It has been hard to keep up with the blog, I have to admit - a lot of work organizing the show and then there were also the guitars that needed to be done.  They have now safely arrived in Berlin and so there's a little time to catch up.  I'll be following them tomorrow.

This show has been a long time coming.  And it still feels a bit unreal that it is actually going to take place this coming weekend.  We are enormously excited and gratified by the response it has already received, indicating that there was a real need for such a show to happen in Europe.  Will it live up to all the expectations?  - I don't know.  Will it be a success?  Well, as someone recently said - it already is a success!  The simple fact that it is finally taking place is in itself a huge success!

It took a lot of work and has cost us personally in time, effort and lost productivity in the workshop.  So it needs to be said again - this show is conceived as a community effort.  Without all of you builders helping and pitching in it will not continue to happen.  Our little group has embarked on this venture with little knowledge of the amount of work facing us - thousands of details to be kept track of, and a myriad little things to figure out.  As the show kept growing we found ourselves overwhelmed at times, drowning in the demands our brainchild constantly issued to us.  But all's well that ends well.  We are proud to have come this far - and we hope all this work will pay off with a splendid show, for exhibitors and visitors alike.  I also hope that you will respect our intentions and the fact that this has been a labor of love, created purely with volunteer effort, by people setting aside time from their own work to offer this to the community.  Many of you haven't experienced such a show, I know - it is not the Messe or NAMM - it is something different, and I ask that you come with an open mind and heart to enjoy the company of colleagues and visitors, to see all the wonderful instruments - and I promise it will be a great weekend, hopefully just the first of such occasions!

Have a great Show!

Michael Spalt

EGB president