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Re: KillieTalk Digest V2 #309
Reply to Convention Splits:
While attending the 1978 Convention hosted by MAKA, I observed activities on
Sunday that upset me greatly. The AKA treasury during that period of time was
in a very tenuous
position. A 1974 Convention in Portland did not make much money and the 1977
Convention also produced slim profits. 1973 and 1975 shows by MKA and LIKA
produced money due to a fairly stong effort of club members. When MKA hosted
the Convention again in '76 you could see a lot of the "giving" of its members
drop off on Sunday relying on attending AKA members to run Convention
activities. The MAKA crew (in the 70's and early 80's MAKA was not only an old
"affiliate" but most of its members were old too!) and with nothing but pride
riding on the Sunday activities where the AKA took 100% of the auction quite a
few of the members rebelled and just sat back leaving a few (like Hank Voss)
working their asses off while most of the old timers just sat back on their
kiesters. After debating the issue on the BOT and a very good auction from the
'79 Convention and fair results from the '80 Convention the BOT voted in '81 to
try a 15% split of auction proceeds thereby providing a wrap for the local club
around the whole convention to work 'til the end. Every group who bid on the
convention from day one always knew they could make money on the side with
T-shirts, raffles and any other money producer. Personally I thought
Conventions took a turn for the worse when the CKA introduced the Chinese
raffle
concept into the National Convention in the mid 80's. This has grown into the
"fish sale" but really reached disruptive proportions at the Cleveland
Convention when almost 2/3rds of the attendees where waiting in line to get
2nd,
3rd and 4th chances in the fish sale room while few people attended the talks.
We tried to kill the fish sale for the '90 Convention but the BOT made us keep
it.
When one thinks about Convention splits they need to remember that the AKA
is in
a transition phase. Convention auction proceeds were a function of the number
of N&RSC fish which were up for sale in the Sunday auction. For the most part,
unless the fish is a foreign entry, it bring little at the auction. N&RSC fish
were always the major source of income for the AKA and the local club at the
auction. The only hidden opportunity if you really feel you need money for
your
fish is to sell them to whatever the club sponsoring the Convention works
as the
N&RSC angle. No matter what, you still set your price and the "N&RSC option"
will decide if it will take you up on it.
With a treasury that currently stands at a level which should make us question
why dues can be so high or why there wasn't color in JAK before this,
Convention
auction splits looks like a good idea. The only way, however, this can be
justified is if there is a corresponding enhancement in the levels of fish
entries in the show. Right now, until Fred gets N&RSC rolling and develops
scads of new fish contacts and really throws himself into supplying the
Convention with boxes of goodies, convention splits with the exhibitor could be
a real chance for disaster.