On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 18:08:55 GMT, steamer wrote:

SNIP
--I'm lookin' forward to the next gathering, so long as it's
*not* in Visalia. I figure if it's the Bay Area or Los Angeles folks
from out of town will at least have friends/relatives to visit and that
should pump up attendance. Also both of those areas offer attractions
beyond the event itself; more than one can say for Visalia..


Hey Steamer,

My sentiments exactly. It needs to be held in the biggest place
possible. Or maybe better, how about a 4 year cycle, with suppose
year one in LA, year two in San Francisco, three in Seattle, and four
in San Diego or even Las Vegas. Might even be a better way, as I do
hear people complain about the "same stuff" every time, true or not
it's what they think.
Visalia one-way is a three or a four hour drive no matter what, double
for a round-trip! You can't do that reasonably and have a good
one-day outing. If you can't do it and have fun and see something
different in one day, then you'd have to stay over and make it a two
day deal, and for MOST people (not talking about the die-hard's here
on rcm!!) that's more time, money and effort than they want to spend.
And now the price of fuel is getting prohibitive too.
Maybe with a switching cycle of sites, we'd even see at least a
variation in vendors and exhibits. Sure, certain vendors will be
there for a show no matter where it is held, but maybe even more
certain would be their attendance if they thought they'd get more
"walk-by" trade. I recall the Cheddar guys at NAMES saying they really
enjoyed the feel of the show, but the foot traffic didn't compare to
the tens of thousands they got in the UK and Europe. Vendors want to
see thousands of people, not just hundreds of enthusiasts.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.