Well, not really a wrap up, as I will have more to say and more pictures to post, but it is a summation of my general impression, with appropriate comments.
I’ve been to 24 IPMS/USA National Conventions over the years.
1985 Indianapolis, IN, 1988 Dayton, OH, 1991 St. Louis, MO, 1993 Atlanta, GA, 1995 Albuquerque, NM, 1996 Virginia Beach, VA, 2000 Dallas, TX, 2001 Chicago, IL, 2002 Virginia Beach, VA, 2003 Oklahoma City, OK, 2004 Phoenix, AZ, 2005 Atlanta, GA, 2006 Kansas City, MO, 2007 Anaheim, CA, 2008 Virginia Beach, VA, 2009 Columbus, OH, 2010 Phoenix, AZ, 2011 Omaha, NE, 2012 Disney World, FL, 2014 Hampton, VA, 2015 Columbus, OH, 2017 Omaha, NE, 2018 Phoenix, AZ, 2019 Chattanooga, TN
I’ve kept an informal list of my top 5 conventions, with, up to now, the number 1 convention being 1996 Virginia Beach. That is now no more. The 2019 Chattanooga convention is the clear number 1. This convention was well run, from beginning to end. Convention chairman Mike Moore and his team deserve a ton of credit. Ron Bell, the retiring president of IPMS/USA also deserves credit. When he was 2nd vice-president, the person at IPMS/USA in charge of the national convention, he made significant changes that brought stability and order to the task of putting on a convention. His changes made it much easier for a chapter to host a smooth running convention.
In no particular order, Chattanooga had a great vendors area; a well lit spacious model room which accommodated the record setting 4600+ models entered; the best lineup of seminars that I’ve ever seen at a convention, and a bunch of great attendees who I got to spend a ton of time around, hanging out, talking models and eating and drinking way too much. All in all this was great. If someone put a gun to my head and made me find something to criticize, I could say that the $150 a night room rate for the convention hotel was on the steep side, but seriously, in this day and age, the time of the $99 convention hotel room has long sense passed.
Bravo to everyone involved. Can’t wait for this team to bid again.
