While I cannot speak for the committee, I believe it was mentioned that part of the problem is the venues. Many have restrictions that limit it's usability for a National. I know at one point the Javits center was discussed, but, IIRC, Mike Berkus told a story that all items needed to be handled by the union. That means setting up tables, bringing in and carrying out of the boxes of goods of each dealer. Again, IIRC, he stated that because of this, dealer fees would be something like $2600 per table, which just isn't doable. He also addressed issues with using the venues in San Fran and Anaheim. I don't remember all the details, but there were many reasons. If you did a search on Net54, I think you would probably be able to find the thread where the discussion took place.
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