National Network54 Dinner night

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Posted By: leon

Hey folks,
I think it's time we think about getting a reservation somewhere for the annual "National" Network54 dinner night. I think Friday would be the best evening for several reasons. Wednesday would be too soon, Thursday there are some auction house functions going on so several folks might be at those, and Saturday could be too late. That would leave Friday as the best day, imo. Last year we had approximately 40 folks and I would guess it would be a few more than that this year. I don't know enough places close to the National venue to pick a good spot. IF we don't go ahead and get a reservation for about 50-60 people we might be SOL....sh** outta luck. I am open for places but it should be moderately priced so no one has to sacrifice the buying of our little gems to eat. Also if you could respond in this thread if you will be attending the dinner, and how many will be in your particular party, it will help in determining the size of room we need. I am sure there will be some that say they can go and can't and vice versa but this is the best we can do to approximate. EVERYONE except "Amy" is welcome (the only person I have banned from the board) Suggestions??

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Posted By: ted

interested myself, but as i have never been at these dinners what's the deal with them? Is it for dealers or anyone who wants to come ... or is it with a specific objective...


Ted- there is absolutely no objective except to talk to fellow board members about anything you want. As the last line says ANYONE is welcome...and I promise I won't try to moderate it...

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Posted By: Zach

leon- My dad and I will be there..last year was a blast

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Posted By: Josh A.

I will be there, at least for an after dinner cocktail!

"I'm thinking about getting a plasma T.V., in case I need a transfusion."- Steven Wright

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Posted By: Andy Baran

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Can someone tell me what date this Friday would fall on?

I wasn't planning on going to the National...

but I would love to fly up just for the dinner!

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Posted By: Richard Masson

I'm in, nor am I a picky eater.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Oh well...

Friday, July 29th...

I will be in Maui.

Crap.

Only you nerds could make me wish I was somewhere other than Maui.

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Posted By: Mark Tylicki

Sounds like a fun time! Tentatively, yes (will confirm by Monday). I missed last years event so I look forward to meeting everyone in Chicago. Na sdrowie!

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MY COLLECTION: http://www.rustywilly.com/MYCOLLECTION.htm

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Posted By: Mark Evans

Hal--

I think the dinner is to be on Friday, July 29. Are you looking at last year's information? Mark

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Posted By: JimB

I am planning on making it this year.
jimB

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Posted By: scott brockelman

of course as rest stop host at the show, i will be in attendance at the dinner as well. is this our 3rd or 4th annual dinner?

as leon indicated EVERYONE is welcome! although we do reserve the right to lovingly harrass a few of our "well meaning but slightly misled friends" new attendees need not worry, you will be treated with kid gloves.

scott

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Posted By: warshawlaw

No special requests, provided the food is not good for us

Perhaps some of that famous Chicago pizza or BBQ?

I can check with the Food Network web site and see what they recommend. Any locals--Pete?

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Posted By: Tim Newcomb

Looking forward to it--

BTW, the date mentioned in one earlier post was incorrect-- just so everyone's clear, the National is from July 26-31-- which does make Friday the 29th--

Tim

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Posted By: andy becker

wait for meeeeeeeeee....i'm in too

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Chicago has a rather advanced public transportation system; we should consider an L-friendly location.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

........

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Posted By: jay behrens

Lee and I will be there.

Jay

I like to sit outside drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Jay Miller

Count me in too, unless Hal wants to give me his Maui tickets and then he can have my place at dinner.

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

In.

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Posted By: Bob Marquette

Count me in. I plan on going to the Cub game that afternoon though so hopefully it won't be too early.

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Posted By: Scott M

Add me to the list of dinner newbies... Looking forward to it!

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Posted By: Poor collector slob

Can any poor slob collector attend or does one have to be a wealthy collector like Fogel or have a personal account with Mastronet or Lelands ???

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Posted By: leon

EVERYONE is invited. Even poor slobs with no accounts anywhere. I will say this though. The folks that rsvp will get preferential treatment if there is a seating issue. I doubt there will be but it's only fair if you rsvp that you should get to sit first. IF you are a total lurker just email me privately and that will also count as an rsvp. But you will need to come out of the closet at the dinner....also, still looking for a little help in finding/picking a restaurant. Any Chicago area folks here ?? I will call and make the reservations but need some advice....regards

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Posted By: Bryan Long

As of right now I'll be there for my first dinner and my first National Convention.

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Posted By: harvey g

new to this forum but planning to attend dinner. add one

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Posted By: Rich Klein

I'll RSVP for dinner FINALLY with this group

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Posted By: RobertS

Last year was great, put me down for this year once again, please! Thanks for organizing this.

If need be, we could probably get a big enough room at one of the restaurants at one of the hotels adjoining the convention center.

Of course, if we do that we could probably eat just as well by chowing down on whatever cards we pick up that day...

Robert

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Posted By: andy becker

i'm a local yocal...and i know of some good steak houses in rosemont...but i'm unsure what to recommend. we can do some good pizza, probably 20 minutes east of rosemont (lou malnatti's). i might even be able to reserve the downstairs...but this will be my first net54 dinner...so i'd rather go with the flow than set up the show. if you want my help...just ask.
edited cuz i cant spell

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Posted By: Josh A.

I'm from the Chicagoland area as well.
Andy, great call on Lou's. I will do some thinking this weekend and come up with a few suggestions as well.

Where in our fair city are you from Andy?

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Posted By: andy becker

hi josh...
i think we are neighbors. northbrook. i would luv to get together sometime.


from leon- didn't want to bump this back to the top so adding a note here..pizza could be cool or steak but I would prefer a little closer than 20 minutes away if possible....ya'll think about it and we'll chat over the next few days...thanks

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Posted By: jay behrens

I vote pizza. Personally, steak houses do nothing for me and tend to be overpriced for what they offer. I'm one of these people that when I go out for an expensive meal, I want to eat something I am not going to prepare myself at home. So a steak or other piece of beef is the last thing I want. I like the fact that pizza is more casual and there won't be any knives for people to play with :-p

Jay

I like to sit outside drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: andy becker

jay...this IS chicago....home of the stockyards....best steaks in the country.
also, we DO need a knife to eat our pizza

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Posted By: jay behrens

what kind of barbarian uses a knife with pizza? It's finger food I prefer Chicago pizza to Chicago beef. I come from a family that raised cattle, so I've had more than my fair share of beef. But if it's steak everyone wants, I'll be there.

Jay

I like to sit outside drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: leon

We eat so much pizza around here I would vote not to do it. A medium nice steak dinner should be under $20.00 and I would hope if you are going to the National you can spare an extra $10 for a decent meal, since ANY meal is going to be close to $10 anyway. If there is an issue with that send me a private email and I will look into the "Luckey Loan Fund" and try to help. This should be a decent eatery imo, not high end but not a dive either....and not really a pizza joint. At least those are my thoughts....

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Posted By: Gilbert Porter

I will be there, with my son Philip - look forward to it.

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Posted By: Andy Baran

In keeping with the baseball theme, there is a Harry Caray's in Rosemont, not far from the Convention Center. Great Steaks, Chicken, and Pasta dishes.

http://www.harrycarays.com/in_rosem.htm

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Posted By: Jay Miller

I vote with Andy. That would be a great place for us out of towners to visit.

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Posted By: DJ

I'm in, but Harry's is quite pricey (maybe a PSA-5 T206 common per head) with steaks starting at around $40 and I'm not sure they could handle such a large group. At the last National, basically every place within walking distance of the Convention was packed.

Do we really want to support such an outfit that blew up a baseball and fed it into the pasta sauce?

DJ

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Posted By: Andy Baran

Harry's has expensive dishes and affordable dishes. I haven't been to the one in Rosemont, but I'm assuming that it's large like the one downtown. The downtown location could handle a group of this size, and would probably reserve a whole room to accomodate it. I was hoping this location could do the same thing.

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Posted By: Bryan Long

But will there be an email sent to everyone letting them know when and where? I would hate to miss the chance at meeting many of you. By the way a buddy of mine will be joining us as well even though he hasn't voiced it yet. So I guess I'll say it - add another one more to my resevation. I'm looking forward to it. One more thing. If we go too far away will a cabby know where the place is if we need to take one? We won't be driving in so a car is something we won't have.

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Posted By: leon

IF Harry Carey's phone system was working correctly it would already be done. That is going to be the place most likely. I am waiting on a call back from the reservation's person right now. It is in Rosemont, has a wide assortment of dishes that are $8-$32 dollars (maybe a psa 2-4 T206 common), and it does fit in with baseball, Chicago, etc......and is close to the National. I should know in a little while. I will try to make the reservation from about 7pm-10pm to give us time to eat and all. I would guess socializing till 7:30-8:00 then ordering and eating....someone has to take this bull by the horns....hope that's ok with everyone...again, not a done deal but working on it...regards

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Posted By: Peter Thomas

I will be there and expect that my son Christian will be there as he was last year - Peter

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Posted By: Rich Klein

I had the meal from hell there in 1998.

1) My buddy did the reservation and we got an email confirmation. Would you believe the restaurant had no record of the reservation. I was able to provide them with a copy of the email and thus we avoided any wait

2) Then, we were seated near a big party and everyone promptly forgot about us. It took 25 minutes before we got any service.

3) To their credit, we got off with just being charged for the entree (the appetizers, drinks and desserts were all on the house after that).

4) Ergo, as a lesson learned.
A) Please get an email confirmation and make sure it is brought to HC's

B) Make sure we get served

Regards
Rich

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Posted By: RobertS

As long as you guys didn't all get sick from HC's it has my vote! Who cares about slow service, last year we were at the restaurant for hours anyway...

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Posted By: Mark Evans

Please count me in for dinner. Mark

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Posted By: Rich Klein

But I care about NO service. We were not getting ANY service until we spoke up

Rich

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Posted By: Jimi

I'm the buddy that Bryan was talking about. I'll be joining him for the National and would love to meet you guys (and gals). We're excited!

Jimi

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Posted By: tbob

Are we allowed to bring wives who have absolutely no interest in cards? Mrs. Tbob is going with me and plans on doing a lot of shopping, museum sightseeing and spending in Chicago. She is a fun person but could care less about anything card related. Just wondered if anyone ever took their wives, girlfriends or escorts to the dinner?

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Posted By: scott brockelman

sounds like we have several possible locations, i think we need to consider several factors

1. the size of the group, probably 40-50 and growing.

2. close to the venue(rosemont)= extra limited travel cost.

3. meal cost, everyone present wants to put most of their available dollars towards cards, not meals.

4. time spent at the eating place. last year was fine we were able to converse and stay for awhile, the prior year our table was turned faster than denny's.

i think we have approached the point we need either a reserved facility such as the hotel offshoot someone brought up or perhaps better a restaraunt that has a banquet/meeting room as suggested as well, i think it may have been the pizza place. as far as i am concerned steak is no big deal and those places want to turn the table, nothing better than regional food and chigago pizza would be fine and perhaps better for everyone on a budget and give us an extended time frame to eat, drink and be merry.

if the cost of reserving a private room at a restaraunt would be a little extra, i am sure that leon and i could cover it. (LIKE I HOW I VOLUNTEERED HIS BACKING?).



EDITED TO ADD, THAT A BANQUET ROOM IN SOME TYPE OF RESTARAUNT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE BETTER CHOICE, 1ST IT WOULD BE LESS EXPENSIVE THAN A HOTEL BANQUET ROOM AND ALL THE SERVICE AND FOOD WOULD BE COVERED BY EACH PARTY, THE ONLY ADDITIONAL COST WOULD BE THE RESERVING OF THE ROOM, WHICH IN MOST INSTANCES WOULD BE FREE AS LONG AS YOU GUARANTEE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND A 15% GRATUTITY TO THE PEOPLE WORKING THE PARTY BEING SERVED.

THE HOTEL IDEA WOULD ENTAIL RENTING A ROOM INSIDE THE HOTEL AND CHOOSING A PRESET MENU AND ESSENTIALLY CHARGING EACH PERSON PER PLATE, PROBABLY TOO EXPENSIVE AND TOO RESTRICTIVE.
SCOTT