Message from Bruce and Debbie Voyles-


Dear Friends;
With much reluctance we must announce the cancellation of the Greater Cincinnati Knife Show announced for April 20, 21, 22, 2012. We are looking at dates to reschedule in 2013.

There are several reasons we have been forced to make this decision, among them a snafu within the hotel reservation system. In 2009 the NKCA held a show at the Drawbridge, and had future dates reserved several years out, as is standard procedure. These dates had been announced and sent to such publications as Big Show Journal, which of course ran them. When the NKCA and the Drawbridge parted ways later that year, the future NKCA shows were cancelled by the hotel, and those dates made available to other entities for other events. When we took over the NKCA shows we had to rebook on different dates—the April20, 21, 22, weekend date.

The problem we have learned late last week is that the earlier NKCA date was still in the computer reservation system and listed as cancelled, which it was. Our code for reservations for the show was “Spirit of Steel”. When a knife enthusiast would try to make their reservations, they would usually say, as I usually do too, “I need reservations for the knife show.” The clerk would type “knife show” into their computer and up would come the NKCA knife show that had been cancelled over a year ago—and the clerk would inform the caller “That show has been cancelled”—which was the truth. It took insisting to the reservationist that they continue looking for Spirit of Steel before anyone could book their reservation.

Consequently, a number of people have been told the show was cancelled, when it was not. That in turn reflected on our room block for the show, and things have snowballed from there. The Drawbridge, to their credit, has tried to remedy the situation as best they could and are willing to work with us in the future. Ownership of the hotel recently went through a change and they are in a transition there as well.

We do not get the Big Show Journal and it was only brought to our attention this week that the incorrect dates are listed there.

When we add it all up, we could go ahead with the show—but it would not be the kind of show we are known for producing. When we take your table reservations we also take on what we feel is an obligation to produce the best show possible for you, in attendance, in advertising, and in service.

My Dad has always told if anything was worth doing, it was worth doing right—and as these events have unfolded this week it has become more apparent that the April Greater Cincinnati show was not going to work.

If you have reservations for the Cincinnati show we would like to roll those reservations into our Louisville show later this year. If you would rather have a refund, please let us know and we will issue one to you.

We do not make this decision lightly. In fact we have a cancellation fee we must pay to the hotel, not to mention the advertising and promotional costs we have already put forth. However, under the circumstances we feel our canceling the show rather than proceeding in April is the proper course.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Our discovery of much of the above has occurred only within the past few days. This is the fastest we could let you know of our decision.

We do ask that you assist us in passing the word about the show.