Locally, the all scales model club called the San Jacinto MRR Club or the area NMRA Division, have tried several different places over the years, but their show is only one or two days. We had meets in a Catholic church school for several years, a Shrine's hall, a public high school, and a couple of suburban civic centers besides the usual hotel convention centers.
All have their goods and bads. The one time we tried a public high school--everything was planned and setup until a week before hand and the school administration put up red flags. We finally got it through by having the band cosponsor the event. The Catholic school was pretty good--gym for venders/layouts, classrooms for clinics plus the kitchen was good for the lunches the ladies served--downside was a Saturday only thing plus it was a bit small. We then went to a civic center in a northern suburb for a two day event, but we found the rental costs, security costs and insurance costs left us with a loss. You also have to reserve these facilities a year in advance. We now do a one day event in a southern suburb, use the NMRA insurance program, school kids do the lunches, and we get a couple of off duty cops to mind the store. So far this has made a fun and profitable show for everybody except we do like the two day shows--lots of setup work for a one day show. One time GATS came and used a covered livestock area and like Bill mentions--not good. One time a modular group set up in a former giant furniture store turned flea market. Everything was fine until a sudden rain soaked the modules--so its nice to have a well maintained building. I think much of the choice comes in the insurance department. Hotels do these things all the time, schools and armories don't. The local club guys aren't experts so you have to rely on the venue to help. In all my years of going to conventions, several of us agree that the Sacramento convention in the middle 80's was probably the best although not as elaborate or fancy as some of the most recent. Of course we were convention virgins and you always remember your first time!! Bob Werre BobWphoto.com Bill & Diane, B.T.S. wrote: > George wrote: > > >>Curious, does the convention have to be a hotel or motel? A church > in town, a National Guard Armoy, a University Center? A > >>Fairgrounds building? Never had to look into myself, just wondering. > >> > >> > >> > > Don't think there is a requirement for a hotel or motel. > > University..... The 2009 O scale national will be at Towson University > using on-campus housing. It will be interesting to see how it works. > > Fairgrounds... Ugh.... had some real bad train show experiences with > lack of good lighting, lack of heat in the winter or AC in the summer, > and in one case, the smell and droppings of the bulls that were there > the week before were still in the show building. > > Armory... ones I have seen do not have meeting rooms for the clinics. > Might work if they have enough space. > > Church.... has sunday school rooms for the clinics, but many might not > have the large space needed for the dealers and displays. > > Again, the easy access to your room from the convention floor is a very > positive thing. And the older I get the more conveniences I want. My > idea of roughing it is a Holiday Inn. Hyatt Regency is soooo much > better!!! > > Take care > Bill > -- > > ============== Scale Model Railroad Products ================ > Manufacturer - Retailer - Importer > > Bill & Diane Wade Phone: 304-823-3729 FAX: 304-823-2901 > B.T.S. RR 1 Box 141A, Belington, WV 26250 > http://www.btsrr.com <http://www.btsrr.com> > > We wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[email protected] mailto:[email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
