Oh, my.

I had to meet with somebody today at the Tacoma Dome Boat Show.

This is the only boat show in the area where I can't get in with press
credentials ("That'll be 9 bucks" (!), "please")- and here's hoping the
Friday night and weekend gates are 10-20 times the size of the close to
*zero* crowd unseen anywhere in the building today.

There is no question about it- the bored vendors seriously outnumbered
the ticketholders. Maybe it's just me- but when I pay the price of a
movie to get through the door I expect some entertainment value for my
hard won wages.

When I pulled up to the arena, I wondered if I had the dates screwed
up. There's an RV Show running simulataneously in the main parking lot-
but not a problem as there was plenty of free, on street parking within
two blocks of the venue.

The biggest difference between the TD show and the extremely successful
shows in Seattle may be that the Seattle shows are put on by trade
associations comprised of local dealers, brokers, and vendors. The
Tacoma show is put on by a professional trade show company, in a
smaller stadium, and it just flat wasn't drawing today.

Most of the boats on display at the Tacoma show are trailerable fishing
and water ski boats. Maybe the best prospects for these "workin' man's
boats" won't turn out until the weekend.....

If the crowds don't pick up, there will be some serious discounting
going on between now and Monday.

Highlight of the show? A very energetic young woman with long, copper
locks, a big smile, a high bow, modest beam, and a well rounded
transom. Apparently she's a radio personality with one of the Gen X
rock stations. By making a very lucky cast and accurating landing a
lead fishing weight on a paper target- I qualified for a prize from the
broadcast company. She must have thought I looked older than dirt- as
she scurried off to her prize stash, rummaged through some options, and
presented me with a multi DVD collection of "That 70's Show." (Little
does she know, I was already as old as young dirt in the 70's).

When a polite, line-of-duty smile from a sweet young thing is the
highlight of the day.......that is one dismal boat show, indeed.