Shopsmith Forums

I like to think we are trying to revive the dead horse NOT just dig it up. But, you have made your point, Nick - at least to me. I will NO LONGER attempt to ride this horse.

As far as improving the Sawdust Sessions - I don't think I have any constructive criticism at this point. The Sessions are great. I'll wait to see how the new format works but it too sounds great.

In reading the description of the new format, am I correct in that the future sessions will actually be recorded sessions with a live chat room for questions and answers.

Hi Everyone,

Just a couple notes to some of you who have posted replies here in this thread.

To Nick,

If you check my posts I do write about the lack of finances and sales as the reason some of the demo and TA programs are no longer available. These programs are still available in the Western states because thankfully they do still pay for themselves out here, at least for the time being.
Unfortuntely, as small as the class sizes have been lately, I can't see them paying off for very much longer.

Sorry, no, I don't have a way to fix the company's financial woes at this time, but at the same time I do not have access to the company reports and records to look over, which are necessary to help troubleshoot these problems. I know I can help with my many years of experience in public relations/affairs, advertising and sales. But as you know, the company is not hiring anyone at this time.

Not being able to have access to reports and financial books makes it very difficult for me, or anyone else on this forum for that matter, to actually create worthwhile solutions without first finding the root of the problem in the first place.

Nick, asking members on the forum to come up with some type of "fix-it-quick" solution for the problems of a major tool company sounds a bit silly and may I say unprofessional for a major company to ask of us. Many of us have written suggestions, and I must say all of them have been frowned upon and have been shot down, as you wrote in your previous message. And you yourself are guilty of this. That is why so many members on this forum ask if the company is even listening.

I do however follow the financial reports about Shopsmith (and other companies) on various other websites created just for this. It is very interesting what you can find out. And at this point in time, I find that it is better that I do not write about the things I have found out about Shopsmith.

I do want to add however that with my professional background and my many years of woodworking experience, I can honestly say I can be an excellent representative and a great asset to the Shopsmith company, whether in sales, tool devlopment, public relations advocate, or as a Traveling Academy Instructor.

Please let the powers at be know I am able and willing to give my all for the company that builds all my woodworking tools that I use. But at the same time I will want to be compensated for my work.

To Those of You Who Wrote About a Shopsmith Infommercial,

They did make one years ago. It is called" Sawdust Therapy". I remember seeing it on T.V. late at night years ago, and now the company gives out a copy of it when you buy a Shopsmith and sometimes at a demonstration. Last I checked, you can still order one from Shopsmith if you are interested in seeing it. The first one I received was when I bought my latest Shopsmith in 2002 and it was on VHS. They have now switched it over to DVD. I do not know if the VHS version is still available.

Most of you probably have a copy of it and just didn't realize that this is Shopsmith's infommercial.

Maybe if the company started running this infommercial again on some of the Do-It-Yourself cable channels, it might help pick-up sales. It's already been produced, they just need to pay for the air-time to show it. But again, that might be the problem. Like Nick wrote, "it's all about the MONEY.

OK, Nick, you asked for it! I think maybe you could use the Sawdust Sessions a little more aggressively as a marketing tool, to address perceived SS shortcomings and showcase SS strengths. If you prefer to keep the Sawdust Sessions as strictly educational, then the same technology could be used to create separate Marketing videos.

One of the biggest complaints non-SS users make about the SS is the time required for changeovers. (In fact, I just had a discussion with one of the local Woodcraft employees about it on Monday.) It's one thing to tell people that it's only a couple of minutes between changeovers, but if we had a video to prove it....

I liked Nick's suggestion in the "SS Olympics" thread about the fastest time to do all five basic functions. I suggest you do a Sawdust Session on that theme, maybe making a small project like a basic birdhouse. I'd bet that Nick could saw the pieces, sand them to length, horizontal bore for dowel joinery, drill the entrance hole, and turn a "perch" using the lathe within the usual 30 minutes or so for a Sawdust Session. Admittedly, there wouldn't be time to do video closeups or detailed explanations, but that's not the purpose of this particular Session. And to address another typical complaint, you could have a cost and "footprint" comparison on the Blackboard, summing up typical costs and "footprints" for five equivalent standalone tools. (If you really want to shock people, include the cost of the equivalent Festools as well.)

--Gary

dusty wrote:I like to think we are trying to revive the dead horse NOT just dig it up. But, you have made your point, Nick - at least to me. I will NO LONGER attempt to ride this horse.

Sorry, I cannot pass up a Dead Horse comment:

Riding a Dead Horse

Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.
However, in business we often try other strategies with dead horses, including the following:
1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Saying things like "This is the way we always have ridden this horse."
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Increasing the standards to qualify as a dead horse rider.
7. Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
8. Pass legislation declaring that "This horse is not dead."
9. Unilaterally declaring, "no horse is too dead to beat."
10. Blaming the horse's parents.
11. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
12. Do a Cost Analysis Study to see if contractors can ride the horse cheaper.
13. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.
14. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
15. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Bill, this is fantastic. I needed this several times during my career as either a Programs Manager or even as an Engineering Manager.

I don't know if all of those apply equally to government and non-government operations but they sure do on the government side. I spent my post military career working for civilian contractors but they were all chasing government contracts.

-======================

From post 30 this thread:

Nick wrote:...Unfortunately, all of these things have one thing in common -- they cost money. More important, they must show a return in sales proportionate to their cost -- and they no longer do. And that's the one problem you haven't adressed in this or any of the other threads on this same subject...

From post 20 this thread:

a1gutterman wrote:...I know that it is expensive to advertise. I feel that SS is operating on a shoestring budget. If they can turn the company around with sales in the West and from Internet orders, maybe we will see advertising sometime down the road.....Threads on this forum have addressed this issue before. Many folks here have attempted to give those at SS ideas. Ideas that seemingly get ignored. I think that the real issue is money. Not enough of it. Advertising requires it and if SS had it, they wood be advertising. I hope that SS makes it. They are trying.

A followup on my earlier post. Shopsmith was at the Minnesota State Fair as witnessed first hand yesterday. Two fine representives were there and unfornately I do not recall their names. They demonstrated on a 510 I believe, with no emphasis on any of the SPT's except for the DC3000 dust collector. Perhaps that is why they did not demo the compound cutting of the tulip on the bandsaw which was a real crowd pleaser in my estimation. There is always a "State fair special" and this years was $750.00 off the base price of the unit. The 40 minutes I was there it appeared they took an order for one. The fair lasts 11 days. I was able to talk to the two reps and a young SS owner as well. He did not use his SS very much and has it in his unheated garage. His problem was it trips the breaker when starting up in the winter. I questioned him about the power in his garage maybe not being sufficient and he wasn't sure. I also informed him about the helpful advice on the forum and Nick's on-line classes. Hope he takes advantage of it. I also found out that the one day class would be in the area this spring which I will definitely take advantage of. FYI
Regards,
Dwight

Glad to hear they are demonstrating again in the mid-west. Kind of odd they didn't show the bandsaw. They always do a good demo on that here. But then again they also offer it for free when you buy a new Shopsmith. Sounds like they have changed the special offer.

I think the reps are mistaken about the Traveling Academy being only one day. Rick Davis (instructor) offers three days of classes, each one with different subjects being taught. Sounds like the reps are not up to speed on this. The company used to offer only one day classes, but that changed when Rick took over the position five years ago. That doesn't mean you can't go to only one class, but you will miss some things if that is the case.

The only short sessions that I have seen or heard of are those that were sometimes offered at places like Woodcrafters.

Those at the fairs have not been that long. They were demo's more like what we saw for a short time at Lowes and Home Depot.

Long ago, when I purchased my Shopsmith, I was given a certificate that allowed me to attend a one day introductory training session that covered the operational highlights of the Mark V and the Bandsaw. At that time, a Bandsaw was offered along with any Mark V purchased during these sessions.

While the TAs are presented as one day segments, I have never known of they only being one day long unless the customer chose to attend only one day.

Once I get a kitchen pass, it won't be for only one day if three days are available.

That having been said, I wonder how many of us would sign up for a five day session if one was offered. Once the TA has arrived in town, the added fixed cost to stay for two more days may be pretty reasonable. I think I could get my pass punched for two extra days.