will say that that is NOT the reason. I believe the real reason is as follows:

All trade sessions are authorized functions of the and as such require validation of Club membership by the participants. The selected method of validating membership is to the presence of a Convention credential. Convention credentials are pre-made (based on pre-Registration) brought to the Convention and made available for early distribution on Wednesday.

However, regular Registration is NOT available until Thursday morning (which will also provide a Convention credential) so if one wishes to attend the Wednesday trade session, and/or Banquet, Exhibit set-up, Dealer set-up, etc., they need to pre-Register.

While the alternative would be to perform regular-Registration on Wednesday, that would be adding another day to Brenda Black's responsibilities and crew for Registration. I will also add, that it has been previously examined to require attendees of this early trade session to have their Club Membership cards as validation of membership not everyone carries their card and it places a greater degree of policing onto the Session Monitor.

So, the "must do pre-Registration" is a requirement for all Wednesday, pre-Convention activities where validation of Club membership is needed.

On a personal note, Welcome to the Club and the hobby and please say Hello if you see me bouncing around the place!

I always intend to attend the Trade Sessions as they are a GREAT way to meet people and drastically increase one's collection!

Best regards,

Jim

ps. If I have made any mis-statements, I am sure that I will be corrected and I apologize up front! JF