Move over Union here comes APS!!!

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Jerry B.
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Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by Jerry B. »

I would like to compliment the APS members who oversaw the very successful 2018 APS sale. I believe a conscious effort was made to advertise and attract specific untapped groups such as millennials and others. It worked! We had many first time buyers and most importantly they bought things! I kept track of both the number of sales as well as the dollar amounts. I had sixteen sales on Saturday which was 43% of my sales. I had twenty one sales on Sunday or 57% of my total sales. If you looked strictly at my dollar amounts it broke down to 61% on Saturday and 39% on Sunday. I took thirteen machines to APS and sold five on Saturday and five on Sunday. The bottom line is the fact that we were not just selling to each other. In all my years as a seller at Union and APS I have never been as busy on any Sunday. Many thanks to the APS Sale committee.

Yours Truly,
Jerry Blais

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phonogfp
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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by phonogfp »

I had nothing to do with this year's APS Expo preparations (I couldn't even attend), so I feel no inhibition in touting the several APS Board members and their friends/family for their handling of the huge task. Literally months of work goes into these shows/banquets/presentations, and frankly it surprises me that we have folks willing to do it. Thank goodness for them!

As Jerry noted, there was more advertising this year than ever before. The target audience were the Unannointed; folks unfamiliar with antique phonographs & records, but who might be interested. Knowing this audience would not drive long distances for the Expo, the APS advertised in 10 (yes, TEN) Los Angeles-area papers. These were chosen for circulation, socio-economic levels of readership, and even various ethnicities. This was all well beyond my pay grade (I live in New York State!), but I thank the team that chose the papers, designed the color and black & white ads, and worked with the papers for optimal placement. This is how a show should be advertised. With repetition over the coming years, perhaps even more new blood will come through the gate.

George P.

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PeterF
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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by PeterF »

The "new blood" is often, of course, comprised of hipsters and millennials and whatever other tags we can associate with that current tribe of young people sporting interesting and often-ornate facial hair and little hats and the like. Fashion is fashion, so in itself this is not anything to talk about, but I must report out on one aspect of this:

It was downright hilarious to observe a row of trim young fellers all lined up in front of a table of boxes of 78s...industriously and earnestly plowing through the records...but obviously having a rough go of it. That was because they all had their sunglasses on.

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Silvertone
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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by Silvertone »

I agree that the APS show has overtaken Union as the premier show for phonograph collectors. The last time I was at Union, you could pitch a bowling ball down the isle on Sunday and not hit anyone. The Sunday crowd at the APS show was amazing. My hat is off to the organizers of this show. Not only was attendance great, but the prime rib banquet was excellent and the program presented after dinner was especially interesting. It had something for those interested in technology as well as those whose interest was in the music. It was a first class event.

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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by HisMastersVoice »

I wish it were closer to me, sounds like it was a great show!

PeterF wrote:The "new blood" is often, of course, comprised of hipsters and millennials and whatever other tags we can associate with that current tribe of young people sporting interesting and often-ornate facial hair and little hats and the like. Fashion is fashion, so in itself this is not anything to talk about, but I must report out on one aspect of this:

It was downright hilarious to observe a row of trim young fellers all lined up in front of a table of boxes of 78s...industriously and earnestly plowing through the records...but obviously having a rough go of it. That was because they all had their sunglasses on.
I'd much rather stand next to these guys at the record boxes than socially awkward middle-aged men who haven't showered in days.

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OrthoSean
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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by OrthoSean »

HisMastersVoice wrote:I'd much rather stand next to these guys at the record boxes than socially awkward middle-aged men who haven't showered in days.
Or weeks...

Sean

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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by clarphon »

I had two tables at the APS show and sold most of what I had. I did not bring any high end machines, but sold 3 of the 4 machines I brought. I also sold regular cylinders, needle tins, concert cylinders, and many of the other smalls I had. I had more sales on Sunday than I did on Saturday. And many of my sales were to people rather new to the hobby. There seemed to be more people looking and buying on Sunday than there were on Saturday. I was still selling items until the last hour of the show. Whatever those in charge did to advertise to the public, really worked. I know they made a special effort this year. BRAVO!!

I also want to commend those who worked on the Saturday night Banquet. Great Food, Interesting Silent Auction and Evening Presentation done in a Timely Manner!!!! Thanks to all who made this such a great success. Be sure to check out the pictures on the other thread related to the APS Show.

Stan Stanford
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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by pianolist »

I only brought 4 small machines to sell and they sold first thing. I am mostly interested in records and was really surprised and pleased at all of the young people buying 78s. They were knowledgeable and appreciated the music. Some looked like they were in their later teens and many in their 20s. One is always concerned about who is going to pick-up the torch and this show had many young torch bearers. More than I have seen at Union.

Ron Babb

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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by melvind »

It seems to me that in all fairness to the Union show the differences between the shows is important to keep in mind. The Union show starts on Friday for early buyers and dealers. It is a very busy day. Saturday is also a good day. Sunday, not so many things going on. But, it is the 2nd day of a 2 day show. The APS show on the other hand has setup and early buyer on Saturday and is a one day Sunday show.

I am excited about the advertising APS did to bring young blood (even the ones with sun glasses 8-) ) to the show. That is something that might help all the various shows around the country. It would be nice to discover more about the approach the board used to decide how to advertise so other shows could take advantage of the same or similar approaches. It is in the interest to everyone in the hobby that all the shows remain and become more viable. And, the new blood it exposes to the hobby is a good thing moving forward. This could be the beginning of a new way to get prices back up. We can't just all buy and sell to each other at the shows. New folks need to show up and participate as well. Even if they only buy records and low level machines, as they get older they could very likely become seasoned collectors that move to the more expensive items and they have more expendable income. I see it as a really positive thing and thank the APS folks for being so active and successful in bringing more folks to the California show.

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phonogfp
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Re: Move over Union here comes APS!!!

Post by phonogfp »

Silvertone wrote: The Sunday crowd at the APS show was amazing. My hat is off to the organizers of this show.
Here's a photo taken on Sunday. The guy who sent it says it looked like this most of the day. (The young people seem to be congregated in the distance!) Looks like I missed a good show.
Expo.jpg
melvind wrote:It would be nice to discover more about the approach the board used to decide how to advertise so other shows could take advantage of the same or similar approaches. It is in the interest to everyone in the hobby that all the shows remain and become more viable.
Absolutely right. The APS isn't looking to "outdo" any other show, but rather to find ways to bring new people into our field of interest. It looks like thoughtful advertising (as outlined in my post above) was successful in this instance, and these results will be freely shared with other show promoters. The APS is trying to build up the hobby.

George P.

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