[Woodcarver] New Question from Chris Whillock

[Joe Dillett]

Hi Chris,

What recession? Is there a recession going on that nobody told me about?

I've noticed a drop-off is show sales over the last few years. Peoples' 
impulse-buying budget seemed to drop to an all-time low. The attendance 
dropped a little but the purchases dropped much lower. This has been my 
experience with shows in general and what other woodcarvers and crafters 
have told me. The last few years, before I retired the beginning of last 
year, my off-the-shelf sales were very slim so I relied on my backlog of 
commissions to keep me going.

Our club, Fox Valley Woodcarvers, seems to be growing because it is a fairly 
new club. The South Suburban Chiselers, in South Holland Illinois, had 
hundreds of members, a museum and ran regular classes. That club is really 
struggling and meeting next Saturday to decide on whether it will fold up or 
not. I don't know what happened but I think the younger people did not get 
enough involved and the older members got too old to run it. With several 
buildings their operating budget, I believe $33K per year, is too large for 
a shrinking club to handle. They may be facing bankruptcy in a few months.

The dynamics of clubs are interesting. It seem like the same rule of thumb 
applies to carving clubs, as with almost any organization, 20% of the people 
do 80% of the work. Some clubs seem to thrive because those few people who 
do the work are well liked, full of energy and work well with others. 
However get one or two &%#$& imposing their will on the club and it goes 
south pretty quickly. Another case is the younger member are not taking over 
because the older members still want things done their way. It's difficult 
with any group of individuals to keep everyone happy.

I think the interest in classes is staying the same or even growing but the 
cost of the class is stopping them. It seems like some of the baby-boomers 
are wondering what they are going to do with all their retirement time. They 
are looking for something that doesn't cost too much and maybe even bring in 
a few extra dollars. A clay class that I'm taking now it cost $240 for 8 
weeks from 6:30 to 9:30 Wednesday evenings. We get free firing and free 25 
lbs of clay. We also get free studio time from noon to 10 PM on Tuesdays. 
The class included throwing and sculpting. We couldn't get 6 students so he 
decided to still run the class with 3 of us. Even with such a good deal it 
was spending the $240 that stopped most people from taking it. I feel the 
studio is loosing money but still needed some income.

Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552

(815) 498-9290 phone
(815) 498-9249 fax
http://www.thecarvingshop.net [business web site]
http://www.carvingmagazine.com ['Ask Joe' column]
http://community.webshots.com/user/joe_dillett
******************************************************************


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matt Kelley" <celtcarver at comcast.net>
To: "Woodcarver List" <woodcarver at carverscompanion.com>
Cc: "Chris Whillock" <chris at woodcarverswarehouse.com>
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 11:36 AM
Subject: [Woodcarver] New Question from Chris Whillock



> Friends in Carving: Please support our List - visit the Carvers' Campanion 

> Shop at http://cafepress.com/woodcarving

>

>

>

> A question from Chris Whillock:

>

>

>> From: Chris <chris at woodcarverswarehouse.com>

>> Date: March 13, 2009 7:03:08 AM GMT-04:00

>>

>>

>> Here is my question:

>>

>> Hello All,

>>

>> I have a question I've been wanting some feedback on.....

>>

>> Have carving shows been affected by the recession? Have you noticed  less 

>> people attending shows, are they buying as much in the past?  What has 

>> been your experience ...

>>

>> What about classes, club activities etc ....

>>

>> I'd really appreciate any comments you can share ...

>>

>> Thanks much!

>>

>> Chris Whillock

>>

>>

>>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Woodcarver mailing list

> Woodcarver at carverscompanion.com

> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/woodcarver

>