8th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition, Rochester, NY, USA, September 9-10, 2023

It was suffocating. The temperature inside the venue was a real issue, especially if you’re glued to a vendor table the whole time. Plus theres astroturf on the floor, making it impossible to wheel most carts around to assist in loading and unloading.
 
Ruddigger said:
It was suffocating. The temperature inside the venue was a real issue, especially if you’re glued to a vendor table the whole time. Plus theres astroturf on the floor, making it impossible to wheel most carts around to assist in loading and unloading.
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The "edges" where the astroturf ends make moving trees a lot of fun. I did the photo crew one year and you had to be _really_ careful about that.

As for suggestions and what "more" means to people, I would encourage posting specific suggestions/comments here (or start another thread maybe). People involved in the show do look at these threads.
 
coh said:
The "edges" where the astroturf ends make moving trees a lot of fun. I did the photo crew one year and you had to be _really_ careful about that.

As for suggestions and what "more" means to people, I would encourage posting specific suggestions/comments here (or start another thread maybe). People involved in the show do look at these threads.
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We saw the photographer carting some shohin across the astroturf, and one went flying off the cart and broke the pot. 😳
 
Ruddigger said:
We saw the photographer carting some shohin across the astroturf, and one went flying off the cart and broke the pot. 😳
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Pretty sure that was a Roy Minarai pot since the exhibitor came over looking for a replacement when I was there. That exact same thing almost happened to me when I was doing photos in 2016 - was wheeling the cart out of the photo studio where there is one of those bumps. At the worst possible moment someone distracted me (I won't say who Bill V LOL) and I looked away and hit the bump too hard. The tree _almost_ went over the edge but I was able to grab it in time. I haven't worked on the photo crew since. Too stressful.
 
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@Ruddigger , I'm interested in seeing the Pacific Bonsai expo, and will attend next year if possible. What do you like about it more?

@coh not an easy thing but if the vendor area could be more directional I think that would be helpful after seeing the madness early Saturday. I had my 11 yo daughter with me and basically had to avoid the busiest tables early on... bummer. It reminded me of a hot casino table or some other land grab type situation. Very funny mainly due to how nice everyone generally acts
 
pandacular said:
I haven't been to a big expo of any kind, but one thing I've heard many professionals discuss (particularly Walter and Ryan) is that new styles of exhibition result in new styles of trees and displays. I think the diversity of options in that regard is important.
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I do think there was a good amount of diversity in display. (This was my first show so take with a grain of salt.)

But there was traditional tree and companion plant displays, three point displays, scrolls, tree and accent stone, tree and figurine, innovative containers…

It was a wider range of display than I was expecting, which was cool.

Seemed to be a lot of innovation.
 
Second time there - no photos bugged me more than I thought it would this time. Seemed like most were doing it anyways and I kinda wish I had snuck some myself.

May need to check out the pacific show next year… I kept hearing about the west coast folks choosing not to come this year, and I wonder how much is the lack of response to feedback from Bill. Given Bill’s status in the community, for people to be banging the drum this hard they must be extremely annoyed.

It was really nice to be able to go to Bill’s garden as well, though! I want to make a little larch forest now

IMG_3020.jpeg
 
I was talking to others about this , but it was interesting to think that a good portion of the trees on display were styled by Bjorn, Neil , or Mauro , Tyler etc and some other professionals. Best conifer and deciduous were from Eisei-En for years…. If anything this show was just more motivation to wanting to develop, style , etc myself and put into a major show I know those on here that have done that ,and I salute them …sure material is one thing whether I collect it/ grow myself but the rest I will do on my own .. I welcome the community and other artists but I’d want to reciprocate my support another way such as those who make stands and ceramics … I want to be my own professional for anything related to the tree.
 
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Shogun610 said:
I was talking to others about this , but it was interesting to think that a good portion of the trees on display were styled by Bjorn, Neil , or Mauro , Tyler etc and some other professionals. Best conifer and deciduous were from Eisei-En for years…. If anything this show was just more motivation to wanting to develop, style , etc myself, sure material is one thing whether I collect it/ grow myself but the rest I will do on my own .. I welcome the community and other artists but I’d want to reciprocate my support another way such as those who make stands and ceramics … I want to be my own professional for anything related to the tree.
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I too enjoyed the number of native species. I thought I had heard the eastern white cedar wasn't suitable for bonsai, but there were some great examples.

Corin's result attached.
 

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@Hack Yeah! i mean that in the most respectful way to those big names , obviously they have their own crews and clients for good reason they have carved out a name for themselves , but there is still open real estate for others is all I mean.
 
badatusernames said:
Second time there - no photos bugged me more than I thought it would this time. Seemed like most were doing it anyways and I kinda wish I had snuck some myself.

May need to check out the pacific show next year… I kept hearing about the west coast folks choosing not to come this year, and I wonder how much is the lack of response to feedback from Bill. Given Bill’s status in the community, for people to be banging the drum this hard they must be extremely annoyed.
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(Almost) everyone was taking photos it seemed.

Trucking trees across the country is a massive undertaking so if there's a good option available on the west coast on a regular basis, I would think it's natural that those folks would be less likely to lug trees to Rochester every other year. That could be the reason that Neil and others chose not to attend this year.

Maybe somewhere down the road things evolve into an "eastern" show and a "western" show, and maybe eventually there could be someone putting on a "national" show somewhere closer to the middle of the country. That way everyone has to travel. I have no inside info on this matter, just thinking out loud based on what I'm hearing.
 
Shogun610 said:
@Hack Yeah! i mean that in the most respectful way to those big names , obviously they have their own crews and clients for good reason they have carved out a name for themselves , but there is still open real estate for others is all I mean.
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Of course. I was more borrowing my wife's humor when i was boring her with talking about the Nationals and mentioned a couple of the best west coast guys couldn't make it this year... and she says "like east coast vs west"..
 
Hack Yeah! said:
Of course. I was more borrowing my wife's humor when i was boring her with talking about the Nationals and mentioned a couple of the best west coast guys couldn't make it this year... and she says "like east coast vs west"..
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Haha oh then I wanna be the MF Doom of Bonsai.. they can have their Biggie & PAC east coast and west coast beef 😂
 
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