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Chicago Lumberjocks Meetup/Woodworking Show December 2009

14K views 64 replies 24 participants last post by  jockmike2 
#1 ·
First Information

Hello fellow LumberJocks,

Some of you may have read about the Northern California LumberJocks meetup that just happened. If not you can check out the blog entries here and here.

There is an upcoming Woodworking Show in the Chicago area December 11-13 and the Woodworking Show people have again agreed to provide the LumberJocks with a booth for free.

The show is at:

Rennaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center

Exploration & Discovery Halls

1551 North Thoreau Drive

Schaumburg, IL 60173

Show hours are:

Friday 12-6

Saturday 10-6

Sunday 10-4

I am looking to see how many people are interested in going to the show and who might be able to staff the booth for a while and/or give a demonstration or class. There will be free tickets for anyone who is will to sit at the booth for at least an hour so clear off your calenders and come out for a fun time with other LumberJocks.

I will post more information in this blog series as we get closer and it becomes available. Martin said he will also add this to the events page for people that want to check it out there.
 
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#3 ·
Kyle,

There is going to be a half hearted one in Detroit area this January. I know the venue it will be and seems to be only 1/4 the size of this one.

I'd like to attend, but sure would like to car pool. Can use one of my vehicles.

Anyone in southeastern Michigan or along I-94 interested?????

Steve.
 
#9 ·
I'm going away that weekend, but was planning on attending the show on Friday…I could probably commit an hour or two…pending spousal approval!

I won't have much time to prepare anything in advance, but I'd certainly be willing to help man the booth and talk to folks. I've got a few extra laptops and a couple wireless cards I could bring if that'd help. Do they have wifi there?
 
#10 ·
Hey, Great idea on the lap tops!!!
I took mine to the Northern Cal show. It was used by members to show 'future' LumberJocks what we are all about.

I will suggest some positive manner to tie the laptop down. I've had similar stuff disappear at a trade show where my company has a booth. For the LJ show, I found some very fine cable that would go between the screen and the keyboard. Put a lock on it and everyone thought it was locked to the table.
 
#11 ·
-Robert and Patrick. Sounds great. We'll need to start putting together a schedule of when people could cover the LumberJock booth. I will try to be there for most of the time and whenever other people come stop by for an hour or so that would be great.

I think they do have WiFi. I know for sure we have electricity in our booth. I also have a laptop with wireless that I can bring.

Also, if anyone has ideas for a quick 15 minute class let me know soon. We are supposed to have two or three different ones to give off and on. They will put the titles in the program for us to get people to the booth. I'm trying to come up with one I can do but I'm currently workshop-less so I'm having a hard time. Maybe I'll do some SketchUp demos.
 
#15 ·
Need some response if LumberJocks is going to be a part of this

I saw the photos from the Sacramento event and it looks like everyone had a really good time.

You can check out the pictures here and here.

You can look at the previous post in this blog for more information on the Chicago event. We need some people to at least say they are going to be attending the show. Ideally we would have some people who would be willing to sit at a LumberJocks booth for an hour or even give a short (15 minute) class. I need to get back to the people at the Woodworking Show in the next few days as to whether the LumberJocks will participate in this event or not.

Don't forget. If you hang out with some LumberJocks for just an hour you could have free admission to the Woodworking Show.

Let make this happen LumberJocks.
 
#16 ·
I sure wish I could Kyle, just to meet up with you again, but my health won't allow it right now. I'm still fighting pneumonia. They found the spot in my rt. lung hasn't gone completely and I'm still too weak. I know there are people around there. How about it Rustic? Steve? Russel?
 
#19 ·
ShowOff Opportunity

ShowOff Guidelines 2009/2010

Registration: Online at TheWoodworkingShows.com

Find the link on the home page!

Drop-Off Procedure:

When - Friday between 10:00 and 11:30 am

Where - See the sign at the entrance to the show

Upon drop-off, you will be provided with a tag to identify your project. Your entry MUST be labeled with your contact information and the last six digits of your driver's license number. You will be required to show your driver's license to retrieve your entry. The tag also includes space for a title and description of your project.

Display:

Entries will be displayed in a designated Show Off booth for all three days of the show.

Security:

Entries will be roped off within The ShowOff display area blocking the general public from direct access. The Woodworking Shows provides general security during the show and overnight and will not be responsible for lost or damaged property.

Judging:

Who - The Woodworking Show Educators

When - Sunday afternoon

Prizes:

Prizes will be awarded each week at that specific venue.

The ShowOFF Grand Prize of a Delta Unisaw grand prize will be awarded at the end of the season to the entry with top, overall score.

Pick-Up Procedure:

Projects will be available for pick-up after judging is complete and prizes awarded. Projects MUST be retrieved on SUNDAY AFTERNOON. The Woodworking Shows is not responsible for projects left after the close of show on Sunday.
 
#23 ·
Things are coming together



UPDATE 12/1/2009

I got the tickets in the mail today so I will try to start getting them out to you. I have tickets as follows:

9 - Friday
9 - Saturday
9 - Sunday

If you are able to make it to the show and can hang out at the LumberJocks booth for at least an hour send me a private message with your address and what days you will be working. I'll send the tickets out on a first come, first served basis and keep this thread updated as the tickets disappear.

If you can tell me a general idea of the times you would be available to work the booth that would be helpful also. I'll also keep this thread posted with the times we could use more help in the booth.

---------------------------------------------

Things are really coming together for the Chicago LumberJocks Meetup/Woodworking Show. The free tickets are on their way. Martin is going to be sending me some buttons to pass out to people interested in LumberJocks and we will also be the first event to use the new LumberJocks travelling banner.



If you are coming to the show, or future LumberJock events, you can look for this banner to find the LumberJocks.

We are going to be giving short classes throughout the weekend on:

  • Photography for online posting of woodworking
  • SketchUp Basics
  • Woodshop Safety
  • Benefits of an online woodworking club

We will also have laptops set up so people can browse the LumberJocks site at our booth.

The only thing we are really missing now is LumberJocks! I know that RobertHorton and PatrickJaromin will be there for sure and I'll try to work out a schedule with them. SteveMI is also trying to get a group together to come. That still leaves a lot of free tickets left and a lot of LumberJocks out there.

Where & When

Woodworking Show in the Chicago area December 11-13
Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center
Exploration & Discovery Halls
1551 North Thoreau Drive
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Show on map

Show hours are:

  • Friday 12-6
  • Saturday 10-6
  • Sunday 10-4
 
#49 ·
The First Day



That is our booth setup. Keith Shipp (no relation but it sure is a small world) was able to bring a big TV and laptop from work so we could show people LumberJocks. We had a Powerpoint presentation we could run all the time to try to draw people in. We also figured out the Internet thing… Anyway, we were able to get on the site live and show people around also.

We had a lot people stop by and pick up buttons. Some people that stopped by said they had been to LumberJocks before but hadn't joined so we encouraged them to join.



This is RobertHorton, BlackCherry, and me (kshipp).



This is myself, Keith Shipp, and Robert Horton.

A good time was had by all and we hope to see a lot more LumberJocks out the rest of the days.
 
#50 ·
It does look like you all had a good time and this is a pretty nice way to let people know about the group. Thanks to all of you for taking the time and effort to do this.
 
#60 ·
The Wrap-up

Well, we made it through all three days of the Woodworking Show and had a great time. I think one of us even left without lightening his wallet at all so we are going to get him to a doctor quick.

We did forget to take pictures except for the first day so if you want to see pictures of the booth set-up or the show you will have to look here.

We had a good turnout of LumberJocks there including: Myself, Keith Shipp, blackcherry, Tim Pursell, RobertHorton, russv, Jim Ceriale, Patrick, and skidiot. I know there were a few more also and I apologize I can't remember their names.

We also met many prospective LumberJocks. We gave away 100 buttons, 150 business cards, and got 32 email addresses of people who said they would like more information about the site.

Overall it was a highly successful event and the Woodworking Show people told me they really liked working with LumberJocks and hoped to do it more in the future.
 
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