I enjoyed the show as I have in years past at the Armory, Cordage and Kingston. Kudos to the MSBA for their hardwork in pulling this off.

With that said, I think those who say this is primarily a social event need to look a little deeper. If what you are looking for is a social event, fine, but that doesn't help the vendors who need to make enough $$ to justify their effort. Vendors need customers to buy product to make it worth their while and many people are attracted to the show not for social ties, or for that matter an interest in the social gathering, but to buy stuff.

Having people come and talk is great, but if the vendors don't sell anything, why bring the goods? Just go to a club meeting and hang out...

The danger I see for this expo is a downward spiral.

It was very evident to me that this year was significantly down in terms of vendors. Last year appeared (to me) to be down compared to the year before. I am now questioning whether I will go next year as their is less to look at and shop for. With lower attendance, fewer vendors will show up. It is a death spiral.

Also, those who say RISSA should be moved because they have only been doing it for 4 years are missing something called competition. Last I checked the RI show has 4-5 times the vendors as the MSBA show. Newer yes, but much bigger. I only have time for one show and if I had not been away next weekend, it would have been RI not the MA show.

Competition is what it is.

That said, I'm thrilled with my new CMS rod and assortment of RonZ plastics. I enjoyed Flaps presentation as well.

I think there has been a lot of honest feedback on this board that MSBA should listen to. If a social gathering is desired, fantastic. But if an expo with vendors is desired, there may be some trouble ahead.

great post cape codder
with all thats been said I'll add my .02......
I will attend anywhere the club does a show....but after 2 years, I don't think Gillette is the place for it...a free trade show, ya....but not if you have to spend all that coin and still not find an abundance of gear or deals.....bigger isnt alway better
I do understand finding space is an issue....but there is always a solution....kudos to Patrick and the crew....
THE SHOW MUST GO ON :)

Again....must reiterate......11 vendors cancelled Friday due to the weather....that roughly translates to 1/10th of the shows vendors......that is one reason things seemed lean! What do you think would happen to the RISSA show if the same thing happened? There would be cancellations and the show would be missing some vendors.

Remember....if you don't support these events...in good years and in bad....they will disappear.....then you will have something to complain about!

I want to thank the MSBA people for putting on a great show. My dad had a booth there for the first time this year (Laura-Jay Charters) and he was very happy. I was only there for the set-up, but the fact that there were 5 guys waiting at the loading dock all with dolleys waiting to help you transport your gear was impressive.
We saw a ton of people, sold almost all of the daisy chains I crimped up, overall it was a success. (Thanks to the pt Jude guys for loaning us an extra table, or my tuna gear would have been on the floor).
Normally we only do 3 shows, 2 small ones and RISAA. We'll definately be back next year.
That must be a ton of work with an all volunteer staff. Great Work guys.

I haven't been to the MSBA show since it moved to Gillete - not that I don't want to go but because I don't like "Big Venues". It was always my favorite show before it moved.
The RISAA show is a turn off for me - too big and what I shell out for parking and entry could buy a Beachmaster.
The SWE show is smaller - much more intimate - free parking, free entry. Hard to beat. Nice talking with a vendor without 10 guys looking over your shoulder. This show and Plugathon are my favorites. They give me the fix I need to get to casting time.

But success of various shows sometimes means expanding to a larger space - a real fine line here.

One thing is sure - the guys who put on these shows work their but off - they deserve lots of credit.

DZ

MSBA Show
 

I enjoyed the show. A few great presentations, and some great custom gear got me worked up for the season. Plus talking w/#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, made the $15.00 well worth the trip. Heck, $15.00 is less than a round of drinks at your favorite watering hole.
Great job MSBA, the show was fantastic.

The MSBA show was great thanks for all the people that stopped by the booth. Ya bigfish is right We cant afford to have this show dissapear. Its always been one of my favorites and i've attended it for years. Remember you got people like patrick doin all the organizing and johnny "cherrybeak " cherico setting up and everyone else that helps out. They do it for us not for them . Thanks for a great show see you next year no matter what SANTINI

Thats always been my thoughts DZ.
IF I'm not looking for a deal on a big ticket item, the parking and entrance at RISAA or other big shows just isn't worth it. A beachmaster?
Parking/Entrance is 1+Dozen eels or 4 Redfins on sale :D

The future of the MSBA Expo for next year will be in the hands of its membership at Wednesday nights meeting. Hopefully everyone will realize the value and importance of holding this event. I believe that without the weather we encountered just before the show, the expo would have been a huge success! We don't live in a perfect world, but everyone did everything possible to make sure that everyone had a great time and things went as smoothly as possible. The seminars were awesome and there was still a great variety of fishing equipment and charter services. I'm glad that all of the vendors that were present gave credit to all of the MSBA members that were there to help load and unload. I've never seen anyone work at anything as hard as Patrick did on this event. Hopefully, MSBA membership will take everything into consideration and agree that an expo next year would be the best thing for this club.