Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 11:00 AM Subject: Re: Cirque 2008 retrospective (quite long)
Wayne, MJ and all,
As I mentioned to the CR list shortly after the show, I thought you guys did a great job of transitioning the show from Greensboro to Leesburg.
Considering how many things changed, location, promoters venues, etc., the transition seemed pretty seamless, and I have to say this Cirque experience (for me) was right up there with the best ones I had in Greensboro. I remember leaving Dale's show with a post show high, and I had the same "buzz on" after this one.
Venue. I thought the show venue at the fair grounds was just fine. If it had been cooler outside the building would have been great. Yes, maybe a little rustic or agrarian, but there was a lot of space and the bikes on display had a lot of room around them so it was easy to view and photograph them.
The lighting in the building was quite good I thought. The colors of the bikes looked pretty true. I remember being at the hand Made Show in San Jose and the lighting affected the way everyone's bikes looked, and trust me it wasn't flattering.
I loved some of the pictures folks took in the building, like the one of Velo O's fender display in the foreground and the great outdoors beyond. There were also a few bike shots with the same done in the same fashion.
Judging. Judging Is always a tough one. It's very hard work to be a judge,(I've done it before at other events) and usually there's not much time to get the job finished. I know the judges always do the best they can with what they have to work with. I think having "original", or "restored" on the bikes display card would help everyone, including the judges understand what they were looking at. Should also be a "restored", but with a patina'd finish, (meaning restored but not to show room condition) along side the original and restored boxes.
I have always felt that the promoter should read off the 3rd runner up, 2nd runner up etc. before they call out the winner in a particular category. This gives more people a chance to see where there bikes were in the line up. It also allows everyone to see what the winner was judged against. This would add about 10 min. to the show, but would be very meaningful to many. Everyone wants to know how close they were to what was considered to be the best... I felt this has been a short coming since the first Cirque I attended, I hope it will be included in next years event. It would help more people feel validated, and included. Instead of going home and telling family and friends,,, "I didn't win anything again", you could go home and say" my bike was "almost" as good as, lets say ,one of Gary Delarosa's gleaming beauties!!! that would feel good now wouldn't it? I'm glad the KOF bikes are now off to themselves, I never thought these new bikes should take anything away from the great vintage bikes./
Just a few thoughts. Again it was great to see everyone, as I mentioned before, cool seeing Dale have the time to relax and enjoy the show. Wayne and MJ, great job, you guys really came through on this one.
Best to all,
peter weigle