Posted By:
Rich Klein I'd buy a ticket for the National. I'd purchase the VIP Pass which enables you to get into the show a little earlier each day AND gets you some lovely gifts from the corporates and some free autographs. You can purchase the VIP Pass on-line I believe
In addition, since you know many members of the board, I suspect that some of them would be happy to have you join them for dinner/after hours chat.
For purchasing items, the show is too darned large to hit in one day, I believe it would take 2-3 days to do the show correctly. My plan is to be around Wednesday through Saturday; by Sunday, the endurance contest really kicks in and most dealers are quite ready to go home, some are willing to make deals, others just get the heck out of dodge. In my National dealing days, Sunday was always a day I just wanted to make a few $$$ and get out of town as early as possible.
There is a list of all the vendors on the National site. You can determine how many of them you wish to look at their material. Many members of this board end up at Scott Brockleman's table to hang out.
If you are close enough to the show and at one of the host hotels; take the shuttle bus, if not, drive to one of the hotels and take the bus, no reason to spend the extra $$$ for parking. (If no parking charge, delete this line)
Regards
Rich