Is the NSC Convention Sinking Into The Abyss This Year ???

[TrainCat2]

Just got off the phone with Dean about the Hartford show and less than 200 people have signed up for the convention and/or secured a room. Dean sounded very apprehensive on the conventions success.

Some other info was passed along. No early room sales as in Denver and no continuous vendor operation during the convention as in Denver and San Diego. Dean said vendor tables would be limited in operation to two days only and to a set schedule.

All of this causes me to ponder if this year may not be what everyone thought the convention was going to be. What are your thoughts and are you going the the NSC Convention ???

[3rdrail]

I have never been to one, but am planning to attend the one in Louisville next year. As a matter of fact, I decided I'd rather go there than to my 50th high school reunion on Long Island. Frankly, the choice of the Hartford area somewhat surprised me as it's not exactly a tourist destination and not all that easy to get to from outside the Northeast. OTOH, there are prototype steam and trolley operations nearby.

Wished I could have made the one in Northern Virginia in 2004, but I was active in SCORE at the time and had to attend a workshop in Portland, ME two weeks earlier - too long to stay away from home and too far to drive all the way back to Virginia from Florida. Did stop in Baltimore on the way back from Portland and shopped at Klein's.

[Wlal13again]

I`ve been to one, 2004 in Chantilly. Had a great time. Just never went to another just because my personal schedule didnt allow it. I may head up to Hartford on Saturday and grab a hotel room on the way back home...

[ljudice]

Hartford, CT: Definitely a tourism and railroading hotspot!!!!!!!

[SecretWeapon]

Hey,
  This will be my 1st convention. Maybe my last. The cost has got to be a factor for many. I was blown away with just the $75.00 to get in. Add food,lodging & transportation. Not cheap. Considering you can go to a train show for $8.00,that's a big difference.
  The only reason I didn't cancel is I'm meeting alot of N scalers face-face. We'll see what happens.

[John]

  The only reason I didn't cancel is I'm meeting alot of N scalers face-face. We'll see what happens.

For that price, send them a digital photo of yourself, and call them on the phone ..

[Wlal13again]

Hey,
  This will be my 1st convention. Maybe my last. The cost has got to be a factor for many. I was blown away with just the $75.00 to get in. Add food,lodging & transportation. Not cheap. Considering you can go to a train show for $8.00,that's a big difference.
  The only reason I didn't cancel is I'm meeting alot of N scalers face-face. We'll see what happens.

Is that just to get in the train show? Or to register for the whole convention?

[POVC]

I'm going, I signed up last week and got registration # 244, so your numbers from Dean may be a little low for attendance, although that may be in the ballpark for room reservations.  I know there are 5-6 other members from Baltimore Ntrak going and we are going to have a lobby layout in the hotel.

I went to the 2004 convention in Chantilly and the 2006 convention in Denver and had a great time at both.  For some perspective on attendance numbers, my NSC registration number of Chantilly was 0222 and I made it 2 months earlier than I made this year's (plus the Ntrak folks had a different block of 4-digit numbers starting with 1), and my number for Denver (made about the same time as this year's) was 378.  Based on registration numbers, it would seem attendance will be about 2/3rds the attendance at Denver.

A couple of comments based on what I've heard...
1. 2004 was the first joint Ntrak/NSC "national" convention; the 2005 San Diego and 2006 Denver conventions were also billed as "joint" "national" conventions, as is Louisville in 2008.  My understanding is that the 2007 Hartford show is NOT being advertised as a joint national convention, it is a NSC convention with Ntrak participation.

2. From the literature I've seen, the schedule has the large Ntrak layout and vendor area in operation Friday and Saturday only, with Friday being for the convention and Saturday being the public train show.  The only event listed for Sunday is the manufacturers breakfast at 8 AM.  This is VERY different from the last 3 conventions, where the train show went the entire weekend and was open to the public Saturday and Sunday.

Personally, the Hartford location doesn't really excite me.  I'm going because it is on the east coast, and it is within reasonable driving distance.  It may be a while before I have that chance again, since it's my understanding they won't return till the east coast till 2011, with 2008 in Louisville, 2009 in Portland OR and 2010 in Kansas City.  I am going to try and go to Louisville, and am actually more excited about it than I am this year's event in Hartford.

Tim

[cfritschle]

I will be there at the N Scale Vehicle Association's table.  If you are interested in N scale vehicles, stop by and let's chat. 

Carter

[Nato]

      The National Railway Historical Society held their National Convention in Hartford not to long ago and I attended with my dad who was originally from Brooklyn, NY. The N.R.H.S. scheduled events there were almost duplicates of what the Collector Con. is doing, plus lots of train trips,(of course no layout tours),so its "Been there done that" for me plus I do not consider myself a collector,I could have gone to Denver when it was in my own back yard. If it  were combined once again with an N.M.R.A. National Train Show like Detroit they I would be interested.                                                                          Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[Pomperaugrr]

I have never been to one of these.  I'm planning on attending this year, since I live only 45 minutes away from it.  I'm not going to bother with the Monday through Thursday activities.  Friday and Saturday may be worth it.

Eric

[umtrr-author]

Nato, the NSC-Con, and the N Scale Collector's Society itself, stopped being strictly for collectors/investors a loooooooooooooooong time ago.  Keep the paradigm if you wish, but it's not accurate. 

Chantilly was my last convention and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Schedule conflicts have prevented attending any since then. 

[Mark5]

Never have, never will.


Not my thing.

[bobcat]

I went to Chantilly in 2004 and enjoyed it and got to meet Chuck.

I'll be going, I'm just not sure which days yet. I'm thinking Saturday and if the weather is good, I'll ride up on my hog. A day of trains and a good ride would be near perfect. ;D

[FrankCampagna]

Nato, the NSC-Con, and the N Scale Collector's Society itself, stopped being strictly for collectors/investors a loooooooooooooooong time ago.  Keep the paradigm if you wish, but it's not accurate.

It does suffer from the name. I believe they took over from Ntrak, which used to handle the N scale conventions. If I recall, as of last November, their fliers didn't even list a location for the convention. I hope they weren't expecting to find some place cheap in Connecticut. Having lived there 15 years, I could have saved them the trouble. I really would like to attend, but I'll be saving my pennies for Springfield this winter. And a few new things coming out.

Traincat2, I can only suggest it would probably be better off attending than not. At least you can have some visibility for your products. This is a good area to show off your products,  which are very nice, by the way. They are on my watch list. Fantastic work, but I have a long way to go before get to purchasing.

Frank