I'm stuck at home with a summer cold, so I thought I'd post an idea that I've been kicking around for a long time. I suggest that it's time to lengthen the convention by a day. I've given it a lot of thought, and I'll list my reasons below.

First of all, I realize the show is put together entirely with volunteers, and that it is often difficult to find enough people to fill all the holes. I figure this is the main "con" against the argument. However, I can think of a lot more on the "pro" side of the issue.

Above all, the show has become too large to fit in its present time schedule. I've posted below the schedule from the 1994 convention. As you can tell, we've added a WHOLE lot more to the show since then, yet the times/days remain virtually unchanged. We've simply packed too much into too little time and you can't attend everything any longer. In addition, the first few shows had a few hundred chippers---the numbers have certainly increased substantially since then!

Adding an extra day to the show may be the best solution. This way, we could bump some of the other activities into better time slots. For example, I know the seminars are difficult for many to attend. Adding an extra day would permit us to have some of the educational forums, the banquet, perhaps even the poker tournament or auction earlier in the week. By spreading the show out just a little, attendees could make more of the venue. Many of the club members come for a week or more and an extra day shouldn't affect many travel plans.

The hours the bourse is open wouldn't even have to change, though that could be discussed as well. For the first couple shows, the times were different (12-8, 12-7, 12-6 once, and 12-8, 10-6, 10-6 one other show, I believe). We could either slightly alter, or even leave the bourse times as it.

Okay, enough rambling...on to the discussion! What are your opinions on the matter?
steve g R-306