[Scuderia_Turini]

Hello all,
A group of retailers are providing some retail-therapy via a Virtual SlotFest.  Details in link below.

Leo

http://www.virtualslotfest.co.uk

[CMOTD]

A bit underwhelming as it stands, just five firms giving a bit of discount. Hardly much of a festival, are any more going to join in?

Wasn't Riko on SFI supposed to be organising something more substantial?

[Scuderia_Turini]

Hello Brian,
Yes there was discussion about something more in keeping with the facilities at Gaydon. Predictably there was a rush of people saying they will provide live input...   Its not clear to me how the actual presentation would work, an anchor/chair person would be needed so that presenters would not over-run their time (and be cut-off if their presentation was rubbish!). Nothing is worse than watching a presentation where the presenter keeps repeating themselves and drifting off-topic.

Leo

[woodcote]

It's a very big ask to organise and coordinate an online event that's any good - nothing could come close to the festival itself. Glad some of the traders have gotten together with some discounts, freebies and special offers. I hope there'll be more...

Scalextric said they'd reveal the 2021 Scalextric Club Car at Gaydon and the likes of Slot.it, Policar and Thunderslot usually have some news to share. George Turner will have a few new models available at the weekend with 10% discount and free postage.

I shall certainly miss the weekend very much. Here are some of my pics from last year: https://slotracer.online/community/showt...hp?tid=366

[Mr Modifier]

It was my suggestion to the mods at SFI that something be done to mark Gaydon with a virtual slot festival.  Colin (Riko) was very supportive and we tried to involve the UKSF organisers and they weren’t interested.  I suggested it months ago as I knew it would take some organising.  I even had some hobby traders gearing up to do events as well as proxy races etc.  But ultimately there wasn’t enough support.

What UKSF organisers have failed to appreciate is the first law of physics and business is that if you leave a vacuum something will fill it.  UKSF left a vacuum that the organisers could have filled but they screwed up and somebody else has taken the opportunity and even encouraged some Gaydon regulars to engage.

It’s a great shame that the idea didn’t take off - it was intended to retain a little of the flavour of Gaydon and was intended as support for UKSF rather than competition.  They passed and now they have genuine competition.

Ultimately it won’t hurt UKSF but it will probably lose them a few thousands in sales - unless they respond with their own weekend offers.

It’s a shame and they can moan but in the end UKSF organisers only have themselves to blame.

[Scuderia_Turini]

Its great that some organisations are keeping the weekend alive to some extent. Hopefully the main event will restart post Lockdown and perhaps, as with our personal lives, there will be a re-think of process.


The retailer group may find that their income greater overall due to the lack of participation expenses and could lead to an annual/regular bargain weekend. 

If the virtual weekend starts at midnight on Friday that suits me as I am a night owl...

Leo

[CMOTD]

It’s a shame and they can moan but in the end UKSF organisers only have themselves to blame.

Shortsighted yes but not unexpected. Two of the three organisers (Roger Barker and Scale Models) rarely engage with any of the forums while Pendle's only contribute in a limited fashion so they were always unlikely to help SFI take over the brand with an alternative virtual version.

[dvd3500]

A bit odd in this day and age...
Mind you, I am a little shocked at the lack of tech savviness in schools (see my grind my gears thread...)

[Anthony B]

Really sad that GT had to come out on his site to defend what they are doing.......... it is a good idea and initiative.....

Just before I retired from IBM, the CEO on one of her weekly blogs (new way of contact driven by the virus) stated that what big corporation in the USA are stating is that business is about to do a fundamental shift in how business is carried out. That rang a thread of truth in me. I believe unless you adapt - you just may die (business wise).

The trouble is that 2 of the main supporters of UKSF, do not have a retail outlet and thus this encroaches on their turf. (My view anyway)