Now for a small reality check.

In a perfect world we could snap our fingers and make everything fit every member's idea of the perfect convention. However...

Unless the Club is willing to pay a professional group to organize and run the Convention and all of its activities, these grandiose dreams aren't likely to come to fruition. At least not in the near future. I know of no "big" convention that relies on volunteers to do the work. Those are organized by pros who are VERY well paid.

We have volunteers doing the work here. Volunteers who are also members/dealer members who would also like to enjoy some of the convention events. No, gluttens for punishment like Wayne and I don't expect to get to have fun <G> but we'd like to see everyone else enjoying themselves.

Michael Knapp does an outstanding job as Educational Chairman but to expect him or any one person to do nothing but seminars, whether organizing or running them, is grossly unfair. He wants time on the bourse floor too. I believe he would like nothing more than to see seminars going all day - hours and hours of them. We all would. But unless there is someone who's willing to step in, organize and run ALL of them or even to serve as panelists, there's no way it's going to happen. It's real easy to say "I want" but much more difficult to say "yes, I'll help" and then follow through.

BTW...we were extremely fortunate this year. When Michael said he couldn't take on another seminar, Neal Silverman responded to my plea for help and took over the Electronic Chipping Seminar.

IMO, charging for the educational seminars goes totally against our mission as a non-profit organization. I would think that charging for them would endanger our non-profit status but would also keep a lot of members who might attend from doing so. If you guys will excuse the observation, this is a pretty cheap group! <G> And what about potential members? Those walk-ins who look at the schedule and see a seminar listing that looks interesting; would our charging to attend prevent them from doing so? I believe it would.

I'd like to see more discussion groups going on during the show hours. We all know that there are issues being debated here every day. Why not take some of those issues and talk about them in organized meetings? The Universal Numbering System was discussed a couple of years ago. What about Grading or a permanent Club building? Wouldn't the club be better served if those types of things were discussed among all members, not just the ones who happen to be online? Perhaps if the attendance for discussion groups was good, we could try a seminar during the day. Who wants to take on that challenge? LMK, I'll do everything I can to help.

I'm not trying to be negative about the suggestions. Just realize that it takes more than saying "we should this" or "we should that" to make things happen. Wayne and I are talking daily, trying to figure out what to do to make next year's show even better and how to adjust the schedule to fit the needs and desires of the membership. I talk to Michael regularly about the seminars and what can be done to make them better.

The logistics of planning this thing are overwhelming and we can use all the help we can get. That, BTW, was a not so subtle hint that volunteers are needed. <G>

(wondering what happened to my month of no convention worries)

Belinda