That was interesting. I've always been a proponent of free admission because I felt it would attract people who otherwise would not come in, but I've changed some of my thoughts on that.

First, we don't get the foot traffic at the South Point so I doubt many people are walking by and saying, "Hey Marge, check this out. Let's take a look." People at the South Point are most likely going there for the purpose of going to the show, so I doubt an entrance fee would matter to them.

His point about the big conventions are not the places to recruit new members... I'm not sure I'm on board with that so much when it comes to chips. In the "old days" we used to have many shows, in many areas of the country with very active regional chapters, where people could be exposed on a smaller stage. Today, we don't and therefore there is less opportunity for new people to get exposed to the hobby. In coins, there seems to be a show every week, in chips there are only a couple a year.

I wish there was some way to quantify how many of the new people attending the free days are there because it's free. It would also be good to see how many of those people took up the hobby. Neither I believe are easily tracked.

I've invited friends onto the bourse floor in the past and they all thought the old gaming stuff was really neat, but none of them are currently collecting. A couple joined the club, but without the passion they just weren't going to stick around. I don't think the answer to growing the hobby is going to be done through the conventions. The conventions purpose is really to facilitate and entertain the club's current members.

So I've really come around alot on the issue. I went from believing it should be free for the entire time to now thinking a Saturday free admission would be sufficient (generous).