2022 Banquet
 

Has the spot for the 2022 banquet been decided on yet ? And if so where ?

Your house, next Thurs.:rotf: Sorry could'nt help it.

Uh huh :rotf::rotf::rotf:

Not yet but your place is now in the cards. I would suspect that at the next BOD call this will be a topic.

Any other suggestions, besides Craig's house?

I suggest the same place as the last two banquets in conjunction with the Vintagers or another shooting venue like Ernie’s June shoot.





.

I assumed it would be attached to the Southern in late April.

I would prefer a more SOUTHERN venue like in Sanford . If you wanna do it up there do it when Rock Mountain takes place , I have all intentions of going there next year but not so much to Hauseman’s .

I’d be up for it in South Georgia :whistle:

By no means am I any authority on this but it seemed to me more folks that are in the Association were at Sanford compared to Hausemanns . Also seems to me you’d defer to whatever place has the most participation or attendance by members .

Sanford would be great and an option for the future. But in 2022 the Hall of Fame Banquet will be held during the Southern.

I found it very inconvenient to finish the last day of the event at Ernies, drive probably forty miles north to the banquet, convene another night at the hotel, then drive home, past Ernies, adding a hotel stay and probably eighty miles and a day to my trip to a great event. I know there was discussion about this banquet, but I think that it actually took place as I described it. Please, let's not do it that way again.

Thanks Bill. Comments and suggestions are welcome. If you have a critique, please share as well. It will all be factored in to our decision. I will say we often find ourselves choosing between a few less than perfect options.

Bill:

I believe what you are recommending was done for June 2021.

The Annual Meeting and Banquet in September 2019 was on Saturday night, but shifted to Friday night for the June 2021 meeting, as an accommodation, given the Saturday events at Hausemann's.

Vegas?

Well, we’ve tried to hold the Annual Meeting Banquet in geographically central locations like Louisville thinking because of the location the attendance would be better…. Didn’t really make any difference.
No matter where it’s held there will be folks who either can’t attend or won’t attend.

But one thing we have learned is thet attendance will be very low unless it is held in conjunction with a major shooting event.





.




.

Dean, what is considered a good attendance number for the banquet?

65 attendees would probably be the average. 40 would be low, 75 would be on the high side. However, in the days of Pintail Point we had 100+.

Picking a location for the Annual Meeting has always been our biggest challenge. So many factors to consider, with very limited choices to choose from. Every Board has struggled with it. But you can't please everybody, so you just have to do the best you can. I haven't missed an Annual Meeting in the last 20 years. From Ohio to Rhode Island, the Eastern Shore to Las Vegas. And I've enjoyed every one of them.

Vegas was a lot of fun and the highlight was seeing a lot of members out there who don’t make the east coast events. Planning from a distance was a huge challenge there and there was no shooting.

It would be nice to try and have a annual meeting every 5 years out West. The last meeting in Vegas seemed to be well attended, but do not know the head count.
Granted there was not a shooting event, but the meeting was held when the weather was nice, and the SHOT show as well as the Antique Arms show was being held.
It seemed to me many of the spouses especially enjoyed the Casino’s, dining, and the shows.

I really like Phil's idea and I don't live out West.

What are some other good potential venues out west? California SXS comes to mind.

I thought that the meeting held in conjunction with the Baltimore show and at the NRA museum was great. The location of a large show like that would make sense too. And it has been done before. A few years ago was Vegas. Tulsa, Louisville and Ohio would be possible locations where there are larger shows too.

With the Vintage cup and the NE and the Northern all basically being held in the same location, it puts a lot of eggs in the same basket and kind of narrows down the possibility of more places to choose from.

The Fall Southern conflicts with hunting seasons for a lot of people.

I personally think that another Meriden Homecoming event may be a good idea to organize and have in conjunction with a meeting. Or maybe something at Remington in Ilion?

Louisville Show
 

Has anyone been attending the Louisville show on a regular basis ? If so I would like to hear your comments on attendance and exhibitors. I used to go regularly but over the years the show has declined IMO and does not seem to hold much interest for me. Now I see that the upcoming October show has been moved to a wing with "less space" per the promoter. Makes me wonder if this was done as a result of a conflict with the fair grounds and scheduling or have even more exhibitors bowed out. Sad really as this used to be one of the best shows in the country IMO.

If my memory is correct, there were 76 in attendance at the Annual Banquet held in 2017 in Las Vegas. There are many PGCA members that attend the Las Vegas Antique Firearms show every year and having the banquet there would bring out even more members.
Also, I analyzed the current PGCA membership roster using only USA members and determined that 28.9% of the listed members live west of the Mississippi River. As I can recall, the 2017 banquet was the only one ever held west of the Mississippi River. I agree with Phil that I think it would be appropriate to entertain the idea of having the banquet out west every 5 years or so.

Plenty of Plantations in Thomasville, Moultrie, Albany and most of South GA. I am sure Kevin would unlock the gun house for us to have a tour. Only smaller airports though to fly in on.

Being from Upstate I like Brian's idea, I can drive to either. That being said about every five years I get an itch to get to Vegas so I would do that. Have never been to a banquet so I'm basically a virgin, but hell, we all have to have our first time.

I've done Sanford and the Las Vegas Banquet. The Pretty Wife came to both events. More south would be nice as Sanford is a 500 mile drive for me. I don't fly anymore so traveling involves a little logistics. A Vegas banquet would have a trip to other destinations thrown in so it is not out of the question.

Spin

Here is a novel idea the board might or might not approve of; what if we had a volunteer to pick out a venue and pre-sell 100 tickets. The thing that gets left out in this thread is how much effort the board puts in to get an annual banquet, that all membership should be proud of, that tries to accommodate as many members as possible, somewhat separated from the Southern in years we have a foundation meeting, and inexpensive enough for all of our members while still maintaining a banquet atmosphere.
If there is a volunteer, please, step forward. If not make us aware of potential sites and we’ll try again.

I know I’ll be going to the 2022 Annual Meeting and Banquet even though I don’t know the date, place or time. There are some really good suggestions in this thread.

I would like to get back to the "old days" when all active members who were within reasonable travelling distance would attend the annual meeting. As far as venues go, how about the home base of a fraternal organization, like we did at Easton, Maryland at the American Legion hall I think it was. They even provided some if not all of the catering services, as well as clean up and related services. Many small towns have such venues that we can consider. I'm with Mike F., willing and able to attend, no matter where or when.

I’ve been there one time only and that was this past June . I’ve been to Koneski Acres twice . I like the courses and the shooting more at Rock Mountain but I gotta say a lot more vendors at Hausemann’s .