So I’m back from the show and man was it well done. I have too much to report in one blog post so I’ll be doing blogs on the show for the next several days. I plan to dedicate a day to each of my show highlights.

Meeting lots of my current and future customers
The Framebuilders Collective
Winning Best TIG Frame

I’ll also post a bunch of random show images as well. There was a ton of cool stuff to see and cool people to meet. Us framebuilders are kind of like a little tribe. We all really get along well and if you haven’t been around us when we’re together you may be surprised to see we are very open and sharing with each other. You don’t find the competitiveness you can find in other businesses. That’s one of the things I like most about this business.

I’d also like to give a big Kudos to Don Walker for doing such a great show. This year the show was very well managed and organized. Don is really getting good at this gig and it show’s. I think all the  exhibitors had similar experiences and were very happy with the show as well.

Another big surprise is that one of Loretta’s pictures  of our shop was used for the cover of the show guide. For those of you that haven’t seen the guide it’s a very slick, perfect bound magazine with bios on all the builders. It’s very well done and a collectors piece for sure, so we were honored when they selected Loretta’s image and our shop for the cover.

Every year there is an award given for frames in each of several categories. I have to admit I’ve been a critic of the way the frames were judged and who judged them. Well, this year I won Best TIG frame for the assmebled Ti bike in my booth (http://handmadebicycleshow.com/awards2009.htm). Unlike previous years this year they did use a panel of judges so they are improving the method by which they judge. But in all honesty I feel a littel humbled winning an award after being so critical. It really is an honor and no matter what the award methods are you can’t help but be flattered by the recongnition. Also for anyone interested the show winning frame is for sale for $3000 with the King InSet. You can see an earlier post for details or contact me at strong@strongframes.com.

Here are some pictures, check back tomorrow of another installment of show news.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 7:12 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.