Regarding the Paris pipe show

TreverT · Post by **TreverT** » Fri May 20, 2005 12:16 pm

I've talked to a few folks from here about attending this new show, since I was very enthusiastic about trying to get it off to a good start and hopefully seeing it turn into a European answer to the popular US shows. Unfortunately, it's gotten less appealing as more information has come to light, and at this point I am officially not attending, and I would suggest that there is very little reason for those pipe artisans who post here to spend the cash either. For the full story, you can see my site link here:
http://www.talbertpipes.pair.com/paris.shtml

This is a huge disappointment to me, as I was really looking forward to having a fun show that I could easily attend. C'est la vie!

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Fri May 20, 2005 1:25 pm

ICK... thanks for the heads up. As if reason #1 wasn't enough (table cost) the rest of it sounds like a very heavy-handed, micro-managed money maker. Big corporate meets the pipe show. icky... very icky.

JMB · Post by **JMB** » Fri May 20, 2005 1:48 pm

Trever, IMO you speak for 99.9% of us. Thanks

TreverT · Post by **TreverT** » Fri May 20, 2005 2:32 pm

I'm at a loss to decide what ticks me off the most, but I think not being able to buy tobacco and not being allowed to smoke have to be some of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard of. Shopping for (and occasionally mooching) new tobaccos is half the appeal of a show for me. Even considering that I am a pipemaker, I can't help but think that a show that was JUST pipes would be... well, boring and very one-dimensional.

sagiter · Post by **sagiter** » Fri May 20, 2005 3:01 pm

Trever,

While the smoking portion is certainly silly at best I find that two other points irk me almost if not equally. First is this hiding your head in the sand concerning the internet business. I mean let's face it, the internet is not going away any time soon and not facing it's inevitable effects on our day to day lives and hobbies is absolutely absurd. N ext this lack of collectors is patently ridiculous because without collectors where would any of us in this business be ? I'm interested in reading the responses on the French newsgroup concerning any of this although I don't think the majority will care a twaddle. I had a running dialogue with our mutiual friend Erwin VH concerning the utter lack of concern of these pipe colllectors that the Chicago show even existed let alone was approaching rapidly.

I had a small hope of convincing my wife of attending with me (she speaks French while I like you dabble and don't do well at it at all). I figured for a reasonabl price i could ship one or two bags to Erwin or you, carry one each and pack one each so that I could at least finance the trip (I wouldn't hope for an actual profit ). Oh well c'est la vie !!

Neil

TreverT · Post by **TreverT** » Fri May 20, 2005 4:48 pm

sagiter wrote:Trever,

While the smoking portion is certainly silly at best I find that two other points irk me almost if not equally. First is this hiding your head in the sand concerning the internet business. I mean let's face it, the internet is not going away any time soon and not facing it's inevitable effects on our day to day lives and hobbies is absolutely absurd. N ext this lack of collectors is patently ridiculous because without collectors where would any of us in this business be ? I'm interested in reading the responses on the French newsgroup concerning any of this although I don't think the majority will care a twaddle. I had a running dialogue with our mutiual friend Erwin VH concerning the utter lack of concern of these pipe colllectors that the Chicago show even existed let alone was approaching rapidly.

I had a small hope of convincing my wife of attending with me (she speaks French while I like you dabble and don't do well at it at all). I figured for a reasonabl price i could ship one or two bags to Erwin or you, carry one each and pack one each so that I could at least finance the trip (I wouldn't hope for an actual profit ). Oh well c'est la vie !!

Neil

Regarding the internet... Well, I could vent at considerable length about that, but will refrain. Suffice to say that France is in a time warp, net-wise. When I arrived here three years ago, dial-up was commonplace and ADSL virtually nonexistent. Also, NOBODY had email addresses - I would often offer to exchange emails and usually just got blank stares. I've read some theories that slow internet take-up in France was a side-effect of the success of Minitel in the 80's and 90's, with folks reluctant to "try something new" when they already had Minitel, but who knows, really? In any event, the mentality continues - all artisans must have the goal to make 2000 cheap pipes a year, sell them to distributors, and have them filter out to B&M's. There is no other way to do business. Things have improved a good deal in only the three years I've lived here, but the sheer level of broad-scale net awareness and accessibility still hasn't caught up to where my part of rural NC was three years ago. When you're still trying to catch up with the south side of Davidson County, it says something.

It's frustrating on different levels. On the one hand, I get annoyed that the French pipe world is so inward-looking, but on the other hand there is the fact that they simply don't get exposed to anything else. This show is a classic example - when/if it happens, it will be a pipe show entirely populated by large French pipe factories, perhaps with factory-employed artisans in tow to represent "the pipemakers", and all anyone attending will see is that
* All pipes are factory-made by French companies, and should cost $85 or so
* All artisans are French, and employed by the big factories
* There are only four or five types of tobacco in the world (St. Claude, Clan, Amsterdammer, etc)

So.. it's hard to blame them for not seeming interested or even being aware of outside markets. The dangerous side is that this sort of "Ignore the rest of the world and make our own market" thinking has been tried many times, most recently by the USSR........

On the bright side, however, now you can just forget the show, fly over for the price of a plane ticket, and stay here and drink free Breton whiskey and wine every night .. AND get to see some exotic pipes and play in a pipe workshop

geigerpipes · Post by **geigerpipes** » Sat May 21, 2005 2:31 am

well that surtainly spoils the fun of attending.....a shame

love
www.geigerpipes.com

ScoJo · Post by **ScoJo** » Sat May 21, 2005 11:41 am

Sounds like a show I wouldn't be breaking my back to attend.

ToddJohnson · Post by **ToddJohnson** » Sat May 21, 2005 1:31 pm

sagiter wrote:I had a running dialogue with our mutiual friend Erwin VH concerning the utter lack of concern of these pipe colllectors that the Chicago show even existed let alone was approaching rapidly.

You mean all three European collectors were ignoring the show? That's a shame.

Todd

bscofield · Post by **bscofield** » Sat May 21, 2005 6:26 pm

ToddJohnson wrote:
sagiter wrote:I had a running dialogue with our mutiual friend Erwin VH concerning the utter lack of concern of these pipe colllectors that the Chicago show even existed let alone was approaching rapidly.
You mean all three European collectors were ignoring the show? That's a shame.

Todd

Todd, you are always so reserved... tell us what you reall think.

Rip_pipe · Post by **Rip_pipe** » Sun May 22, 2005 8:39 am

Well, well, well... You can imagine how much we are disapointed by the way this pipe show goes... I'm sure we will react very soon, here in France and I hope we'll be a bit more than two or three pipes collectors

!

Bonne pipe,
OlivierR

carthagena · Post by **carthagena** » Sun May 22, 2005 9:16 am

Hello Olivier and glad to hear you there

Of course, in France, we are all disappointed by the news. Unfortunately I'm agree with all what Trever said. It's a shame, I'm really sad about that.
The pipe carvers here are not as much as here in the US, I'm not a pipe carver, only a novice but I would like have met some of you.
But that's right, in France, we are few people to visit pipe carvers websites and few to read and take part of forums. So, we are few, for the moment, to react to this non official news...
:dunno:

Happy smoking to you all,
David.