Drove 120 miles each way, walked a fair distance in frigid weather, paid a lot of money for gas, parking and admission to the show at the fair grounds and an hour later I was ready to walk out totally disappointed. It seems that every year there is getting to be less and less incentive to attend these shows. I feel that perhaps they have run their course for gathering attention and information to the hobby or that perhaps even though they are becoming even more mediocre, people still support them and by the promoters standards, they claim success, I call them a bust.
This year, with the exception of a General/Shop Fox dealer and he won't be there on Sunday, the only other equipment manufacturer was Dewalt/PC/Delta. I wanted to see some new saws, planers and jointers, they were virtually non-existant. Not a single Jet, Steel City, Sawstop, etc to be seen anywhere. The trend however is fewer and fewer oem manufaturers each year.
If we continue to support these shows, I think they will continue to be degraded further each year. I believe that if the promoters saw their golden goose getting lean, they may start to offer more incentives for us to attend.
Sad to say, this is my last show until things improve.