2019 Friendliest Regional in the West!

[Tim Orr]

NAWCC​

Rocky Mountain Regional

Friday, June 14 : 8:30 to 6
Saturday, June 15 : 9:30 to 1
Breakfast Saturday @ 8

Jefferson County Fairgrounds
15200 West 6th Ave (US 6)
Frontage Rd near Indiana St.
Golden CO

Members & Spouses, $10 each (Children under 18 FREE)
Saturday only admission for members & spouses: $5
Public admitted both Friday and Saturday: $5 each
Tables: $25 each

Contact Dave & Nanette Fornof:
stitchnthyme@msn.com
720.879.4173
Registration form: nawcc21.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/rmr2019.pdf

Co-Hosts:
Colorado Chapter 21
Colorado Centennial Chapter 100
Boulder Horological Society Chapter 160
NAWCC Board Representative: Rich Newman
Friendliest Show West of the Mississippi!

Come see Tim Orr at the show: I'll rebate you $5 when you mention you saw this ad!​

 

[Tim Orr]

Good evening, all!

Just a reminder that the Rocky Mountain Regional is coming up a week from tomorrow, Friday, June 14. See my previous post for details.

And, I'll still rebate you $5 if you come to the show. Just find me! I'll be there with a pocketful of fives!

Best regards!

Tim Orr

 

[Chris Radek]

Tim, thanks for the reminder. I'm going to be able to come! I'm excited to meet everyone. I would have said hi for free, but I have to say, this is a much better deal.

 

[Tim Orr]

Howdy, Chris!

I look forward to seeing you and handing you a fiver!

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, all!

We secured some local publicity for our Regional. There's a daily newsletter, website and local newspaper column called "Mile High on the Cheap." (This appears to be a franchise, so there may be branch operations in your area that might be able to help you with YOUR next Regional.)

We got this listing today:
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Ticket Deal! It’s All About Time at Watch & Clock Show

​

It’s about time someone put together a cool watch and clock show. The Watch & Clock Sale and Exhibit runs Friday & Saturday, June 14 & 15 at the JeffCo Fairgrounds. Antique and modern watches, clocks, tools, books and supplies will be on display and for sale. Education exhibits and...
To read this entire post click here. »

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When you click on the link (By the way, the links above here work), you go to a longer story, then there's a link to the web page for the Regional on the Chapter 21 website, and there's also a banner ad in the listings for this coming weekend. So, we got a listing, banner ad, and story that will run all week. Not free. But what worthwhile is? The e-mail newsletter goes out to about 25,000 addresses in the Denver area. They also get many hits via the internet.

The $2 discount is for the purpose of determining whether or not this worked. Way too many times, we do something (ad, brochure, social media, etc.), having absolutely no idea whatsoever whether or not the thing did its job! Judgments end up being based on whether or not people BELIEVE the thing did (or should have) produced a result.

Far be it from anyone to actually do a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether or not it paid off. If you don't track your advertising and marketing, you might just as well throw dollar bills out the window of a speeding car, hoping they will get you business.

Up or down, I'll report later on whether this promotion worked. If it fails, we won't do it again. If it succeeds, I'll recommend we do more!

Best regards!

Tim Orr

 

[Alessandro Demitri]

Tim - I am a new member, mostly interested in wrist watches. How focused on wristwatches is the regional going to be?

 

[Jim Haney]

Tim,
I am looking forward to the results. An open NAWCC show , how refreshing and it should be the way of the future. We have basically locked out the public for years and run around crying about membership losses?

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, Alessandro!

There are always a good number of tables with wrist watches. Some of our regulars are very much into them: Rex Poggenpohl and Tim Schulz are great wrist watch collectors. Other names escape me at the moment, but there are a bunch more. Not sure where you're coming from, but I certainly wouldn't pass up this opportunity. There are also quite a number of others from around the area and even from out of state who join us each year.

Tim Schulz is planning on inviting members of the local Red Bar group and MileHigh Watch Collectors to the show. If you're a member of either of those groups, you might already know Tim, but if not, you should get to know him and ask him about those groups.

Last year, one of our principal speakers was R.T. Custer of Vortic, who gave a fascinating talk about how he and his associates created a whole new business in rescuing at-risk pocket watch movements and turning them into high fashion wrist watch statements.

I would also suggest you get in touch with Tim Schulz to see about becoming a member of Chapter 160. We meet in Boulder once a month, and interest there is about 50-50 between wrist watches and pocket watches. If you like, send me your e-mail address via a private message, and I'll pass it along to Tim so he can add it to the newsletter mailings.

Please come to the show! I'll cut your entry fee in half, and you'll get to meet a bunch of knowledgeable people!

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, Jim!

Thanks for the kind words! We'll see how it goes!

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Tom McIntyre]

I hope it goes well. I am too busy with the National to come but we are offering a similar great first timer deal.

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, Tom!

Many thanks for your best wishes! And mine to you for the promotion you are running for our National Convention!

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Tim Orr]

Good afternoon, all!

One misconception in the "Mile High Living on the Cheap" article. This is not the first time we've invited the public to attend the show. Not sure how that interpretation got in there. I was interviewed for the article, but did not write it. Perhaps something I said implied this was a first.

Also, here's a page listing other cities where similar services are offered:

Our Network - Living On The Cheap

Best regards!

Tim

 

[Jim Haney]

Hi Tim.
I was interested in your results,because of the poor attendance at the National. Tom M. said the National was offering a similar deal. How can that be?

Your $5 entry vs, the National Temporary membership of $40-50 ? Come on......

 

[Tom McIntyre]

Hi Tim.
I was interested in your results,because of the poor attendance at the National. Tom M. said the National was offering a similar deal. How can that be?

Your $5 entry vs, the National Temporary membership of $40-50 ? Come on......

Jim, the $5 deal at the Rocky Mountain Regional did not include membership in the NAWCC. It was a good deal, reducing the cost to enter for the public by half, a savings of $5 and Tim was willing to make it free.

There were two deals being offered at National that both included receiving hard copy publications and a period of membership. The basic entry fee for walk ins was $75, which many members happily paid. Using that as the guideline $95 meant for $20 you got a years full membership and the right to bring in as many family members as you like for $25 each. The 4 month deal meant that you paid nothing to get 4 months full membership and you could still bring in your family for the $25 rate.

NEW FIRST TIME MEMBERS only. They will receive all NAWCC benefits for one year and entrance into the convention and the mart for $95.00 (all lectures, programs, the auction, and Annual Meeting Continental Breakfast). The new member will receive the Watch & Clock Bulletin and the MART magazines 6 times a year also will have full access to the website. Plus they will also be able to use their membership card to get into any of the ASTC ~ Association of Science and Technology Centers at little or no cost. (Check out the ASTC PASSPORT PROGRAM). Or if you would like a 4 month membership, you pay $75.00 to join NAWCC & this also pays for your Mart entrance & 4 month membership. You get all the benefits of the above 1 year membership, but, yours will only be for 4 months TRIAL membership. At the same time you can bring Family member or Friend for $25.00 each all under your new NAWCC membership.

 

[Tim Orr]

Good evening, Jim!

I don't yet have final figures from the Rocky Mountain Regional (our registration chair and treasurer usually need at least a week or two to decompress). However, I can tell you that the "Mile High On The Cheap" promotion was essentially a failure. We got only 3 people who took advantage of the deal, which reduced their entry fee from $5 to $3. The promotion came out of my pocket, and cost $150 (plus the $6 awarded to the folks who responded to it). This is different from what Tom reports above.

The deal offered in this thread was for a $5 rebate on the $10 entry fee that normally would apply to NAWCC Members. Just one, Chris Radek, who posted above, showed up. So, that deal cost me $5. But Chris is a friendly and charming guy, so he fit right in with the Rocky Mountain Regional. He even bought an International 24-hour, 24 v. secondary clock from me.

There were, as I recall, 3 people who showed up from either the Denver Red Bar group or the Mile High watch collectors. Tim Schulz paid admission for those, so those cost Tim $30.

I am reminded of that story of how a Scientific American reporter wanted to visit with Edison to get an update on the development of the electric light. Edison had nothing to report, so showed the reporter a notebook listing something like 1,200 substances that had been tried (and found worthless) as filaments for the bulbs. The reporter remarked, "Well, 1,200 failures. That must be discouraging."

"Not at all," Edison responded, "We now know of at least 1,200 things that won't work."

That's how it is with advertising and promotion: Anyone who tells you he can guarantee results is either a liar or delusional. Testing is the only way to know.

I had high hopes for Mile High On The Cheap. They claim to send out 25,000 e-mails and to have thousands who get to their site via Google searches. The ad and listing and promotion ran from Sunday through Saturday.

We did have about 45 members of the public this year.

More when I learn more.

Best regards!

Tim