Net54 Dinner at the National

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Posted By: CarltonHendricks

Here are some of the photos I took at the Net54 dinner on Thursday night July 31st. It was very generous of Leon to put this on. That's Leon wearing a green t-shirt in the first two photos. Everyone had a nice time, and it was good to meet a few new people in the hobby, even though almost everyone there seemed to be from the card forum, as opposed to the memorabilia forum. What a treat, and it really made the National even more special. Thanks again Leon!

I actually got more good shots of the crowd, but the strangest thing went on. It got smokey in the ball room from the three cooking stations, as there was no exhaust for them. When I went to download the photos, you could see hazy white balls in the photos from the atomized grease in the air. I’ll just use a few of the grease ball ones, as the later ones got pretty unsightly...darn, as I had shots of pretty much everyone there!!

The podium shots were the guest speakers Leon arranged for us, that spoke on the hobby. I only recall the names of two..that's Josh Evans of Leland's in the red and white shirt, and Doug Allen of Mastro Auctions in the tan shirt. The image on the wall is Doug Allen's power point projection he used in his talk on his positive projection of prices of cards. The power point presentation tracked the prices realized of the Honus Wagner card from the Gretzky sale onward. Josh Evans addressed his view that eBay is not the correct venue for important sports memorabilia, and that serious collectors want a tangible catalog to thumb thru. Driving home his point, Josh elaborated that collectors want something they can take in the bathroom. Doug Allen, next up to the podium, picked up on the bathroom requirment, saying as much that he now has a new mental image of where his catalogs are read. The blond babe sitting with Josh is Angela Hurwitz of the Leland‘s staff (married).