aquamanlr Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I am in Ore. to see family, and see that there is a blacksmith conf. in driving distance. Can a person just go in for one day, and look around or do you have to attend all 4 days. I would like to visit the tailgate area also. I only have internet when we are in town, so any info would be helpful. LeeRoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Yes, you can come for the day. Here is a link- http://www.westernstatesconference.com/conference-registration/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 $80 for a non member for a day seems rather spendy to me. Is that a normal going price for conferences like that? You would think that something like that would be used to promote people coming in and maybe peek some interest in the craft. at prices like that I seems cost prohibitive to say the least. I can understand if you want to take a class that there be a fee, but just to come in and look around and maybe aske a few questions? Especially if people are trying to sell stuff at the conference. a$5-$20 enterence fee seems far more reasonable.... Just my $0.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmHorus Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The prices have been a contested issue within the NWBA for quite a while, lots of arguments over it. One of the reasons I never go is I cant afford to pay to look around let alone drive the distance to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I travel all the way from South Africa to attend.. makes you think doesn't it! Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Ian, are you going for classes, or to kick the tires? thats the big difference. you're an established blacksmith who knows the trade and is commited to perfecting the craft. I'm speaking from a novice viewpoint who's got very minimal funds to put towards blacksmithing as a hobby. $80 is a lot of metal and coal in my mind = anvil time. vs $80 to walk around bug eyed and at a loss for where to start. Not to mention being able to bring family with me. which at those prices just wouldn't happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backwoods Blacksmith Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 The costs involved pay for the demenstrators and their expences. Plus the costs of putting on the conference. The NWBA nets very little after all is paid for. This ain't a swapmeet. It is a professional conference with very experenced craftspeople demonstrating their skills for the payees benifit. The chance to learn from these people is well worth the money. If you just come for the BS and not learn anythig to expand your craft than maybe it is too expensive. The fees are inline with other conferences. These get put on every 2 years and are very work intensive for the hosts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 Ian, are you going for classes, or to kick the tires? thats the big difference. you're an established blacksmith who knows the trade and is commited to perfecting the craft. I'm speaking from a novice viewpoint who's got very minimal funds to put towards blacksmithing as a hobby. $80 is a lot of metal and coal in my mind = anvil time. vs $80 to walk around bug eyed and at a loss for where to start. Not to mention being able to bring family with me. which at those prices just wouldn't happen. Yes, I may have been around the proverbial mulberry bush a couple of times! However, life is all about school fees- you pay and pay- the important bit is to learn whilst paying and to ensure that you get more out than the minimum. I have always believed that you learn "something" from every smith you meet! Hence the more you meet the more you learn! The NWBA conf. Has a great variety of demonstrators and these guys tend to have their ducks in a row. Keepers I wish I could have attended 25 years ago! A word of warning though many "smiths" prescribe to the adage that you ca'nt make a lot of money in this game, this used to provide old Grant Sarver and I with much amusement! go and be enthralled. Best wishes Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 thorshammer82- While I agree the cost is hi if you are just going to look around. I wish there was a way of having 2 price structures. One for people who want to be involved with demo's and hands on clinics and the like and one for "off the street" people who are interested in Blacksmithing as a craftsman just checking it out for the first time or a potential customer who is interested in learning more about Blacksmithing. This is something that is discussed all the time. Bottom line is these events are put on for the trade just like any other "trade show". I will say that if you are interested in learning about and or more blacksmithing techniques, $80.00 for a day of exposure and time in the hands on area with the likes of Mark Aspery is money well spent. For a bit of perspective, attending this event is going to cost me close to $1000.00 with travel and lodging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 As a hobby blacksmith it's cost prohibitive. so far I have spent a grand total of $10 for a garage sale shop vac and a bucket of coal. The forge I built from stuff I had laying around and my "Anvil" I got for free. Maybe in a couple years I'd like to think I would be able to enjoy something like that. And I agree. you learn something from everyone. And I would love the opertunity to go, but it just costs to much. As a home owner and father of 3 I must be careful where I spend my money. And frankly blacksmithing is just my hobby right now so family hobbies take presidence. An to pay $80 a head for the family to go just for a day gets astronomical. Where as I have every intention of shareing my learned skills with my children when and if they want to learn, I cannot justify the cost at this time. I get trade show mentality and that it really is just for an industry professional, but doing that excludes the hobbiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted August 6, 2013 Share Posted August 6, 2013 I agree ThorsHammer82. I would love to find a solution that allows hobbiest and the public to attend these events. Bringing a better understanding of what blacksmithing is about and why hand forged work cost what it does into the public eye would help all of us. There just doesn't seem to be a workable solution to this dilemma...yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquamanlr Posted August 6, 2013 Author Share Posted August 6, 2013 Thanks for the link Fe-Wood. I will be in that area, on that weekend but the $80.00 for one day is out of the question. Maybe on the next one. LeeRoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyO Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 It does seem as if the NWBA is going through a shift as the finanical realities are too big to deny, which in my understanding, is why they are moving towards a monthly hammer-in format. The monthly hammer-ins in Longview are free to NWBA members. I won't be surprised if this is the last year that the NWBA puts on 2 conferences. The COST of EVERYTHING, from renting facilities paying for demonstrators, lodging, etc is continually increasing without a similar increase in the way to PAY for ANYTHING. The NWBA, like most of the rest of us for the past 30 years, are nothing more than another casualty of our completely free market Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fe-Wood Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 From my understanding the 2015 western states conference will be held in Hollister, Ca. It will coincide with CBA's spring conference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 I am not currently a board member of the NWBA but I have been in the past and I can say that the registration fees, as high as they might seem, do not even cover the basic cost of putting on the event. A "normal" confrence (not the Western States big shindig) costs in the neighborhood of $12,000-$15,000 to put on. What we collect as registration has for the last few events covered 80-90% of costs but we still come up short and have to use other funds to make up the diffrence. We are a non profit group, we donate our time and effort to put on events like this for the blacksmith enthusiast. I would have to disagree that $8 an hour is too much to pay to watch and interact with some of the finest smiths in the world. This is not a trade show put on by big money, we are the group and unfortuantly it costs money to do these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I'm not discounting the fact that it's probably worth every penny. But the fact still remains that I do not have the money to attend this year. it's that simple. The cost is too high for me to attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingmaker3 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 I am a hobby blacksmith. I've already sent in pay for the whole weekend. I'm very much looking forward to this event! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThorsHammer82 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 So why tell us? Just saying it's priced high, not trying to start any quarrels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thingmaker3 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 High? How high is a wall? How high is a fence? "Priced high" compared to WHAT exactly? Why not just say you choose not to go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike-hr Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 I'm back home after the pre-formentioned conference, and I think I have most of my remaining brain cells corralled enough to make this post..I had a great time. They had avenues for the up and coming smith, hand coached by Gerald Boggs and Mark Aspery, who gave folks the straight scoop. The Blade smiths were discussing molecules and taking questions, my head is still spinning from that. The Blacksmith Wars were absolutely the pinnacle of the event. We got to watch 4 teams at the top of the game use wits and muscle to create four different masterpieces that were so different, yet staying in the rules, that calling any one of the finished products a winner was almost a travesty. When I first decided to approach open die hot work, information was hard to find. I drove 7 hrs one way several times just to see what was going on. It was worth it then, now 15 yrs later, this gig was worth every cent. Thanks to the NWBA folks for throwing a good foal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monstermetal Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 It was a great event, some real skill on display. that Freddy was amazing! and so was every other demonstrator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Well, what more could be said other than fun was had by all!!!! My heartfelt thanks to all the good folk that made it another wonderful time. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianinsa Posted September 8, 2013 Share Posted September 8, 2013 Sorry, Gerald - I saw Mark a couple of times there (he did not seem to recall me) & thought maybe you were doing it in relays, I suppose that just means that I'll have to come to another shindig (grin). So we can we call it a rain check then? BTW. To those that missed it, you missed some real characters. Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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