Fewer Exhibitors.... Fewer Choices.

Yesterday a good friend, Rob Cole - of Horn Stuff, informed me that he would no longer be attending workshops as an exhibitor.  Rob has been a mainstay at these shows for decades, and his absence from future shows should send a ripple through the horn community.  
His reasoning was that it was no longer financially viable to attend these shows.  The current way of shopping on the internet gives one the ability to shop by 'lowest price' - no matter if it's by a few cents.  Rob has helped out hundreds of horn players over the years (as have ALL the exhibitors at the horn workshops), yet all of us have to compete with sites which give nothing back to the horn community.  Next time you're looking to purchase anything in the horn world, look at who you're buying it from and ask yourself how they benefit hornists world wide - from donating goods to winners of contests, to underwriting the costs of your local workshop.