Jim, the difference is that it is "our" show, our convention, and our logo. We control who we sell tables to. They must be club members. They must agree to abide by our Code of Ethics, which has prohibitions against fraud and sanctions if violated.

You spent hundreds and hundreds of hours of your valuable time and produced an outstanding and thorough report because someone was accused of violating our standards. The sanction was drastic and, I would guess, financially painful. It will, I hope, make anyone in the future think twice before engaging in deceptive conduct at our convention.

If a non-member buys a table at a chip show in Reno, Minden, Laughlin, or LV for that matter, they have no potential sanctions hanging over their head that would make them hesitate before defrauding a customer. In my opinion, one of the best things that we can offer our members is the sense, the comfort, that if they are defrauded we will take actions to try to rectify the situation. Some years ago we were able to recover thousands of dollars from someone who bounced checks all over the convention. These efforts would not have been taken for a private show.

When we control our table sales, our attendance, our standards and our enforcement, then we should proudly put our logo and our reputation out there for the public to rely on. It is our "raison d'etre." I would be thrilled if our logo was universally respected as a standard the public could rely upon.

It isn't for sale. Maybe it should be, like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. But that is a policy decision for the future.

Finally, I do not consider this a trademark issue at all. We can enforce our logo. Should we trademark it? Absolutely! But that is a separate and distinct issue from this. Maybe your son can help us get a federal registration.

By the way, as I wondered how you put in so much time on the brass core matter, seemingly non-stop, I now notice that you posted your reply to me at 2:12 am. No one should be up that late.