Hey Brian in Reno, there is no such thing!! Unless of course "the Powers that be" check YOUR vacation schedule and then plan the convention in Reno on the dates that YOU tell 'em! We have had this "discussion" before, but for the benefit of those that may have missed it or for new members, let us try this one more time.

1) The first point is, Vegas is the only reasonable place to have the convention for the MAJORITY of the members and the club. There can be no disputing of this fact! Direct airlinks, driving distance for MANY members, room rates, available meeting space, number of casinos, other activities and the history. Hell this year, the number of casinos in Vegas putting out LEs with the Club Logo on them almost equals the TOTAL NUMBER OF CASINOS IN A.C. or RENO!!

2)The dates of the convention depend on many things, the least of which is any ONE person's vacation schedule. In the 10 years of the convention, it has been held in April, May, June, July and August. Guess what, there were always some people hacked off about the dates! Kids in school, family vacation, kids out of school, commencements, work, it's too hot, kids back in school, weddings or whatever. You can not please 2500 people at the same time!

The reason the dates have varied over the years is because that is WHAT WAS AVAILABLE to the Club!
Regardless of how we feel about ourselves and our little convention, not everybody in town wants us! There are only 10-12 properties that have the floor space and meeting rooms that will fit the needs of our show. Of those, about half actually will talk to us or at least that was the case several years ago and I doubt that has changed. This leaves 5-6 properties and folks, we are not the biggest dog on the porch. Oh yeah and we want a WEEKEND date, when the town is almost always sold out! Conventions of our size of the weekends are not the norm in Vegas. So now your choice of dates has been narrowed considerably.

You have to guarantee so many hundreds of room nights to the hotel and agree to spend so many thousands of $$ with catering. You discard the places where you KNOW the membership will no support the room rate structure ($150+ a night) and you are left with 2-3 choices. Most conventions are planned and booked 1-3 years in advance, so this further limits your choice of dates. The funds to spend are not unlimited, so you make the best choice you can.

As for Brian's statement that "the Powers that be don't care" is crap!! "The Powers that be" have changed over the last 10 years with Board elections and new convention chairmen. In those 10 years, NOT A SINGLE CONVENTION DATE WAS SET BECAUSE IT WAS CONVENIENT FOR "THE POWERS THAT BE"!!! The dates were always and continue to be choosen based on what is BEST for the Club as a WHOLE, given the options presented by the Convention Chairman to the Board of Directors. This fact has not changed regardless of the makeup of the BOD or who the Convention Chairman is!

The fact the convention has grown to the size it has is a great success for our hobby and our Club. We should celebrate this fact and not be talking about having 2 different shows for the different segments of our collector members. It is this diversity that has helped the growth. Because not everyone in attendance wants to buy, sell, trade and talk chips/tokens 24/7, you have many activities to choose from.

And sometimes, you have to make a choice on what is most important to you persaonally. Attend the Silver Strike meeting or play in the Poker Tournament? I don't like the fact the Poker tournament is the so close to the Club Business meeting, because I feel it impacts the attendance of the business meeting. But you know what, there are a lot of people who enjoy playing in the Tournament and I think that's great, if that is what those members choose to do!

The Club chooses the dates (if you feel so strongly about changing something, get involved and do it), you have to make a personal decision on whether you can attend or not, you have to choose which functions or activities you want to attend while there and you have to decide if it all was worth it to you. With all there is to do at this year's convention, if you don't enjoy yourself, it's your own damn falut!

Thanks to the BOD, the committee chairs and all the volunteers for making this convention another great one. See ya in Vegas! Ten years, who would have thunk it back when we started!