And... as you can see... the event is moving back to Bristol.
I have mixed feelings about this. Okay, mostly negative through a positively selfish lens.
Yes, it's nice that it might again be a more intimate event.
But wasn't the Lee Valley VeloPark pretty darn amazing??
If I want to go (and oh boy, yes, I want to! For more than 1 day!), now I have to factor in additional time away from work/home, the travel costs and now also accommodation costs.
But the key problem generally is the (comparative) lack of transport links. Bristol is just not as well connected to the rest of the country as London.
Hosting Bespoked in Bristol puts it out of reach for many people who, like me, don't (or won't) drive a private vehicle to get there.
And what about all those lovely framebuilders from Oregon who now not only have to fly to London but then arrange transport of all their things across country to Bristol?
Or are they all expected to hire vans? And drive on the wrong side of the road in a caffeine-fuelled jetlagged trance?
This retreat to the West will certainly serve to keep attendance figures down....
But maybe that's the organisers' goal?
But with that comes reduced visibility and publicity for all the exhibitors, which means fewer potential customers and smaller order books.
Is that what the framebuilders want?
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