Salute 2011 - 13 weeks to go

So with fractionally over three months to go until Salute 2011 on the 16th April, I thought you might be interested in a quick summary of what's happening at the show.

Space - we have 12,000m² of floorspace for 2011. The same as last year, which should allow us to keep the nice wide aisles that everyone likes. You probably don't know (or care), but the ExCeL building has been extended by 50% since last year and we are in the new area (closest to us in the picture below). Still no carpets, though...

Traders - current count is 121 traders, some of whom have seriously increased their space from last year. Overall, we're happy with the turnout. I should be able to post the list sometime this week, though there's always one or two late additions.

Games - the current count is 85 games, which by my estimate means more than 500 gamers from clubs and groups all around the county running games at Salute this year. A big thanks to every one of you. The games list is now closed; Jim may be able to add you to his 'reserve' list in case of drop-outs but that's about it. A comment that was made last year was that there weren't any games with the 'wow factor'. From the list of clubs we have for 2011 and the table sizes they have asked for, I think that will be different this year! There are some real corkers on there.

Committee meetings - we had another meeting this week. A short one, less than three hours, and everyone is excited. T-shirts, exhibitor badges and mugs are ordered or here, the show guide is being finalised, the last installment of the hire has been paid to ExCeL. We are now discussing topics like who gets to be Door Captain (not me!), how many traders will be setting up on Friday (about 50%), and whether we have sent out more overseas tickets than last year (possibly slightly up).

So... everything may look quiet and serene from the outside, but we are beavering away to make this Salute as good as we possibly can.