I recall back in the early days when there were shows on the West Coast, it was almost impossible for new dealers to reserve a spot due to all of the tenured dealers. I knew before I arrived, which dealers I would always see front and center at the entrance. And which dealers I would find buried way in the back. I was able to set-up by sharing a table with a lower-level tenured dealer - so we were in the back. We would know that once the doors opened it would take a good 30-45 minutes before we would start seeing convention-goers. Once they started adding corporate booths, the back of the show was a wasteland.
Tenure is a nice perk for loyalty, but it also acts as a negative to allowing new dealers to showcase their wares. Maybe some form of lottery for the tenured dealers allowing perhaps 70% of them to reserve tables and a randomized drawing for table location.
Bottom line, maybe this is the year to rethink how they have run the National up to now and perhaps new ideas and locations should be considered by a new group of individuals willing to take on the burdens/rewards of holding such an event. Monopolies are never a good thing. After all, if I'm not mistaken, the National began on the West Coast and is the location of most all of the larger-attended shows. And dealers from other areas of the country were more than happy to attend.
Just my 5 cents.
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