Save the date: May 2nd through the 4th, 2025!! 3 days of fun and great finds! This is not just a chips and casino items show. This is going to be all types of collectibles, so expect some cross-pollination among collector types at this one. In addition, there will be a LOT of fun and interesting activities for you to take part in, both around and during the show.

I met with the sales manager of the Grand Sierra Resort and locked in just over 40,000 square feet of floor space. It will be divided into a sales/bourse area, a speaker/conference area (where we'll hold both a poker tournament and a blackjack tournament), and a dining area where VIP pass holders will be treated to breakfast, lunch, and snacks (that's the plan, anyway). I SHOULD be able to get some free passes to the LEX nightclub, which is always bumpin', especially on the weekends, and quite possibly even more on this Cinco de Mayo weekend.

This will be a FREE event to attend and because of GSR's market area, it will draw heavily from the Northern California market (Sacramento, Bay Area). I really hope to see a great number of my friends from the CCA there as well. I know there are other Spring events and the June show is right behind mine, but I think I can promise you a larger audience than all of them.

I apologize for scheduling this only 6 weeks away from the June CCA convention but it was unavoidable. Specifically, room rates would be more than double on 2 other good weekends because of a volleyball tournament taking place there. Easter is out. And I'm on vacation from April 5th-12th. I didn't want to be close to Feb/Mar due to weather, either. So, that's why we're sinko-de-mayoing this year.

If anyone wishes to help me with this effort, I will do my very best to compensate you for your time and effort with freebies, food credits, shirts, loads of thank-yous, and/or anything else I can think of.

Whether you want to attend OR be a dealer, I'm asking you to pre-register. I'll have formal forms later, but if you want to get on the early bird list, just send the following to my email address at barry@sunset.net:

Full Name
Company (if dealer)
Mailing address, city, state, zip, country
Phone number
Email (if different from the one you're sending from)
Note whether you would like to be a dealer or just attend. You're also welcome to send me your contact info even if you can't make the 2025 event. I'll add you to my list and keep you posted for the next one.

What I have so far:

Domain name ( https://renocollectibles.com - registered, but no site content yet)
Semi-confirmation of room and provisions from GSR
A mostly-completed survey. It's quite long right now, but as this is my first event and in a new town, I'd appreciate if you'd take the time to complete it.
An awesome tracking spreadsheet
Great room rates. Website shows rates are from $129 (Sun) to $210 (Sat), averaging around $167/nt overall. I've been told we'll get a discount for a block reservation, but I don't know what that is yet. I'm going to try to get the $40/nt resort fee waived as well.
Confirmation that the poker tournament, blackjack tournament, and slot tournament (hopefully with Silver Strikes) will happen. Some of these may have limited signups, so secure your spots as soon as I announce registration for them.
I have a meeting set up for next week with some marketing savvy folks who have promoted some very large events in the past.

What I'm trying to lock down:

Getting GSR to buy some Silver Strike machines (wouldn't that be awesome!)
Getting GSR to issue a commemorative LIVE chip for our event (wouldn't that be spectacular!). First new edition chip from the GSR in quite some time.
A tour of the Hello, Hollywood, Hello! backstage which still houses the famous Boeing 727 used in the production!
"Ghost Tour" of the old casinos of Reno, Virginia City, Carson City, and Lake Tahoe (probably requires multiple tours to cover it all).

What I can use help with right now is:

Logo design
Flyer/Poster design
Help finding collectibles organizations, companies, and individuals interested in getting a booth
Help getting the word out to potential attendees (social media, email blasts, etc)
Web design (I know - a nerd asking for web design assistance)

What I'll need as the event gets closer:

Help confirming dealers and attendees (collecting forms, payments, wish lists, VIP passes, etc)
Setup of event. GSR will provide AND SET UP all tables, tablecloths, and chairs, so probably not too much to do in that regard.
Tour guides who know where all the old Reno/Tahoe bones are buried.
Tear down of event. Again, GSR will handle virtually all of it.

I will have more information, dealer packets, promotional information, and such soon.

I gotta say, I'm pretty excited about this. I hope you are, too.

-- barry