National Booth(s) Needed

[Rich Klein]

For the foreseeable future, we have corporates and autographs

1) Corporates do add quite a bit to a show. They give average collectors (at least those who can afford to spend the admission fee plus parking) an actual opportunity to talk to real people who are important to their business. Some companies do a better job than others at bringing in people -- I know Panini have tons of people who run the day to day operation there every day. Plus you get to talk to other people as well depending on what you do. I do realize on this board that is not as important but as Leon would say, we are about 1/2 of 1 percent of all collectors. And for most of the other 99 percent it's cool to have those people here

I just realized I posted I'm in the 1 percent. Dang, we are all honored by being in such an exclusive group

2) The Autograph people are out of the show floor way. I don't have a problem with where they are. They are fine as they are and Tri-Star does a great job of bringing in guests. And if you purchase the VIP or Super VIP ticket there are always some cool guests you can get to sign for free. I personally have no issue with autograph guests.

3) Yes, the 1980's were great where tables were cheap but guess what, that was 30 years ago.

Rich

[rhettyeakley]

Wow, only 280 dealers. No wonder they "Sold Out" so fast. They just simply made the show smaller hoping nobody would notice.

I get the point of the Corporate Booths and everything but who really wants to pay $125-250 to get a all-access pass to the show for the chance to overpay for autographs and then get a few free promo cards from the carnival barkers at the Topps Booth?

It seems like they are moving away from the show being an actual card show to more of a Comic-Con type experience without any of the actual things that draw people to those types of shows.

[rhettyeakley]

An old link from Cardboard Connection talking about the 2013 version of the show...

http://www.cardboardconnection.com/n...up-takes-shape

The 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention is the biggest event of the year when it comes to sports cards and memorabilia. The 2013 National takes place at Chicago's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center from Wednesday, July 31 through Sunday, August 4. This is the event's 34th year.

About 600 dealers will be on hand, giving collectors a massive amount of cards and memorabilia to look at and purchase. About 50 corporate booths will also be set up, including major card manufacturers. The National is always a great place to find exclusive cards not available anywhere else. For many, the highlight will be meeting past and present athletes during autograph signings and photo opportunities.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

An old link from Cardboard Connection talking about the 2013 version of the show...

http://www.cardboardconnection.com/n...up-takes-shape

The 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention is the biggest event of the year when it comes to sports cards and memorabilia. The 2013 National takes place at Chicago's Donald E. Stephens Convention Center from Wednesday, July 31 through Sunday, August 4. This is the event's 34th year.

About 600 dealers will be on hand, giving collectors a massive amount of cards and memorabilia to look at and purchase. About 50 corporate booths will also be set up, including major card manufacturers. The National is always a great place to find exclusive cards not available anywhere else. For many, the highlight will be meeting past and present athletes during autograph signings and photo opportunities.

Yes, but you have to remember that was during the good ol' days of four years ago.

[Sportsnutcards]

The article says dealers but it must mean booths... There hasn't been 600 different dealers in a very long time, maybe since the 2003 national. This year it looks like there is the same amount of booths sold as 2013 as well as 2011 based upon the list on the national website.

[rainier2004]

So they can't sell more booths b/c of fire code? That doesn't make sense...

Why don't they just sell more booth's? That just sounds like a win to everyone?