Cincinnati, Nashville, and Indianapolis...easy to get to by fly or drive
and all three have large convention centers next to RV facilities.
On 7/30/2016 7:04 PM, Gary Sutcliffe wrote:
For a hamfest/convention to reach the attendance of Dayton it has to
be within a reasonable driving distance for major population centers.
Most attendees are not hard core like people joining this group who
probably come down Thursday or even Wednesday to attend extra events
like Contest U, FDIM, etc. Most come down just for Saturday. The load
up their car drive a few hours and split gas costs. Those people are
not going to buy a plane ticket. Even most of the hard core
contesters coming for several days car pool to Dayton.
The flea market is a big thing for a lot of attendees. Only a few of
the flea market dealers could afford to haul their wares to a NV flea
market. Certainly the guy wanting to unload a boat anchor or two can’t
put it on the plane. Buyers are only going to buy stuff they can fit
in their luggage.
Then there are the inside vendors. A lot of those businesses are small
operations. They are not going to be able to afford Las Vegas
convention rates along with the unions charging to haul the boxes in,
plug in power cords, etc. As it is, every year there seem to be fewer
inside dealers. If the ARRL had not started taking up half of one of
the halls there would be even more empty space. This is even with
DARA offering smaller exhibit spaces at lower prices than when I last
exhibited inside a number of years ago.
No doubt HARA got to be a real dump. But, the reality is I come down
socialize with others I only see in person once a year, to see what
new products are being introduced, catch a seminar or two and maybe
buy or sell a few items in the flea market. I go every year unless I
have some other event I can’t get out of. Never once have I considered
skipping it because of HARA’s poor condition.
If it were moved to Las Vegas I probably would make it once every 5
years or so. I hope DARA gets the new site finalized and has a great
Hamvention in 2017. I plan to attend.
Gary, W9XT
www.w9xt.com
On 7/30/2016 1:58 PM, Barry wrote:
Why not?
BTW, the quote is from from Ron Cramer, the General Manager of
Hamvention, as quoted in this article:
http://www.whio.com/news/business/hamvention-to-find-new-home-after-hara-arena-annou/nr7C2/
To me, Vegas has several advantages:
1. Accessible via cheap, non-stop flights from almost anywhere.
2. Better, more predictable weather. No rain.
3. Infinite hotel space.
4. Plenty of alternate activities for both hams and spouses.
With no disrespect to those who live in the Dayton area, it is a
depressing, run-down, small city. There are plenty of better options,
including Vegas.
Barry W2UP
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