Future National Locations - Same Old Story

[BobC]

Originally Posted by chriskim

Vegas Baby!

Not opposed to Vegas, but wouldn't be surprised if the dealers were against it. They want attendees spending money with them at the show, not in casinos all day and night losing money. Plus, not sure the costs will be very inexpensive for dealers getting in and out.

[egri]

Originally Posted by BobC

Not opposed to Vegas, but wouldn't be surprised if the dealers were against it. They want attendees spending money with them at the show, not in casinos all day and night losing money. Plus, not sure the costs will be very inexpensive for dealers getting in and out.

Couldn’t the same be said about Atlantic City?

[Vintagedeputy]

I live in Richmond, Va. and spend a lot of time in Virginia Beach, Va.

Both locations have convention centers, plenty of hotels, close-by airports, major highways, minor league baseball, and many non-sports activities for the whole family.

The National needs to spread out: Richmond, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Raleigh, Tampa, Denver, etc. Hit the cities that are not Chicago, Detroit, etc.

[egri]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

I live in Richmond, Va. and spend a lot of time in Virginia Beach, Va.

Both locations have convention centers, plenty of hotels, close-by airports, major highways, minor league baseball, and many non-sports activities for the whole family.

The National needs to spread out: Richmond, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Raleigh, Tampa, Denver, etc. Hit the cities that are not Chicago, Detroit, etc.

Living in Norfolk, I second that!

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

I live in Richmond, Va. and spend a lot of time in Virginia Beach, Va.

Both locations have convention centers, plenty of hotels, close-by airports, major highways, minor league baseball, and many non-sports activities for the whole family.

No offense, but I hope you are kidding. Both are way too small. The Richmond convention center is 178k sqft and Virginia Beach is 150k sqft. For comparison, Chicago is 840k, AC is 480k, and Cleveland is >1mm sqft. Baltimore is the smallest in recent history at 300k sqft and that was packed wall to wall.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by x2drich2000

No offense, but I hope you are kidding. Both are way too small. The Richmond convention center is 178k sqft and Virginia Beach is 150k sqft. For comparison, Chicago is 840k, AC is 480k, and Cleveland is >1mm sqft. Baltimore is the smallest in recent history at 300k sqft and that was packed wall to wall.

Actually, I’m not.

If there’s a trade off in giving in to a smaller location which then allows the hobby to reach different people with access to things they’ve never seen, I’m all for it.

Nothing says that everything has to be in one building either. Lots of city-wide events are held in different places. The Richmond CC is right next to the downtown Marriott hotel with meeting room space and just blocks away from the AA Flying Squirrels (SF Giants) stadium and Arthur Ashe Rec Center (with 72K square feet of meeting space)….not to mention the Bon Secours (formerly Redskins) Training Center.

Tons of space available around the city that would welcome the National.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

Actually, I’m not.

If there’s a trade off in giving in to a smaller location which then allows the hobby to reach different people with access to things they’ve never seen, I’m all for it.

Nothing says that everything has to be in one building either. Lots of city-wide events are held in different places. The Richmond CC is right next to the downtown Marriott hotel with meeting room space and just blocks away from the AA Flying Squirrels (SF Giants) stadium and Arthur Ashe Rec Center (with 72K square feet of meeting space)….not to mention the Bon Secours (formerly Redskins) Training Center.

Tons of space available around the city that would welcome the National.

How do you propose to explain to some dealers there is no room for them at one of these smaller venues then, or that their table space is going to be cut. And how do you pick and choose such decisions among the dealers without ticking anyone off?

And as for the multiple location idea for the show's venue, that can be a logistics nightmare. Instead of just having one or two doors to watch, each different location is now going to require more people to watch who comes and goes. And more people = more costs. And what about dealers who want to be in only the main area, and not buried in some smaller, off-site venue no one really wants to go to. And that's just off the top of my head.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by egri

Couldn’t the same be said about Atlantic City?

Yes, to an extent, but the gambling scene there isn't as prevalent and as well liked as in Vegas anymore. Plus, it is East coast, which is more accessible for a lot of the dealers that attend. Driving/flying inventory all the way to Vegas isn't cheap I'm guessing either. They also have the boardwalk and ocean, so if anyone comes with family and friends, they have something else to occupy their time, not mainly gambling and casinos. And don't forget, Vegas is exceedingly hot that time of the year.

From what I got from those re-posted remarks in the earlier post #68, the dealers have much more say in the location selection than many would think. And assuming the dealers are pretty consistent from year to year, seems to me that to get some more serious consideration for any of these new locations everyone's touting, the trick to doing so may be to replace more East coast/Midwest US dealers with attending dealers from different parts of the country. But if you add say five such new dealers, and they're from Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, and LA, they are all over the place and very unlikely to get together to vote for one their own cities/areas as a bloc.