Starting tomorrow, I know. But there are often some news spread beforehand. This time, it seems there is either nothing much to be announced, or else everybody has kept very tight?
Well, I live just a hop skip and a jump from Bellevue and was talking with Steve Depolo (owner) of the Inside Gateway hobby shop in Bellevue (who is also on the board for the convention) and he explained to me that the ONLY way you can enjoy the show as a spectator is to buy a one day pass. If I remember right a one day pass is $45. I was planning on taking my son (who is 6) but not for $45 a person. I would have no problem paying $10 or $15 to get in but $45! YIKES! I know they have expenses and Steve told me that it was not cheap for them to put this on at the Meydenbauer Center ($25K for the venue) but I would think that if they made it more affordable to the Joe Citizen that just want to go enjoy the show they might be able to get more people in the door. Maybe I am wrong here with my way of thinking, but to me it makes the most sense. I know that with a $45/person expense for a day pass that I wont be able to go.
Ryan- Remember, it is touted as a "premier" venue by it's operators. That means ultra high end, thus $$$$$. Did it really need to be there? The unanswerable..... Bellevue, when in my youth, was a tiny little community. Just emerging from it's farming roots as post-WWII Boeing developed to the south. It became a bedroom town and boomed. Since then it has simply gone up and up in cost to be there. Or even in that vicinity, such as Issaquah and Redmond. Now Renton has pretty much caught up as well. The days of an inexpensive site any place around that east side area have gone bye, bye. That is why all the growth east of Issaquah, Snohomish, etc, etc- Affordability. That is why the UNW swap is at Monroe. Space and cost. It's sad to squeeze out likely many a potential spectator, as who knows how many might become hobby newbies after a visit there. That in itself is not the best of results. But such is their decision. They've some sort of algorithm to decide how expenses need to be recovered. Hopefully all those pieces come together.
That's my feeling as well. A less fancy location might have brought down the costs sufficiently to allow a substantially lower day-pass fee. It's not just the costs of the convention that are at stake, but the long-term prospects for the industry. And that involves new customers. And the best way to assure that is to have a fair number of kids inoculated with the virus, so to speak. But if it's too expensive for families, that spread of the virus is unlikely to happen.
This could not have been said better. My son LOVES trains!!!! I can't imagine why....................... I know that like me he would love nothing more than to see some VERY high quality layouts and models displayed. Even if it is out of his modeling interest. He has the bug and we as hobyists need to make sure we keep spreading that bug, AT ALL COSTS.
OK then narrow gauge convention lovers, this one's for you. A close friend had plans to attend the convention but is now hospitalized with heart problems and won't be able to attend. The airline refunded his money, the hotel refunded his money, the narrow gauge convention-NO REFUNDS! It's nice to know that there are some kind and compassionate people in the world-the guys who run the NG convention are not among them. And some fellows want to know why I don't go to conventions. I know that provided my friend lives through all this, he will NEVER go to another NG convention and he hasn't missed one in many years! Good luck to all who dare venture to Seattle for this "convention". Woodie C Greene
So at this point, for those of us who could not go to Bellevue,WA the question is: NO COMMUNICATION, or NO NEWS?
As time passes in silence, we could always start some sort of ridiculous rumor about new product announcements. Or?
I am here. If anyone else is, look for me with the PNW-On30 Modelers group. I will be there 9:30-11 AM tomorrow, and again for one of the evening shifts, taking clinics as well. I haven't seen any new announcements but I also haven't gotten a chance to take a comprehensive look at everything, busy with layout tours, clinics, and exhibiting. I have taken a bunch of photos which I will have the capability of uploading Monday when I am back. I would guess the factor driving a price like $45 is the fact that the reg fee is $125. If they only charged $10-15 for a day there'd be no way to get anyone to sign up for the other. I am not part of the committee nor was I in any way part of the negotiations or discussions. The hall is nice, perhaps too nice. Still, I totally get the frustration. If I hadn't been planning on this for over a year and hadn't cadged a spare bed at a friend's house I'd have a hard time visiting, too. As it is, this trip is not cheap.
Or a K- 36, or a K-28! Either Blackstone is still coming up with an announcement, and I still have hope. They had mentioned to announce more elements to the new tracks system, particularly turnouts. That seems pretty clear that we can expect something in that direction. But nothing has apparently been announced there. Thus, who knows, we might still be satisfied?! However, if there is nothing of all this going to happen, then it must (at least in Blackstone's assessment) really be a terrible recession, or there must be very dim forecasts. I mean, if they did not get a decent number of preorders on the Protraxx system, they might want to stretch the expansion a bit.
