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MikeMoore

IPMS/USA Member
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Posts posted by MikeMoore

  1. 3 hours ago, WasatchModeler said:

    So it is just a generational thing and nothing can be done? 

    Who knows? 

    I joined IPMS because there was a local chapter who welcomed me when I had just moved to Chattanooga and was newly back into the hobby.  For me, the single biggest reason I joined was the sense of community.  I don't know that I ever expected anything more from IPMS.  Here's what I see IPMS offers me:

    • The structure that supports local chapters.
    • The organization that makes affordable (read free) insurance coverage to model shows.
    • The structure and financing that makes the National Convention possible.

    For me, that's enough.  What's it take to keep you interested?  

  2. One big problem with sorting out who is and isn’t a member at general admission sales…members who don’t have cards with them…”but honest, I’m a member.  Of course I’m a member.   I have a FOUR DIGIT number, let me in.  HOW DARE YOU QUESTION I’M A MEMBER, just look it up.  WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO GO TO THE IPMS USA TABLE AND WAIT IN THAT LINE TO DO THAT.”

    Yes, it will happen.  Unless and until we get the technology in place to have membership data bases available everywhere a member/non-member decision must be made, there will be issues.  
     

    As far as tracking GA sales, as recently as 2019, all those sales, and tshirts, raffle tickets, etc sales were tracked, and lost track of with tick marks on yellow pads.  I haven’t attended since I chaired 2019, but unless we’ve upped our point of purchase game, you can kiss that data collection and tracking goodbye.  It ain’t gonna happen.  

    • Like 1
  3. After staying out of this for 9 pages, I'll throw a few thoughts out based on my experience running the 2019 Nats.

    First, Gil, I don't know of any vendors that are using 30-50 tables, even at the Nats.  Eduard, Special Hobby, and Free Time Hobbies were our three whale type vendors if I remember right.  Free Time took up space where we would have placed about 25 tables.  I think Eduard and Special Hobby were more like 20 tables worth of space.  But it does look impressive in the room.

    As for Ron's comments, the Chattanooga Convention Center actually cold called us.  They had a saleswoman who was scouring convention records from around the country and had seen the IPMS USA Convention pop up several times, reached out to Marie, and Marie sent her to us.  We had just started hosting our local show in the multi-use room of one of our club member's church, which we ended up out growing after 2 years.  The convention center hooked us up with affordable space and the club has run its show there ever since.  That did help build a great working relationship with the convention center (which I'll hit on later).  We were also able to work closely with the Chattanooga Visitor's Bureau to secure good hotel contracts.  The CVB was also able to get us within spitting distance of getting some serious Volkswagen sponsorship money.  Unfortunately, after looking into what the convention was all about and the seeming emphasis on military models, the corporate honcho's put a halt on that sponsorship.  Of course, our theme of "Was it Over When the German's Bombed Pearl Harbor?" may have played a part in that decision?????

    To Michael's point about the banquet.  The need for a banquet is two fold.  Many members like it and want it.  And, in order to meet the food and beverage requirements of most facilities, a banquet is the best option.  In Chattanooga we opted to pay the $5000 rental for the room and do the desert thing rather than do a banquet.  We could have done a banquet and gotten the room for "free", but chose to try something new.  Which many folks really appreciated, even thought the desert bar concept really tanked.  As to requiring banquet for registration, I'd say that in almost all cases, that's a physical impossibility.  You can't get that many people seated in the room, which is why people complain about feeling like second class citizens having to sit in the hallway listening to the awards presentation.

    There are other costs like banquets though.  Audio-Visual can be one.  We took a look at the AV vendor's pricing and decided to do much of it on our own.  They were charging $600 a day for LCD projectors.  4 projectors (one for each seminar room) would have cost $2700 for 3 days.  We spent $800 to buy one good one and borrowed several others.  We also bought projection screens rather than renting them.  Our AV budget would have been 75% higher than it ended up being if we'd have had to rent everything.  But talking to the guys in Phoenix, they didn't have that option.  They were required to rent everything from the facility AV vendor.  There are just some costs that some hosts just can't avoid.

    To add to Ron's point about the difficulty of maintaining relationships, I'll attest it's hard.  Again, the Chattanooga Chapter had a great working relationship through 8 years of local shows and the National Convention.  Once the Nats came and went, that relationship has started to fray.  I'm no longer in Chattanooga, but I keep in touch and attend the local show every January, and the new head guy running the show was telling me this year that the relationship is really strained.  The price breaks the club used to enjoy are no longer on the table, and their responsiveness is dropping.  This after more than 10 years working together and the same folks largely being involved.  The other shocker was how quickly the relationship with the Marriott attached to the convention center fell apart.  The hotel sold to new ownership during Covid, and when the club tried to get a reasonable rate for a small block of rooms for their January show they were given a rate of something on the order of $180 a night.  When we tried to explain we had a 10 year relationship working with them and had sold out the hotel for a solid week, management shrugged an said that was then.

    And finally, to Nat's point about vendors.  Yes, we do rely on them.  At $100 per table for the nats, and nearly 400 vendor tables sold, they generated north of $30,000 in income for the convention after table rental costs.   We couldn't hold a Nats without them without significant cost increases for the attendees.  However, we can't discount what the vendors get from coming to the show.  It's a two way street and it has to work for both sides.

    • Like 4
  4. On 8/28/2020 at 8:45 PM, Mark Deliduka said:

    Mike, you did an extraordinary job hosting the best nationals I'd ever been to! I am thrilled that I took this chance to come all the way out there and I appreciate all you've done to make it happen! You are an amazing man!

    Duke, you are too kind.  It was fantastic having you make the trip and display your collection.  I’m looking forward to seeing you in Vegas!

    mike

  5. 1 hour ago, DaveSepos said:

    A quick shout out to everyone in Chattanooga for a wonderful convention. One of the most memorable that I have attended. I'd have to say the display only segment was a huge success and a great way to get more people involved in the annual convention.

    Thanks Dave.  We are definitely hoping that the display only concept takes root and grows.  To a certain extent it is dependent on having facilities that are big enough to support it without impinging on the contest space, but if enough people demand it, who knows what will happen!

    Mike

  6. 2 minutes ago, Ian44836 said:

    Mike,

    I am from IPMS Livonia Mi. Myself and about 11 club members made the trip to the convention. The venue was top notch, the rooms nice, the organization excellent. Models for days, vendors a plenty and at the end of a hard day looking and shopping there was ample food and beverages within walking then stumbling distances to the hotel. To be honest it was just an all around excellent show. As judging and awards started to roll around I told some of my clubmates, "Winning anything here is going to be an honor. Look at how many models are on the tables". Dont care how good you think you are there was somebodys model that was even better. Just great stuff. You and your crew did a bang up job and your show is now the yardstick for all future shows. I will also congratulate you on not having a banquet and allowing all entrants to see the award ceremony. I feel that, that is one of the biggest let downs when you spend all the time and money to participate and then no seating for the awards. Enjoy the accolades and praise you and your team deserve all of it.

    Ian

    Thanks Ian.  I'll make sure the whole team see's your kind words.

    Mike

  7. 2 hours ago, John Walker said:

    Mike,

    I would like to let you and your crew know that I, and my 2 travel companions had a "grand time", and would like to thank you very much for all your hard work putting the show on. BTW, this was my first time in Nooga, and I enjoyed it immensely.

    Thanks again,

    John Walker

    Thanks so much John. I’ll let the whole team know. Glad to know you enjoyed your trip!

    Mike

  8. 1 hour ago, VonL said:

    Just got home from this one and enjoyed it very much. Great accommodations (Staybridge), efficient admin & programming, excellent exhibit hall & vendor set-up, cool seminars and fantastic, inspiring work to see. Through my lens, the Display-Only and the non-banquet dessert-social ideas were very successful. (Only caveat might be to make any awards to previous Nats winners by 'popular vote' only.)

    Fun-factor: Pegged. Shipped booty: Enroute.

    Top marks, crew!

    Thank you Bob.  The success of the display only area is probably the part I'm personally most proud of.  I had high hopes for it, but 1700 models out for display only far, far, far exceeded my wildest expectations!  Hell, even if you take The Duke's 750 models out of the picture, we still had 950 models just out for display!

    Mike

  9. 1 hour ago, VonL said:

    Maybe the way to square the corner on that food & beverage requirement is to plus-up the Chattanooga format to a ticketed, catered buffet & cash bar; keep the informality while offering table reservations, overflow seating (and the cash bar) for the awards session and go from there. Perfect way to do a Texas BBQ, for example.

    Bob,

    What you're talking about is essentially what Phoenix did last year.  They had a buffet dinner.  I thought the food was actually pretty good, but being a hotel/convention facility, you are locked into ONE catering service and the dinner was probably double to triple what you might expect to pay at your typical restaurant, which leaves many out by choice because they decide not to pay that much, and many out by necessity, because they simply can't afford a meal that is that expensive.  We looked at several options for Saturday night.  A table service sit down dinner, a buffet BBQ dinner, heavy hors derves, you name it, we probably looked at it.  No matter what we concocted, we ended up with a dinner ticket that was going to costs us as hosts north of $40 per head.  So we tried to encourage folks to go get a meal of their choice and then come back for a $5 dessert.  I think the idea was well received, and many thanked us for it.  We did not however, execute it well, and that falls completely on my shoulders.

    Your comment about reserved tables might be worth looking into.  I don't know what it might add to costs, but I suspect it would be negligible.  But what would you do about reserving less than a full table?  Besides, the times I've been to the banquet and had to sit with strangers have been great.  It was a great way to "force" me to make new friends.

    The real problem though is with your idea of over-flow seating.  We were blessed in Chattanooga to have a facility that was almost perfectly sized, and that included our banquet hall.  We had plenty of space for seating not only those who were willing to pony up the princely sum of $5 for dessert that ran out, we were also able to set up another few hundred seats in a theater format for those who only wanted to see the awards.  Trust me, all convention hosts would like to be able to do that.  But space is like time...it can't be extended. 

    Mike

  10. 1 hour ago, RandallCox said:

    I believe the response from the dessert bar in lieu of a banquet has put the knife in the heart of any further awards banquets. 

    It would be nice to have table service for drinks during the awards ceremony and open bars on the surrounding walls.  They had one in Chattanooga, but the room was so large (and full of people) that navigating around was difficult.  It might be nice, also, to consider table reservations for club members and spouses.  (That may be a bridge to far, I get it.) 

    How many square feet did the Nooga Nats vender room have?  The contest room?  I think it was the biggest single vendor room I've seen. 

    Well done Chattanooga.  You pulled it off.

    Looking forward to Las Vegas.  I hope the Nellis tours come to fruition.  They had a good presentation and I expect a great show.  No excuses for great attendance from the west coast.  And the absolute cheapest air fare from the east coast.  AND the best room rate in memory. 

    I'm sure all will miss the Bill and Aris show, and I wish Bill all the best as he steps aside as head aircraft judge.   I've learned much from him during the night of judging. 

     

    Randall,

    First off, thanks for your kind words.  We tried hard and I think it showed.

    Second, the vendor room was 64,000sf, and the model room was 36,000sf.  I believe both are the largest ever.

    Third, while we did indeed try something new instead of a banquet and despite the trouble we had with it, it did seem well received, I wouldn't put the proverbial fork in the awards banquet yet.  We were fortunate in that the Chattanooga Convention Center has a large, reasonably priced banquet hall and that we weren't tied to a food and beverage requirement.  Many of the facilities that IPMS National Conventions go to have a food and beverage requirement and the only way to meet that is to hold a banquet.  In other words, we had some freedom that others probably don't and won't.

    I'm glad you enjoyed the convention!

    Mike Moore

    2019 Convention Chairman

  11. I'm sorry to take so long getting back here to answer your question.  There are lot's of parking options near the convention center, but it is a downtown venue, so none of them are free.  There is a parking garage attached to the convention center that is $8 per day.  There is another good sized garage behind the convention center, between it and the Chattanoogan hotel that is $9 per day.  There are several open air lots that are $5 per day.  There are parking meters on all the streets around the convention center, but they are enforced every day up to 6pm.

    Mike

  12. Folks...We have now sold out THREE hotels near the convention center and just opened a block at a fourth.  We have 25 rooms available at the Staybridge Suites, which is directly across the street from the convention center.  In fact, other than having to go outside and cross the street, your room will be closer to the convention action than a room at the Marriott.  The rates are a little higher than the other hotels, but you can cram more guys into a room there (each one has a queen sized pull out for instance) and breakfast is included.  The rates are $154 for a "studio" and $164 for a "double suite", and parking is $9 per day.  Check the convention website here:

    http://ipmsusanationals.com/Chattanooga/Accommodations.aspx

    Also, if you've already made a reservation at the Staybridge (or know someone who has) PLEASE contact me at mmoore1132@gmail.com.  If you contact me before May 1st, I can get your reservation transferred into our block.  If your room rate is higher than the convention rates, the hotel will honor the convention rate; and if your current rate is lower, the hotel will honor your current rate.  But in either case, if I can get your reservation moved into our block by May 1st, the convention will get credit for the room nights, which is really important.  I know many folks have made reservations there already, so please, please, please, let me know if you have so I can confirm it with the hotel!

    Thanks, and see you in August!

    Mike

  13. 1 hour ago, dhamilton said:

    With no banquet being planned, will there be a listing of restaurants close to the facility, or within short driving distance?

    Looking forward to coming up to see you folks!!

     

    Doug 

    Hi Doug,

    We can absolutely do that.  To be honest the variety of restaurants within 3/4 of a mile of the convention center is so broad that we hadn't even thought of putting up a list, but it's not a bad idea at all.  I really think that within a comfortable walk, drive, trip on the free shuttle or Uber/Lyft ride everyone will be able to find a place that fits their taste and budget.

    We have lots of things to work on in the near term, but look for some restaurant listings on the convention web site at some point.

    Mike

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