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Northern Exhibition 2006 Report
"The Organisers": From left to right, Dr Hugh Loxdale (President of the RES); Wayne Jarvis (AES Exhibitions Secretary); Julie North (RES Exhibitions Secretary); and Dr Mike Majerus (President of the AES).
The first joint Entomological Exhibition, organised by the Amateur Entomologists' Society and the Royal Entomological Society was held at York Racecourse, in the southern suburbs of York, on Saturday 8th April 2006. This event, which was organised along similar lines to the AES Annual Exhibition and Trade Fair that has been run on the first Saturday of October in London for many years, is the first of its kind held in the North of England. The day was more or less dry, with an occasional shower. We used the ground floor only for this first venture; the upper floors will allow expansion in future years. The venue has been booked provisionally for the 14th April 2007.
On the day, Hugh Loxdale (President of the RES), and Mike Majerus (President of the AES), presided over the insect exhibition. The exhibition, which is one of the first manifestations of the new co-operation between these two entomological societies, was visited by over eight hundred people.
More than 50 traders came to the event to show and sell books, equipment, livestock and specimens. Also present were an array of conservation groups, natural history societies and survey groups promoting their activities. The National Insect Week stand, under the guidance of its co-ordinator, Professor Chris Haines, and the AES Bug Club stand, manned by its co-organiser Dafydd Lewis, engendered considerable interest. Perhaps the only disappointing feature of the event was the rather small number of exhibits from individual entomologists on show, though for a first event this probably was a respectable number.
Advertising was carried out by the RES PR agents, Cicada, who are based locally in Harrogate. Wayne designed a poster that went into papers with an overall home circulation of about 250,000. The event was on BBC Radio York several times during the morning. The result of all this was that the gate was about 800, which for a first time was very good.
In the end we had many willing helpers. This enabled us to staff all of the various aspects of the event more than adequately. It would be safe to say that the work of the helpers made a considerable contribution to the smooth running of the event, and we are very grateful to them all - for volunteering, for turning up and for working so willingly. Also, I believe they had a very enjoyable day. Particular thanks are due to June Beeson, Elena Lazzara and Berit Pedersen from the RES Office staff who volunteered to come and help and did great work in the rather cold ticket booth!
There were 15 exhibits in all, which is good for a first show, though we would have liked more - perhaps next time! The exhibits were interesting and varied and sparked a lot of discussion - which is good as that is their purpose.
The overall feeling from members of the public, traders, exhibitors and organisers was that the exhibition was a great success for a first go, and that it had been well worth attending. Recurring comments from visitors were along two lines. Firstly that they had never had anything like this in the north before and secondly that it was about time something was done to meet their needs and interests. The AES Registrar has received a few written comments as follows:-
Congratulations on an excellent first Exhibition. The organisation and hard work that had gone into it paid off.
I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting and was more than pleased at the interest in my display. I was very surprised at how few people there I knew.
Congratulations for making it all run so smoothly, I am pleased that I was involved and thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope that it will run on an annual basis.
I personally found the show very interesting. I would class it as a success.
Thanks for all your hard work, resulting in an excellent day. I am sure the show will go from strength to strength. My only criticism is the length of the A1!
As President of the AES, I wish to thank all those who worked so hard to put on the event, particularly Wayne Jarvis (AES.) and Julie North (RES.) as organisers for the two societies. Over 40 people helped man the venue, sell tickets and steward through the day. Many of these were members of the societies, but especial thanks are due to Gordon Port and a team of local students who offered their services. Special thanks also go to Wayne Jarvis and Nick Holford for trouble-shooting through the day and to Kevin Wilson for finding the venue, which proved to be pleasantly spacious, easy to reach by both train and car, and of course is set against the dramatic back-drop of the racecourse. Finally, I wish to thank the York Race Committee for their help, and BBC Radio York for their coverage of the exhibition.
It is hoped that this event in the North will become a regular feature of the entomological calendar.
Michael Majerus, President, AES