Letters: Vancouver Motorcycle Show Responds To Gerda Peachey

UPDATED 10/15/2012 – MORE COMMENTS RECEIVED. Dear Editor. I wanted to respond to the column – Why Didn’t Council Question Dan Stephanson’s Fuzzy Math? because I believe Gerda Peachey is somewhat confused.

It appears that Ms. Peachey believes that Tradex in Abbotsford takes the gate money from the shows that are produced there.

I have been a show manager of shows across North America for over 25 years now. I have never heard of any show venue, such as Tradex, taking the gate money. Tradex certainly doesn’t take our gate money. We do because we pay all the expenses relating to putting on the show. That is how shows work. If Ms. Peachey would like to contact me, please, my contact information is below and I can explain how shows work.

Tradex Abbotsford gets paid for the venue rent (hence the 40,000$ that she referred to that Tradex might lose if one of the shows such as Taboo, was cancelled). Further, in an earlier article that appeared, someone thought that Tradex paid for the show advertising. Here is how all shows work, the show promoter, in the case of the Vancouver Motorcycle Show, myself, rents the venue and pays costs for security, ticket sales personnel, cleaning etc. that are provided by Tradex.

The show promoter pays all advertising, promotion, decorating – carpet, booth drapes, electrical etc. If there is a profit, the show makes the profit, if a loss, the loss is the shows. Also, Ms. Peachey questioned the impact in the community. As the largest show out at Tradex, I know we fill hundreds of hotel rooms over the weekend the show is on with our exhibitors from across Canada and some show consumers as well.

We have over 2000 exhibitors, very few of whom are from the area, and all of whom need a place to sleep in Abbotsford. Most of these people arrive at the Abbotsford Airport, book into an Abbotsford hotel, rent a car and buy gas in Abbotsford, and dine out in Abbotsford restaurants throughout an entire week, starting when the exhibitors move in starting Monday and Tuesday of the week the show is on through Monday morning when they start to return home. As well, between 35,000 and 40,000 consumers come to the show, many would either purchase food at Tradex or at an Abbotsford restaurant.

I know for a fact that 2000 exhibitors and some percentage of our visitors must make a very positive impact on Abbotsford businesses. As well, Tradex employs countless parking lot attendants, cleaners, security people and food service people week in and week out, to service the needs of exhibitors and visitors. Likely most of these jobs go to people in Abbotsford. If Ms. Peachey believes this is not so, perhaps she should visit the restaurants in Abbotsford during the shows and ask the diners where they came from. And perhaps she should review the numbers of people employed by this venue.

Tradex is a fantastic venue because the people that work there are diligent and hard working. Truly, I can say without reservation that the staff at Tradex including Dan, Vali Marling and my show floor manager, Bill Tavares are the cream of the crop when it comes to venue personnel. And I have managed shows in New York, Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Quebec City, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, LA, San Francisco, and many more .

These people are the best people I have ever worked with so it offends, me honestly, to have people that have no understanding of how shows work, continually denigrating such an amazing group of people that make this venue successful and make Abbotsford richer. As well, many of the Abbotsford shows attract more consumers than many of the shows downtown. Both show managers and consumers love to come to Tradex and Abbotsford to see shows.

One important point, though, is that It definitely needs to increase the size of the venue because I have to have tents each year in order to accommodate my show’s size and many other show promoters have run out of space and could use more space. Tradex, unlike what Ms. Peachey has says, does generate revenue for the community and a larger venue would generate even more revenue by allowing the venue to accommodate more events.

Nanette Jacques, Manager
Vancouver Motorcycle Show

Editor’s Note: This letter was sent to the Abbotsford Times and the Abbotsford News but, as of 15/03/12, neither has published it.