Posted By:
warshawlawLook at the map. Cleveland is an hour or so from NYC, five hours from LA. If you want to really go geographical center, you are looking at Nebraska or Kansas. Hardly hotspots for conventions.
We have one of these threads every year about this time. The reasoning and the results never change. The real reason why places like Cleveland shows up repeatedly are:
1. The venue is dirt cheap, available and hotels are cheap too. Anaheim has the same attraction. Ditto Rosemont (Chicago). NYC's convention center is in Manhattan and therefore has major costs involved, all of which turn off the "frugal" folks on the national board, who assume that if we are paying big city rates for facilities, room and board, dealers won't set up and we won't spend it at the tables.
2. The other factor is attractiveness of distractions. The last thing the convention powers want is to put the convention somewhere with lots of attractive alternatives for your time and money. Las Vegas would be great (our bar association has an annual convention there) and there are lots of cheap rooms, but step out the door and you have gambling, world class shopping, dining, . Cleveland? 'Nuff said. Rosemont? A road or train trip away from Chicago, hence not likely to furnish distractions to the average convention goer who flew in and is staying nearby. Anaheim? Way cool if you are seven years old, otherwise, no merits as an adult destination. Like cows in the killing chute, the conventions are set up to make sure we are herded onto the floor.
3. As I understand the mechanics, the convention is awarded to a promoter each year and the promoter gets to keep the difference between the costs of the show and the money taken in by the show. In other words, there is a profit motive behind keeping the costs down (crappy venues).