Can someone provide me with a "beginner's guide" to the National?

[Archive]

Posted By: Brian McQueen

I was reading the other threads currently circulating on the board about our upcoming event. It's an exciting time in our hobby for sure and I'm thrilled to say that I'll be attending at least the dinner on August 2nd as I'll be in town for a couple days around that weekend visiting my girlfriend's family. I may even be able to come out for a day for the convention itself depending on if I can talk the girlfriend into giving up a day of our trip to go look at baseball cards

It's exciting for me because so many people that I've known and worked with for years are going to be there which makes the dinner the priority for me. What I really want to do is simply meet as many of you as I can. The only concern is that I've never been to one of these before and I've not been to any baseball card show at all since I was about 11. So, I'm not really knowing what to expect from either the dinner or convention itself and was hoping to get a thread started where people could just sort of share their experiences a bit so myself, and possiby others that have never been will know what they're in for.

For starters, I have a couple questions. I will be staying in the nearby city of Canfield, so I'm covered off there. I also know that I'll be attending the dinner on August 2nd. Aside from those two aspects of the trip, I'm kind of clueless on how everything else runs and what to expect. If I was wanting to buy tickets for the convention itself, where would I go, how much would they be and are there different rates for the amount of time you spend there? For example, could I just as easily buy a pass for one day as I could the whole week? Is there a better day and/or time to attend the convention and what hours is the convention open? Do people typically go multiple days and then stay the entire day or maybe spend an hour or two there each time? How is the parking up at the convention center?

Thanks guys, I appreciate any input. Hoping to see you all there...and somebody please save me a seat at the dinner!

Brian McQueen