San Diego would be a great venue. All you guys/gals would dig this place for those who have not already been here.

Mike Berkus is on the Board of Directors of the committee that organizes The National. He is a registered member here (MBerkus), although he reads and posts infrequently. I'm sure if someone took the time to PM him, he'd be glad to come on and discuss San Diego, as well as other options. You can find him through "Member List" in the "Community" tab.

Last year at this time, he did exactly that. Unfortunately, one rude member took to some name calling (couldn't understand why they never considered Nashville, or some such nonsense.) If he does agree to talk, let's try to keep it polite. (I know. I know. Pot, meet kettle.)


I mention this because he is able to offer insight as to why certain cities will never work. I know that I learned about the union rules at the Javitz Center in NYC through his posts. Those rules would increase the cost of every booth by over $2400.

Point taken. Aside from that, much like some parts of the country get invaded by cicadas every 17 years, central Ohio falls prey to an annual summer influx of pissants. So the National committee would have to work around that.

Did you say 17 years or 17 minutes?

If it were held in Pittsburgh we certainly wouldn't have to worry about getting great seats there's going to be plenty available for a long time. (Sorry Pirates fans). :rolleyes:

With all the revitalization to Pittsburgh I think it would be a great city to have a national, not to mention so many dealers and collectors seem to be in that area and not to far from the east coast. Won't the Suntimes and Sportsfest Chicago shows take a blow with some many back to back huge shows especially with everyone gearing up for the national ? Chicago is good as it is in the middle for east and west coasts but seems to be a bit overkill.

I would pay to watch someone who found the walkway from the Hilton to the Baltimore Convention Center challenging try to navigate some of the streets of Pittsburgh.

So Ford Field would be way to small, how about Cobo Hall ( 700,000 square feet +) ?

They could get KISS again as autograph guests!

+1 for Las Vegas...............

My opinion is Kansas City. Centrally located in the US. Stadiums 15 min from convention center, plenty of hotels, parking, ect. Lots and Lots of after hour activities, shopping, gambling, food, ect. Hell I may even have a BBQ at the lake (15 min from the center). I think KC would be great and it is cheap to fly into and get in and out of.

Dont forget the Negro League Hall of Fame as well, not to mention Kansas City could use an event like this. The Baltimore show sounds like it was a success and was definately good for the the city and boosted the Orioles attendence levels quite nicely. Vegas would be fun but all the distractions could put a hurt on some collectors wallets, on the other hand someone could hit a jackpot and go blow 50k at the show !!

It sounds like Baltimore was quite a hit with everyone, sorry I missed it. While many didn't care for Cleveland, it was within driving distance for me and that made it convenient and since it was my first National, quite enjoyable. My wife and daughter enjoyed the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as well as a decent meal to make up for my time at the show.

Chicago is also close enough to drive to and I hope to make it there in the future. Pittsburgh could be a good choice, that city has really revitalized itself in recent years and as was mentioned earlier, it should be easy to get good seats to a Pirates game.

San Diego would be great but the added expense of a flight would strain some of us in the east, I know it works both ways :( and it is more expensive for some of our western collectors to make their way toward the Atlantic.

It is probably impossible to please everyone so the powers that be will have to make the decision that best suits the majority of collectors/dealers.

RC

Edited to add: I think the bbq at Andrew's in Kansas City would be worth going to as well.

Kansas City would be a terribly long drive for most people. I don't mind the suggestion, however, but think most others would not care to drive all the way there. It's equally out of the way for nearly everyone!

It's never been important to me, but I think it is of interest to many collectors that the show's host city has an MLB team playing at home sometime during the course of the convention.

What was the attendance figures in Baltimore ?

Leon
 

I mainly just read the threads on here and rarely post.

Just wanted to mention that I had the chance to meet Leon while a few of us were busting packs and having a few adult beverages in the Hilton bar.

Super nice guy and extremely knowledgeable. Was a pleasure just listening to him.

OK, brown nosing done.

lsutigers....
 

It was a pleasure meeting you guys too. I do love the hobby. Yeah, there are a few people (even on this board, go figure) who try to antagonize and always be sarcastic, but that is just their nature. They have fun doing it (I guess), so who cares?

You guys look like ya'll were having a lot of fun busting those packs and examining the centering and corners for that elusive 8 or 9. That's what it's all about!! Hope to see ya'll doing the same exact thing next year. I doubt I will remember your names but I might just ask again, pull up a chair and have a cold one with ya'll. Take care now and thanks for the kind words...

1st ever national, and it was great!

My venue suggestions would be to alternate East, Central, West, Central, East, etc.
Central could alternate between Cleveland and Chicago.
Throw in a Las Vegas every 4-5 years.
Each coast would see one every 3 years.
I know that some of you saw dealers that you have never seen before - the locals who won't travel across the country - point being that the dealer mix will change by location.
Unlike Alan's unlimited resources, I won't travel more than 2 hours for a show.
Andrew - thanks for the pics and enjoyed meeting you and Dad at the Wed. dinner.
Regards all - Will