NAMES 2024?

[bhouin]

Does anyone know if the NAMES show is going to come back this year? I didn't see anything on their site but don't know how frequently it is updated.

Bob

 

[GreenTwin]

Depends on who you ask.

Some say maybe; some say definitely not.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that somebody can do a hail mary and save that show.

.
Edit:
One converstation I had recently with someone who supports these model engine shows concerned the cost of setting up and operating a show.
The conclusion we reached is that setting up and operating a NAMES-sized show would not be cheap, and somebody has to pay for that.
It is a zero sum game; somehow the revenue produced by a show must equal the cost of setting up and running that show.
One or more sponsors with deep pockets would definitely make a difference in many cases as far as whether a show would be financially feasible.

Edit02:
The thing I liked about NAMES was the venue, which was I think an ice hockey arena.
The tables were set up in a large racetrack fashion, with zig-zagged tables, and that made for a nice flow of people, and provided a huge amount of table and vendor display space.

Would another venue with a different layout work as well as NAMES?
Only time will tell.
My guess is that any venue layout with good sponsors would probably succeed, assuming it is not an 18 hour drive from the middle of the US.
(My opinion) It needs to be a relatively central location, lots of easy access parking, sufficient hotels and restaurants in the area, not in a crime-ridden city, near a major expressway, and held somewhere where there is little possibility of a snowstorm or blizzard.

I think many can and do set up small model engine shows.
I think a NAMES-sized show is beyond what most groups/clubs can pull off.

One problem I have run into with a show which I use to attend is access when setting up and taking down.
Parking is very limited; one driveway in/out; and always someone who blocks the driveway and proceeds to take 45 minutes to unload his stuff.
Engines are heavy, and often expensive.
Don't expect folks to carry engines a long distance, or leave them in an unprotected/unguarded/tent space overnight.
NAMES got a lot of things right in a lot of ways.

.

 

[Lakc]

I see they have lost their domain name and website, such a shame

 

[GreenTwin]

I find it highly ironic that I had heard about NAMES for many years, and it was known as one of the model engine meccas of the USA.
I know of some folks who traveled across the world to attend.

I started trying to build model engines starting around 2009, and then got interested in attending NAMES, but was very busy with life/work/family.
As the 2019 show date approached, I told my wife "I have to get up there and attend that show. What if something happens, and they never have a NAMES show again ?".
Prophetic words for sure.

I threw a few items in the car, including the unfinished green twin engine, and made a dash up north.
It was a red-eye run for sure, and I think I drove 12 hours straight.

I had a great time at the show, and bumped into a friend of mine from Louisiana, who also made a last minute decision to drive up.
(photo attached)

I enjoyed the show a great deal, and talked with anyone/everyone (vendors and attendees) for two days.
I was making plans to attend the show in 2020 and bring the wife, and the rest is history........................

I guess where one thinks the hobby is headed depends on your perspective.
Some would say the hobby is in sharp decline.
Others (myself included) see the hobby as being in a Renaissance period, where 3D model, 3D pattern printing, CNC pattern making, and backyard casting work, including casting work in gray iron, have taken this hobby to levels that many/most did not seem possible not too many years ago.

Hobby folks being able to design, cast, and create their own unique engines has insulated us somewhat from the vagaries of the casting kit world.
If all the casting kit companies vanish overnight, this hobby will continue, with excellent engine castings being make on a hobby level.

The best way I have seen to get new folks into the hobby is to combine model engine work with Maker's Faires, such as what the Soule Museum does in Mississippi.
It is not enough that we build engines; we have to teach the next generation the craft, and somehow enable them to continue this hobby.
There needs to be a full-court-press of training young people how to do this hobby.

.

 

[55fairlane]

Here the rumor on the street (by someone very close to the NAMES show) the couple (husband & wife) who get president & treasure, he is (was) rapidly dieing, the are broke, she saw the amount of cash in the till and started using for there personal needs, then covid hit and a great to cover there tracks, shut the show down , claiming this, that & the other.
NAMES is dead, ain't coming back
With that, we would so like, to welcome you to the Indiana Model Engine Show October 4th and 5th at the National auto and truck museum in Auburn Indiana!

 

[Richard Hed]

I have to say that in Europe where modeling is a great deal more "noticed" that the population density simply MUST have an effect. Look at Germany and Britain, they both are countries comparable to a state in the USA but their Population and population density are much higher than anywhere in USA (except for the big cities) and to be able to drive from one side of a country (or take the train) is quite easy in comparison to ME driving from the Soviet of Washington or from the Las Vegas area to Chicago, NY, Massachusetts, Texas--cost prohibitive not even speaking of time. HOwever, I could easily fly to these places for about the same cost or even less but then there is the consideration of whether or not I wished to display my toys.

In that case, the planes would be reluctant (oir cost prohibitive) to transport such items. Then, of course, is the costs of hotels and foods. The USA is a big and nearly empty country. It's too bad we couldn't thimpfk up a regional method of displaying. I know that the Soviet has a LOT of modelers and BC, Oregon, MOntana and Idaho have plenty also. Then there is California with tons of modelers particularly in the LA area (a short way from Las Vegas and not excessively far from Utah, Arizona or NM or even Mexico. As far as the rest of the country, I am simply not familiar enough with it except to say that the mid-west has LOTs of empty space and have no idea how many modelers there are there.

Starting about Minnesota and going east, the population density starts to rise and east of Texas the population rises. I'm sure peeps in those regions could put their one cent in on that.