Belinda, this was my first convention and I thought it was great! It was also amazing it was as great as it was since it was put on with a small cadre of volunteers. Definitely if the convention is going to continue to get better each year it will take more volunteers!
In addition to collecting chips I'm a model railroader and was a volunteer when the national convention of the Garden Railway Society was held in my area. This convention was put on entirely with volunteers. It included 100 volunteers opening their 100 homes and gardens to the convention attendees for three days. 8 buses were chartered each day so convention attendees could visit these garden model railroad layouts without renting a car if they chose. Others did drive around in their own cars and maps were provided. There was a volunteer host on each bus. (I was one of them as was my wife.) In addition the convention had seminars going on simultaneously every day, all day from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. Most of the time there were at least two seminars going on at the same time. There was a big sales floor with dealers selling also open simultaneously. The convention had a banquet with a nationally-known speaker. It had contests much as we do.
There are 3 main differences between that convention and ours. First, they had a whole lot more volunteers. Secondly there was a convention fee of about $60 to attend. (The bus rides were extra charge, by the way as of course was the banquet.) Thirdly the convention rotates geographically with a local club acting as host and providing most of the volunteers. Although our group may not want to go to the rotating location because of the special nature of Las Vegas with what we collect, there is no reason more of us can't volunteer or that we can't charge a fee for the convention. Sorry this is so long but I think it is a good example of what can be accomplished with more volunteers.