disaster.
The decline continued with one exception in 2007 when the MCC & CSMMI put on a combined show & this show was quite successful. I did very well at this show & the displays were first class.
I missed the next two yrs but returned in 2010 & this show was a disaster also, primarily due to a conflict with another show in the 905 area that no one seemed to know about, & it seemed as if the CSMMI organizing committee was unaware of it also, thus attendance was way down on all three days of the show. Many vendors were complaining about the poor attendance & resultant loss of revenue.

The show moved back to Burlington I think in 2011. I attended as a spectator in 2012 & noted the attendance on Sat morning was poor but the displays were much better than 2010.

So I thought I would give it one more go this yr as the format was now two days (Fri/Sat) with the Sunday eliminated.
Unfortunately this years show was also a disaster with poor attendance on both days. I checked at the front desk on Fri before departing & was told the 36 had come in the front gate. I did the same at varying times on Sat & just before I left at 1330, 55 had been thru the gate. Now numbers like this are very very poor for a so called 'major show'.

So why is this decline occurring??? Why is Etobicoke & Markham (now Oshawa) so successful at attracting attendees?

& that question I don't have an answer for! Perhaps its the location, cost of tables (as mentioned by Clive) could be a factor when you include the other additional expenses (& they can mount up quickly), perhaps time of year??
Weather was not a problem last weekend.

But I do know if the collectors don't attend then the dealers will cease to attend as its just not cost effective for them!

I know I lost money at this show & it was (for me) the worst show I have attended in as long as I can remember, thus I have decided I wont be attending any more CSMMI shows in future yrs.

& If I've bored anyone I apologize, but I guess I just had to get this disaster off my plate.....

RCN Bryan

Hi Bryan, Your sentiments were expressed by more than one vendor. At least 3 others said the same.
There are hundreds of factors that affect the success of a show, but one that is hard to shake off is reputation/noteriety. Personally, I haven't made a decsion, but then I did well at this show even with the poor attendance. But, the reason I did well was in part due to some pre-arranged meetings.

Bill,

I guess I used The MAX show or SOS as my gauge of “BIG”. I faithfully attended The MAX show and other U.S. shows for many years but have since sold off my German collection and narrowed in on 1st Can Para. I was at the MAX Show last year and did find some nice Canadian stuff to buy, however, that show is still primarily German focused.

I would prefer to spend my money here in Canada which is why I’m inquiring about what would be considered a ‘good show’ to attend?

Thanks