National Booth(s) Needed

[Rich Klein]

We had a long thread on this when Mike Berkus was still living and he commented on some of the issues with the National. To paraphrase our president: Who knew the National could be so complicated. I'll try to get that thread up in a bit.

Here is the thread from 2009 -- some salient points still operational

http://net54baseball.com/showthread....ht=Mike+Berkus

[edjs]

I thought this was a thread about Rhys needing a booth.

[Duluth Eskimo]

If the national was about collectors Rhys would have a booth. The national would exist if there was no full time national staff. Collectors are what drives the show, not a bunch of guys who think they know what's best. One of the main reasons why people don't attend anymore is because the show has only been held in Chicago, Cleveland, or AC. People on the west coast say screw it. The show staff doesn't care because they have their Panini money.

[ALR-bishop]

CU discussion


https://forums.collectors.com/discus...ational#latest

[itslarry]

Originally Posted by Duluth Eskimo

If the national was about collectors Rhys would have a booth. The national would exist if there was no full time national staff. Collectors are what drives the show, not a bunch of guys who think they know what's best. One of the main reasons why people don't attend anymore is because the show has only been held in Chicago, Cleveland, or AC. People on the west coast say screw it. The show staff doesn't care because they have their Panini money.

Well why don't all the "real collectors" have one out west? No corporate sponsors, no full time employees, just collectors and traders.
Sounds like a cinch

[Rich Klein]

I'm trying to read the tea leaves between this board and the CU discussion as to when the tables/booths were sold out. My guess is that sometime very early this year the last available booth was sold.

As Rhys said, he waited till March to call only to find out he was on the waiting list.

I would think, going forward, Rhys might reserve a table/booth for the National at an earlier time and if he can not set up, then off-load the table/booth. That is, if his schedule permits him to know that far out. If not, then the suggestion I made might be the answer.

Also, I do agree that Rhys has a fairly unique specialty and therefore would add quite a bit to the show.

But sometimes, planning wins out.

Rich

[prewarsports]

Hi Guys

I only ever wait because sometimes I buy an entire block of four items to sell a bunch of stuff, and sometimes I just set up a photo booth and I dont know which option I want until after the new years when my schedule is a little more solidified. I have a priority 9 or something like that so I am not in any way saying I could not have had a booth if I had reserved one earlier. I just dont get the point of closing the door on hundreds of dealers that could make the show better by deciding a half year in advance that they are going to limit the show floor to a fraction of what it used to be in a hall that could land a B-27 bomber in all the empty space at the end of the hall.

This was really not meant to be a post bashing the show. If I did not think it was worth going to, I would not be asking for a table and offering to pay twice the cost. I just do not understand, from a business perspective, why you would ever limit the number of dealers if they are lining up willing to pay thousands and thousands of dollars for a section of concrete with two card tables in the middle of it when there is a limitless amount of concrete on that convention floor.

[Rich Klein]

Rhett:

That's what I figured as to why you wait. Makes sense to me. One person on the CU board mentioned he procrastinated and he took responsibility for his delay.

I do know that one of the National issues is exactly how many dealer tables/booths to have and they think of many reasons to either expand or contract. I'm sure they have done the math and the logic for either reason.

Perhaps a small block of 5 or so booths can be kept open for people with unique merchandise for sale.

Now, at the small show I run, in case I'm ever oversold by 1-2 tables, I can always remove a table or two of my material and open that up to a vendor. The National can't quite do that however

regards
rich