[Killietalk] West Coast Conventions

[lehmann at jlab_org]

  Hi Fellow Killinuts!

  Since the mid 1970s, I have attended three west
  coast conventions that I can remember. Two were
  fun, but not as well attended as conventions in
  the midwest or the east. (putting my arm around
  the bellydancer at the LA convention was a lot
  of fun, but had little to do with Killies!).

  The problems with having a convention on the west
   coast are thus:
   You must have a club stong enought to do all
   the work AND willing to take on the task. Since
   the few clubs in Calif. have not sprung to the
   task of late,(and as far as I am aware the NWK
   has never entered a bid for the convention to
   date) one or the other is present (lack of
   willing members or lack just lack of members
   period.)

   Secondly, attendance by members from east of the
   Rockies was quite low. When you have planned for
   a standard convention attendance and have brought
   in lots of N&RSC fish, the low attendance results
   in very low prices for killies (good if you are
   one of the attendees, but inherently bad for the
   AKA since the expenses are the same {or more if the
   convention committee has to pay for rooms to make
   the minimum guaranteed to the host hotel}).
   The AKA took a bath financially that year, barely
   breaking even in a year that the AKA depended on
   the convention to provide operating funds. (This
   was before our bank account got healthy from selling
   the killie books).

   One of the San Francisco conventions even had TV
   coverage, but attendance at it was also less than
   desired.

   So, as a member of the BOT at present, I (and the
   rest of the BOT I am sure) would be happy to
   consider a bid from a club on the west coast. But
   we cannot make a club host it, so we are left with
   having to consider the bids that we do receive.

   Happy Killie Keeping,

         Monty Lehmann (formerly of the west coast
     but now living on the east coast).







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