Driving home yesterday I heard a radio interview with our mayor (in
Tucson) who said that exhibitor attendance at the “gem show” was up
54% this year. Now, he could have been talking about only the Tucson
Gem and Mineral Society’s four-day show, or the whole thing – it
was not clear. But if it’s the whole show average, then that might
explain why Gerry Galarneau felt that things were flattening
out–lots more dealers but the same or fewer attendees. I am waiting
to see official stats (our mayor is not the brightest bulb on many
subjects).
I do know that there was tons more junk than in the past – it was
harder to find the good stones. And I could not believe the amount
of enhanced or outright fake gemstone beads (and the number of
uninformed buyers snapping them up!).
Roseann