Bob Eubanks' Cleveland Book Signing...

[TimK2003]

The setting couldn't have been better, there was little if any promotion of his book tour stop at the Barnes & Noble store in suburban Cleveland....  

At 30 minutes prior to his 7PM appearance, there were only a dozen or so people milling around the signing area waiting to see the legendary Bob.

There were a dozen or so chairs set up no more that 10 feet away from the table he would sit at to take Q's & A's and to sign autographs...

To those waiting, it looked like this was going to be the ultimate book signing with such an intimate setting.  Looked like there could be quality time all could spend with Bob...  Perhaps we could all sit around a large table at the adjoining coffee shop and spend the 2 hours talking in depth about all of the shows he hosted and/or produced...


The way the shelf behind him was set up, it almost looked like we could play a few rounds of Card Sharks had we had some large red & blue decks of cards...


At 7:15PM Robert, one of the store employees said he looks to be running late but not to worry as this does happen every so often...


At 7:45PM Robert profusely apologized and said that if anyone wished to return their unsigned copies of Bob's biography they could get a full refund, though there hasn't been any calls to say he wasn't going to make it....

Then, at roughly 8PM, the crowd had dwindled down to single digit attendance...when all of a sudden....

*BUST*  <Insert TPIR losing horns sfx here>

It looks like ol' Bob was a no-show, and no one knows why!

Had he made it, like I said, it would have been awesome considering the small crowd and the closeness to his table for all it would have been perfect for us game show fans.  

BTW, by 8:10, Robert and another associate were taking down the dozens of books behind the table...Stick a fork in it, it's done ;-(

Anything like this ever happen to anyone else?

[Pyramid80]

You know I noticed that the OH locations were dropped from the website sometime last week.  Did you check the site before leaving?

I am terribly sorry to hear about your experience.  I attended one of the 2 book signings in Orlando on the 5th.  The setting was a small hometown bookstore with a restaurant that seated around 20 people (keep in mind this was a luncheon).  When I arrived at 11:45 a.m. Bob was no where to be seen.  However, they luncheon didn't start until 12:00.  Bob was right on time for this event and took his seat at the table next to mine.  There were about 7 or 8 people who jumped up to the table and had their books signed and then left.  I went to the table and had him sign my book and we talked for about 10 minutes.  He then signed my Trivia Trap photo and also posed with me for a picture.  He was a very nice guy and told me a few Card Sharks tidbits and a couple of Trivia Trap tidbits.  He also asked me what I did for a living and thanked me for coming to his book signing.  I am glad that he showed up considering I took a weekend trip and drove 8 hours from home just to see him.

[MikeK]

[quote name=\'Pyramid80\' date=\'Nov 15 2004, 09:55 PM\']You know I noticed that the OH locations were dropped from the website sometime last week.  Did you check the site before leaving?[/quote]

Bob's signing was on BN.com as of 12:30 AM this morning.  I also confirmed the signing with that Barnes and Noble on Saturday night, as the Eubanks signing was not listed in the Plain Dealer's book signings section on Friday.

I stayed till 9, as I had nothing else to do.  No Bob. :-(  I'm calling B&N on Wednesday to see if it's rescheduled and what happened to Bob.  I really don't want to drive all the way to Columbus (2+ hours) after working a 10 hour day on the second of December, given that signing is still on...

[Pyramid80]

[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Nov 15 2004, 09:37 PM\'][quote name=\'Pyramid80\' date=\'Nov 15 2004, 09:55 PM\']You know I noticed that the OH locations were dropped from the website sometime last week.  Did you check the site before leaving?[/quote]

Bob's signing was on BN.com as of 12:30 AM this morning.  I also confirmed the signing with that Barnes and Noble on Saturday night, as the Eubanks signing was not listed in the Plain Dealer's book signings section on Friday.

I stayed till 9, as I had nothing else to do.  No Bob. :-(  I'm calling B&N on Wednesday to see if it's rescheduled and what happened to Bob.  I really don't want to drive all the way to Columbus (2+ hours) after working a 10 hour day on the second of December, given that signing is still on...

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I haven't checked BN.com, but I would recommend Bob's Book Page

[TimK2003]

Regardless if it was already cancelled by his people hours, days or weeks ago, it seems odd that the store where he was scheduled to appear was not in the loop all the way up to the time of appearance.  

Somebody, whether it was Barnes & Noble's Corporate offices, Bob's tour scheduler, Fred Wostbrock,... dropped the ball on this one.

Considering the lack of press about the event leading up to last night leads me to believe that the no show was pre-determined (cancelled), but there should have been better communication to the store so they could at least post a sign stating the cancellation.

Just as my wife said driving home, what if there were 200 people and not 20 who were waiting for over an hour or more to see him, or any well known person and that celeb never showed up with no explanation either way?  Would you think that these people are still going to shell out money for the book?  Would you think these people are going to think highly of Barnes & Noble for any future signings?  And do you think that those non-game show fanatics are going to think highly of Bob from now on?

You can't blame Bob on this one personally because he has people that make all the arrangements.  He just gets the plane tickets, and flies where he needs to at the proper time. But whoever dropped the ball should be made known about it and they should consider rescheduling in the near future to make up for those who were expecting his arrival.