AC works for me only cause it is close by. Adding flights makes it more travel time, more expensive, and lets be honest, flights haven't been the most reliable lately. Vegas sounds fun on the surface, but the volume of dealers that would need to fly/extensively drive I think make it prohibitive. Below is what I posted last year on the topic with additional data from this year.
While moving the National around I think would be great, I can certainly understand why they stay in the Northeast corner and continue to rotate between the 4 current cities. Below is a break down of the dealers from this years national by name and booths. NY, NJ, PA combined are top 3 and make up 30%. Why not have it where dealers are? Also below is the US Census map from 2020. Again, population density looks to be in the northeast. Why not have it where most people are? To me it is only common sense to keep it in that area from a business standpoint.
2022 AC Dealer List by state
State Dealers Percent Booths Percent
NY 38 11.08% 64 10.63%
NJ 31 9.04% 61 10.13%
PA 30 8.75% 52 8.64%
FL 27 7.87% 56 9.30%
IL 27 7.87% 40 6.64%
TX 19 5.54% 37 6.15%
OH 15 4.37% 25 4.15%
VA 14 4.08% 24 3.99%
MI 14 4.08% 21 3.49%
CA 11 3.21% 22 3.65%
GA 10 2.92% 22 3.65%
MN 9 2.62% 11 1.83%
NC 8 2.33% 12 1.99%
TN 7 2.04% 10 1.66%
IN 7 2.04% 11 1.83%
MD 7 2.04% 13 2.16%
MO 6 1.75% 10 1.66%
WI 5 1.46% 8 1.33%
CT 5 1.46% 12 1.99%
AZ 4 1.17% 6 1.00%
WA 4 1.17% 9 1.50%
KY 4 1.17% 5 0.83%
IA 4 1.17% 7 1.16%
CO 4 1.17% 6 1.00%
AR 3 0.87% 4 0.66%
Canada 3 0.87% 4 0.66%
MA 3 0.87% 4 0.66%
ND 3 0.87% 7 1.16%
KS 2 0.58% 3 0.50%
ME 2 0.58% 2 0.33%
VT 2 0.58% 4 0.66%
SC 2 0.58% 3 0.50%
RI 2 0.58% 3 0.50%
NV 2 0.58% 6 1.00%
DE 2 0.58% 3 0.50%
OK 1 0.29% 1 0.17%
NH 1 0.29% 2 0.33%
NE 1 0.29% 4 0.66%
OR 1 0.29% 4 0.66%
WV 1 0.29% 1 0.17%
ID 1 0.29% 1 0.17%
HI 1 0.29% 2 0.33%
Grand Total 343 100.00% 602 100.00%
2023 Chicago Dealer List by State
State Dealers Percent Booths Percent
FL 29 8.26% 63 9.55%
NY 30 8.55% 57 8.64%
IL 32 9.12% 54 8.18%
NJ 25 7.12% 52 7.88%
PA 29 8.26% 51 7.73%
TX 16 4.56% 31 4.70%
OH 17 4.84% 29 4.39%
MI 16 4.56% 27 4.09%
CA 13 3.70% 26 3.94%
VA 14 3.99% 25 3.79%
GA 10 2.85% 21 3.18%
MD 8 2.28% 16 2.42%
WI 10 2.85% 16 2.42%
MN 8 2.28% 16 2.42%
MO 8 2.28% 15 2.27%
IN 9 2.56% 15 2.27%
NC 8 2.28% 14 2.12%
CT 5 1.42% 13 1.97%
TN 7 1.99% 12 1.82%
IA 6 1.71% 10 1.52%
WA 4 1.14% 10 1.52%
AZ 4 1.14% 8 1.21%
ND 3 0.85% 8 1.21%
NV 4 1.14% 8 1.21%
AR 4 1.14% 7 1.06%
NE 3 0.85% 7 1.06%
MA 4 1.14% 5 0.76%
CO 3 0.85% 5 0.76%
VT 2 0.57% 4 0.61%
KS 2 0.57% 4 0.61%
OR 1 0.28% 4 0.61%
RI 2 0.57% 4 0.61%
KY 2 0.57% 3 0.45%
WV 2 0.57% 3 0.45%
SC 2 0.57% 3 0.45%
ID 2 0.57% 3 0.45%
ME 2 0.57% 2 0.30%
DE 1 0.28% 2 0.30%
NH 1 0.28% 2 0.30%
HI 1 0.28% 2 0.30%
AL 1 0.28% 2 0.30%
OK 1 0.28% 1 0.15%
Grand Total 351 100.00% 660 100.00%
