Steve,

The pending 2014 Convention will be just my 3rd convention as a recent member of and I want to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed attending it the previous two years. As others have stated on this thread, I have no problem paying the fees to get into the convention; especially after already paying MUCH more just on air fare and lodging. Looking at the rationale stated for the entrance fee structure this year, I agree that it makes perfect sense. Most of the serious collectors are in attendance on the first day of the convention anyway. The fact that the total cost remains the same for both Thursday and Friday in 2014 as it did in 2013 seems to be a point not worth mentioning. The ability to extend the "free" days to both Friday and Saturday in 2014 does seem to be beneficial towards getting new foot traffic onto the convention floor on those days.

I do, however, have a question that I hope is not out of line to ask here. In the BoD's discussions regarding the convention each year, how many more attendees do you expect to attract through this exercise? The reason I ask is because, as a new member whose only experiences attending the convention have been at South Point, it seems like the location of the convention plays a bigger part in this equation than the amount the club charges to enter the convention.

Don't get me wrong, I love the facilities at South Point and I know from reading prior posts on this board that South Point provides the club an excellent venue at a very reasonable price. I just wonder how much exposure benefit the club actually expects to get by making Friday and Saturday "free" when it really (by default of location) only attracts those guests who are already staying at South Point. If I were just a random Las Vegas visitor staying on the LV Strip or downtown and heard/read something about the convention, I doubt I would take a taxi to South Point to see what is going on... even if admission was free. Granted, if it was going to cost me to get into the convention ON TOP of that taxi fare, I almost certainly would not make the trip.

Obviously, I'm not involved in any of the negotiations with the hotels to book the convention each year so I don't want to presume anything. I also don't want any BoD members to think that I don't have anything less than total gratitude for the actions they do to make this a successful event each year. But is the deal the gets from South Point for discounted rooms and the convention center that much better than any of the quotes from a LV Strip facility? Even if the club charged me double (or triple) the current fee to get into the convention, I would pay it; no matter where the convention was located. As I said earlier, once out of pocket for air fare, lodging, meals, etc. what is another $30-$50 at that point? What if the convention was moved back to a place that had higher foot traffic (therefore increasing the opportunity to get more "non-members" to see it) would doubling or tripling those entrance fees offset the extra amount the club would have to pay to hold the convention on the Strip?

Again, I hope I'm not offending anyone by asking this question. It is really just born out of curiosity. I just know that if I hadn't known about the club or hobby before and saw signs or ads telling me the convention was within walking distance, I'd be much more likely to check it out than if it was going to cost me $25 in cab fare to get there. I think the convention is an excellent resource for attracting new members to our hobby and I just feel sometimes that, by holding it at South Point, we inadvertantly keep it our little secret.

Thanks again for all you do! I'll see you all in June 2014!