One Week to Midland Expo 2015

With just a week to go until this year's Midland Expo everything is now in place for the show to take place.

 A timetable of the day's activities can be viewed on the Timetable page or alternatively be downloaded as a PDF.

As announced in a previous post this year's show is being dedicated to the memory of our old friend Bill Nicholls who passed away in May, he was a long standing, indeed a founder member of IPMS Birmingham and there will be a special display of his models along with photographs commemorating his life.

There is also the new feature, the Social Media Modellers Meet, Greet and Display Area, which we hope will prove to be popular with those people who interact with each other via forums and the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

Details of the clubs, SIGs and traders attending can be found on the Exhibitors and Traders pages.

The car parking will be once again marshaled by our members with assistance from the centre's staff, we would ask that visitors be considerate and park as close as is practical to the next vehicle thus maximising the space available. There are three parking areas on site, the front car park for traders and exhibitors, the side park for IPMS Birmingham members and exhibitors and the rear car park for visitors. There is also an off-site overflow car park which visitors will be directed to should the rear car park become full. Please also note that there are disabled spaces in the front car par which should not be used unless you have the relevant badge.  Centre staff will also be asking for small voluntary donations from visitors which will go towards the upkeep of the centre figures in the region of 20 to 50 pence have been suggested.

We look forward to seeing many of our old friends and meeing a good many new ones, until next Sunday, see you there.

New feature at Midland Expo 2015

We are pleased to announce a new and unique feature for this year's show, at a meeting with the Leasowes Sports Centre manager in the past week it was agreed that a Meet, Greet and Display Area will be available for members of social media modelling groups.

The Social Media Modellers Meet, Greet and Display Area will be located on the mezzanine floor adjacent to the café overlooking the smaller hall/competition area with seats and tables available for people who mostly interact with other modellers via social media; e.g Facebook and Twitter, to meet up and if they wish, display and discuss their models. There are no restrictions on using the area other than you will need to pay the show admission fee, unless you are with one of the displaying exhibitors and have been issued with a pass. We would ask that users act reasonably and do not flood the tables with their models, we suggest two or three maximum depending on size.

Please note that the area will be available during the whole time that the show is open to the public - from 10.00 to 16.00. However people  are free to come and go as they wish, so if there is someone you particularly want to meet up with it is recommended that you make individual arrangements beforehand. Also be aware that any models on display will also be visible to the general public and while "Please do no touch the models" signs will be in place and stewards in attendance the organisers cannot accept any responsibility for any damage to them.

We hope this facility will prove popular with visitors to Midland Expo 2015 and if successful will continue in future years.