Joe Leigh
10-20-2013, 5:44 PM
I drove 11 hours to Covington Kentucky on Friday, to attend my first WIA conference, and what follows are some of my personal observations. First, the Cincinnatti and Covington areas are very nice. The riverfront location of the convention center is beautiful with the Cincinnatti skyline in the background. There were several hotels just steps from the convention center making this venue very convenient.
My first impression was that the square footage was fairly small, and many fewer vendors/displays than I had imagined. With the exception of Woodcraft, which had a very large presence, there were only two power tool manufacturers, Bosch and Sawstop. This was must definitely a hand tool event. In fact the Sawstop rep was very lonely most of the time. I spent the entire day Saturday in the marketplace shopping, observing and trying to absorb as much expert information as I could. And there were many experts onsite. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Tommy Mac. He walks and talks at 100 MPH, just like on TV, but a nice guy who freely answered and took the time to listen to any questions asked.
As you can imagine, Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley had the largest and most heavily visited displays with all of their tools on display and available to be used and scrutinized.
All of the guys from LN and LV were very accommodating and we never felt rushed. In fact I spent a good deal of time with Rob Lee as he explained how his shoulder planes are used, demonstrating and answering questions. I am now the proud owner of a LV medium shoulder plane. LV also offered a 10% discount on all their stuff and included free shipping. Very few other vendors offered any discount at all which was surprising.
There were several free demonstrations available in the marketplace area which I took advantage of and a food service was also available with hot and cold foods that was very convenient and fairly priced. Saturday was cold and rainy so not having to leave the building for lunch was a good thing.
All in all it was a great time, and most of the people were friendly and gave freely of their time and knowledge. The one exception, and this is just my opinion, was Rob Cosman. He seemed to be in constant sell mode. Constantly hawking his dovetail saw or marking knife. In fact his whole dovetail cutting demonstration is really one big commercial. know that he is a businessman and his job is to schmooz and generate sales, but every time someone asked a question he just kept referring to some DVD or online membership. There is however no denying his skills.
Well I probably won't be making that 11-12 hour drive again, but it was a great time. I met some great folks from Woodpeckers and purchased a few squares. I also picked up a few odds and ends from Lie Nielsen. I made a few new friends and had a great time. It went by way too quickly, but I can't wait for my purchases to come. I hope everyone else that went had as good a time as I did.
My first impression was that the square footage was fairly small, and many fewer vendors/displays than I had imagined. With the exception of Woodcraft, which had a very large presence, there were only two power tool manufacturers, Bosch and Sawstop. This was must definitely a hand tool event. In fact the Sawstop rep was very lonely most of the time. I spent the entire day Saturday in the marketplace shopping, observing and trying to absorb as much expert information as I could. And there were many experts onsite. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Tommy Mac. He walks and talks at 100 MPH, just like on TV, but a nice guy who freely answered and took the time to listen to any questions asked.
As you can imagine, Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley had the largest and most heavily visited displays with all of their tools on display and available to be used and scrutinized.
All of the guys from LN and LV were very accommodating and we never felt rushed. In fact I spent a good deal of time with Rob Lee as he explained how his shoulder planes are used, demonstrating and answering questions. I am now the proud owner of a LV medium shoulder plane. LV also offered a 10% discount on all their stuff and included free shipping. Very few other vendors offered any discount at all which was surprising.
There were several free demonstrations available in the marketplace area which I took advantage of and a food service was also available with hot and cold foods that was very convenient and fairly priced. Saturday was cold and rainy so not having to leave the building for lunch was a good thing.
All in all it was a great time, and most of the people were friendly and gave freely of their time and knowledge. The one exception, and this is just my opinion, was Rob Cosman. He seemed to be in constant sell mode. Constantly hawking his dovetail saw or marking knife. In fact his whole dovetail cutting demonstration is really one big commercial. know that he is a businessman and his job is to schmooz and generate sales, but every time someone asked a question he just kept referring to some DVD or online membership. There is however no denying his skills.
Well I probably won't be making that 11-12 hour drive again, but it was a great time. I met some great folks from Woodpeckers and purchased a few squares. I also picked up a few odds and ends from Lie Nielsen. I made a few new friends and had a great time. It went by way too quickly, but I can't wait for my purchases to come. I hope everyone else that went had as good a time as I did.