So what is it like to attend a National Convention? Well, for us it is like a military operation that starts months before the day of the convention. We have to decide what we are going to display in the booth. What layouts we will be able to see and what might be at the show that we need to report to you.
We pack more electronics than your local Radio Shack store. Think about it, when you are going to shoot several thousand pictures you need a lot of stuff. We have four digital still cameras, two digital video cameras, two sets of batteries for each still camera and several for the video cameras.
We have rechargers, converters and all kinds of adapters. We pack an external firewire 300Gigabyte hard drive for storage and have a laptop that can process video and create movie clips while on the road. (Hint: Don't get behind us at the airport security line.)
This year's convention was a very well run operation. Several clubs worked together to put on an excellent event. Somehow they even got the weather to cooperate. It was warm, but not too hot, and the humidity was manageable. If you heard all about the 1999 convention, this weather was a piece of cake.
The hall where the convention was held was easy to get our display into and out. The staff of both the hotel and the clubs were great to work with. I thought the tours were well organized, but there is never enough time allocated to see all the layouts. Several of the layouts provided us with many new ideas for our railroad and for future videos and articles for the site.
So what is a National Convention?
In a nutshell it is: People, Places and Products.
The People
The best part of a National Convention is getting to meet the people at the show. For us it is the opportunity to meet our members and also a chance to pick up on friendships that we have made with other manufacturers and dealers. As the National is the last show of the year we will not see many of these businesses until next year at the East Coast Large Scale Train Show. Many of our members we only see once a year, depending on which coast the National is held.
At this show we had the chance to meet some members that we have known online for several years. We also had the chance to visit with member Brad Bennett and have dinner at his home. It was great to see his workshop and get a personal tour of his layout. Shows like this are an important reminder that it is not the trains or the layouts, but the people that created them that are important.
There were also many well attended seminars. I did a seminar on digital cameras and digital video. There were about 40 people there and we had a good time. Author and member Dave Bodnar did a seminar too. It was on electronics and was well attended also. David brought a flashing light tower to our booth that flashed out in Morse Code - "Welcome to Large Scale Online." I also helped out the Hillman's who could not attend the show and did a seminar on using their RailClamps.
The Places The National Convention starts off with a day of tours and then the exhibit hall is open later in the day. We contact the layouts in advance to get permission to take photos at their railroads. We have been doing this for several years and we have only had two people flat out say "no." It is sad as one of the layouts had to be removed shortly after the convention and there were no pictures to document it for history.
Because of time and distance, and road construction, we are not always able to get to each layout that is open. We plot all of the locations for the day in our laptop computer and use a real-time GPS to plot our location and directions to the next layout. Jo Anne says we can still get lost, but at least we know where we are.
We many times start off at 6:00am to drive to the farthest location of the day. This way we can work our way back to the convention hall so we can get to our booth when the show hours open. On each of the convention days the tour hours were only 5 hours long. We can see a maximum of about 8 layouts in that time. (We once saw 19 layouts in 7 hours, but it was all a blur and I would still bet that Boss Hogg was after us.)
When we arrive at a layout we have three cameras in action. Jo Anne takes general shots. Bryan takes low and close shots. (He bends better than us older folks!) Jon takes overview shots and takes pictures of specific features of the railroad. We do end up with some duplication, but we are able to give you an accurate view of what the railroad looks like. On Saturday when they have tours and the booths open at the same time Jon goes on his own fulfilling all three roles with one camera. Beside the layouts there are also the events that you can participate. This year the convention offered a Hobo Dinner at Pheasant Run, a BBQ at the Illinois Railway Museum, and the main Banquet also at the Pheasant Run.
At the Hobo Dinner you got to experience the fun of eating at a "hobo camp" dinner - shepherds pie, chicken & biscuits, meatloaf, salad and dessert were served. A commemorative metal cup and plate was given to attendees. The Hobo Dinner was sponsored by USA Trains and Columbia Metal Spinning.
The BBQ was held at the Illinois Railway Museum. The Museum houses many vintage engines and cars. It is home to the Nebraska Zephyr, and has also hosted a number of movie shoots. They served barbeque chicken and pork chops with all the fixings. The Barbeque is sponsored by Hartland Locomotive. The only drawback here was that there was not enough time to see ALL of the trains.
All aboard for "Dinner on the 21NGRC Express". The annual banquet was held at convention center - Pheasant Run. There was a choice of Pan Roasted French Style Chicken, Prime Rib of Beef or a Vegetarian meal. The Dinner was sponsored by LGB of America.
The Products At this year's show there were over 70 vendors. The major manufacturers were here alongside many of the staples of the industry like Eaglewings Iron Craft, Hillman's, and Just Plain Folks. There were also several new people here including St. Charles Models and Goldinhands.
This year the clubs did a good job of having the proper amount of time for the booths to be open. Not too little and not too much. The first hours the show is open most people are hitting the large dealers looking for the $10 - Dash 9 and the $25 Mikado. Even though prices do not go that low, there were still some good prices when you figure many of the dealers did not charge tax and there would be no shipping costs.
On Saturday, the public day, the hall was very busy. I am not sure how many tickets were sold to the general public for that day, but we had many inquires at the LSOL.com booth and got many new members joining looking for information on our hobby.
Sunday is quieter, with many of the attendees leaving early in the morning right after the Farewell Breakfast and before the exhibit hall opened. Others leave throughout the morning after making "one last pass" through the hall, just in case they might have missed something. There is always that chance of getting a last minute bargain on something the dealer does not want to haul back home. Of course, if you wait around to buy something on Sunday, you run the risk of finding out it is no longer there.
There were no layout tours open on Sunday, it is a generally very laid back day.
The convention volunteers are finishing up loose ends in the registration area, others are making sure the vendors are aware of the "breakdown" rules when the show closes. One half hour before the hall closed, some lights were dimmed to give everyone notice that the show was about to close. As soon as the clock struck "three", most vendors were already packing up.
It is amazing to see how quickly some of the huge displays of trains for sale suddenly disappear into the big trucks waiting outdoors. It is even more amazing to see how quickly the modular groups pack up their display. They are like a well-oiled machine, teamwork is a must!
A few final "good byes", and we were on our way home. We now have a few months to reflect on the past year's shows and start to think about the next year. We've already got our reservations for the next two shows. Do you??
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