[susieq]

"Gee,,,this really got off the track from the original post...sorry,,s just pop in my head and out they come....just have to run with them."

and it's contagious, Mark......geez louise........that sounds like a blast!
Probably not do-able this year, not enough time to plan/carve....
but it would be a bang up idea to plan for a year or so ahead of time. Next year?

[mark yundt]

I think you got the idea,,I guess I described it O.K.,,but really,,,think of the potential as well as the benefits. It's a win-win for everyone. Some sponsorship from the magazine if possible,,and their exposure,,seeing carvings and getting people interested,,here is the mag..here are some carvings,,someone carving in the booth,,Q&A,,The carvers pick up the difference in booth rental. The percentages and fees would be drastically cut for each carver displaying.And we'd be talking up out friends carvings since we know them better than most.Put a real pitch man in the booth and sell your buns off. Besides most carvers don't talk up their own carvings enough to really move them and are too shy to ask for the right price cause they don't think they're good enough. To me ,,some other carvings are the greatest thing since sliced bread!

[mark yundt]

Originally Posted by mark yundt

I think you got the idea,,I guess I described it O.K.,,but really,,,think of the potential as well as the benefits. It's a win-win for everyone. Some sponsorship from the magazine if possible,,and their exposure,,seeing carvings and getting people interested,,here is the mag..here are some carvings,,someone carving in the booth,,Q&A,,The carvers pick up the difference in booth rental. The percentages and fees would be drastically cut for each carver displaying.And we'd be talking up out friends carvings since we know them better than most.Put a real pitch man in the booth and sell your buns off. Besides most carvers don't talk up their own carvings enough to really move them and are too shy to ask for the right price cause they don't think they're good enough. To me ,,some other carvings are the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Oh BOB D,,,,are you out there Mr.Duncan? Got any thoughts on this puppy?

[BobD]

Sorry...I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it!

Off the cuff, it's a great idea! Really a community building effort! The logistics are intimidating, but it's a great concept.

Let me stew on it a bit (let my subconscious work on it a bit) and talk to some people here at the office.

Bob

[sccarnes]

doris,
i told my wife about this question , and mentioned the 1st thing i ever did, she laughed and said one of my daughters had it, i thought i had thrown it away, she said you did but nancy dug it out, i aks her to let me see it, and tooka picture ,
i was one of my recovery periods, from the hospital and i had time a chunck of red wood and a box cutter,
after many days i thought i will never get this,
many years later, many $ and much fun i found this site, wow , i got many things to learn, and at 79 yeard old too,
last year my grand daughter placed in the top 10 at the Quater horse Congress, i thougth i should carve some special for her, and when i gave it to her on xmas day , she got tears and so did I. she does not know the paint job is not so good and the is the wrong color and her face is not up to par,but both she and i enjoy it
please don't tell her i am not happy with the carving,
the good carver inspire me to get better.
the good carvers share with out any delay and thus i know i am with good people,
thanks for asking the question , it was a trip.
sam

[Lynn O. Doughty]

I think a carver's "Market Place" in the magazine would be something that is much more realistic. Check out the Open Range section of s & Indians magazine. I was featured in there a number of years back and it generated sales into the thousands all across the U.S. and as far afield as Austrailia and Europe. Didn't cost me anything but it sure put my name out there. Just several carvers could be picked each issue and a couple photos along with a short paragraph or two and a website or address link. Southwest Art magazine has a secton titled "New Artists to Watch" where they do the same thing with about 5 or 6 painters or sculptors.

[BobD]

That's another good idea.

Now...my knee-jerk reaction is "since we are a how-to magazine, how much of a benefit is it for people to be in our magazine; what's to stop them from making it themselves?"

Then I remembered how many people on here buy carvings from each other. Carvers appreciate what goes into a carving, and like to collect "bits" from their friends and people they admire...which means something like this would be useful.

Bob

[sccarnes]

sorry trying to figured out how to load picture, and to learn how to use spell check
sam
feel like i am in the wrong place, but spent to much time to figure out how to do this so i will post the pictures of the carving i mantioned above
thanks
sam

[Lynn O. Doughty]

Whether people "make it" really depends on the person not the exposure. Sure it helps, but if word gets around that the product being reproduced is not up to snuff a correction takes place. A magazines real responsibility comes from applying an educated eye to the quaility adn originality of the carvings presented. That way not only does the carver benefit but the magazine does also. Just like in judging contests, and I realize there are those out there who dislike competitions, it's generally the best carvings that are chosen.

As for selling, you're right, carvers like to collect other carvers work. At the moment, being as I've pretty well stopped advertising, I sell almost exclusively to fellow carvers and I haven't noted any fall in sales.

[mark yundt]

Well as usual ,just as the medium we have chosen,,this thread has sprouted two new branches to work on.
One is the format of the magazine. The other is possible advertising for the mag itself as well as incorporate our family of carvers into a selling venue.

Maybe these topics should be moved to another thread such as off topic for greater exposure as some might simply overlook these here?
They are both great ideas.

In any particular mag there are always sections devoted to people/businesses devoted to that topic. This is fine for those with the advertising dollars to spend to promote their business. Lynns example of his situation is spot on. Just as it is with home repair ,civil war, model cars,boating mags etc. It's a natural tie in. But for many carvers this would not serve their interests as it's not a business for them nor do they have interest in advertising or promoting it as such. They just want to occasionally sell a few pieces to make a couple of bucks and thin their "inventory".

But I was mainly interested in not only promoting the magazine to carvers,,as this isn't a carving show,,but to a whole new audience of people who might not know it exists right at their fingertips. This could generate new blood ( don't all new carvers generate some new blood at times?) But this just might serve those carvers on the board here as an outlet,,at least once a year to generate some sales. Selling is always a topic here running from "where do I sell,,booths are so expensive,,should I try e-bay,,I'm not full time but would like to sell a few pieces etc.etc. " we've all read the posts. Well this ,or something like it, would serve those very people well. It would lower their costs as opposed to buying their own booth,,let alone fill it with merchandise. Give them great exposure to a buying minded public at a terrific time of the year. It would turn into a virtual gallery of woodcarving with a woodcarving magazine there to boot! Would not be much different than if I owned a gallery and had all my artists send stuff to display at one major event where people had only one thing on their mind,,,buying something unique for Christmas other than a tie.