BCA Trade Show-July 27-29, 2000
by Ted Harris

My wife Kathy and I have just returned from another long road trip. For us, getting ready for this show was a tremendous effort. Working 16-20 hours a day for over a month is enough for anyone. This was really the debut for me as a cuemaker. It certainly has been a long road. We had traveled all the way to Kansas City, MO for the BCA Trade Show from July 27-29. Naturally, we were a day late. I was still wrapping the cues for the show on Thursday at 9:00AM in Westover, MD. We did not even leave our home until noon on Thursday. It was a 1300 mile trip for us, driving straight through in about 17 hours. Just for the record, the show started on Thursday at 9:00AM. We got there at 5:00AM on Friday morning. I am sure there were many other vendors (cuemakers) attending this show whose lives are just as crazed as ours, though I doubt if any of them were late! All that matters is that we made it, alive, with cues! Unbelievable...

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For those of you that do not know, this is the premier event in the billiards industry for all the billiard enthusiasts throughout the world. People come from the farthest reaches of the planet to attend this event with the intention of finding everything needed to equip the finest pool rooms, whether they be in someone's house, or a multi-million dollar billiard establishment. There are people of every race, creed, and color that represent virtually every aspect of the industry present at this enormous event. There are three categories of people admitted to this event; vendors, buyers, and non-buyers. According to Amy Long, Director of Marketing & Business Development for the BCA, there were 260 vendors occupying approximately 1,200 booths. 2,336 buyers & vendors alike came from such countries as China, Italy, England, France, Germany, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Belgium, South Korea, and many more. Present also were 220 non-buyers for a total of 4,656 attendees. Amy Long also said "Although foot traffic was down approximately 15%, buying was up. Many exhibitors stated that they had their best show ever with more dollar orders written than ever. "Another interesting fact is that the BCA just relocated its offices to Colorado, from Iowa City, Iowa, and John Lewis is the only veteran that relocated with the BCA to Colorado. There are a total of 12 BCA employees, and 11 of them have started no earlier than February, and as late as April. Knowing this, the show's success is quite an accomplishment. The show's producer, William T. Glasgow said "It was a pleasure working with you (BCA) at the recent show in Kansas City. I might add it was our biggest & smoothest show ever for the BCA. "

On another note, I would also like to add that Kansas City has so many nice people, and it must be the BBQ capital of the world. I hope everyone there had the chance to go to Arthur Bryant's BBQ. It was the best I and everyone else in our little entourage had ever enjoyed. I saw many other show attendees there during our outings there. We must have eaten there at least three times. Arthur Bryant's was indeed an institution in Kansas City. I cannot wait to return there for that fabulous BBQ at the next show. After the show, we went to our friends and fellow cuemakers Andy & Vicki Gilbert's house in Clever, MO, a suburb of Springfield, and they treated us like a King & Queen. What a beautiful spread they have!!! The people of Missouri are indeed a hospitable group. I will certainly look forward to my next visit to Kansas City.

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Ted Harris has made his mark all over the USA both as a player and traveling cue repairman, immortalizing his slogan of "Have Lathe - Will Travel" at hundreds of tournaments over the greater part of the last decade. Having turned to manufacturing his own custom cue lines in recent years, Ted is gaining admiration and credibility as one of the new generation of custom cuemakers, and has now taken to working from home where he can spend time with his wife, Cathy. Ted is one of the major sponsors of the Planet Pool® 9 Ball Tour, and you will be able to catch him at every event, where he will be doing cue repair and selling his cues. For more about Ted and his cues, visit his Web site: www.tedharris.com 

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