I'm writing this literally as we are having a spirited discussion about the NSCC in our Instagram HND chat group.
I've never run nor do I want to run an NSCC but I have a lot of respect for those who have in the past and I've known many of them very well. A 20 table show twice a year for my synagogue is now more than sufficient.
There are a few things I want everyone to take a deep breath and think about before we complain too much about why the NSCC seems to be in the same place every couple of years.
1) There are only at the most 15 or so places which can hold the NSCC and match their specific needs to the floor space required. That is before anything else is discussed. As many corporations discovered at last year's Burbank show in Anaheim, placing the corporate entities on a different floor is not the best way to win friends and influence people. All of those corporate entities were very slow during a show which was very busy for the dealers. Thus, it was proven with a real-life example the NSCC management has been right for all these years and one floor is the best way to go. The floor can be huge, but as long as it's on the same floor that seems to be better for all concerned. My personal belief is if you have to have anything on a different floor it can be the autograph section.
2) Once you have identified the places to have a show is the space available during the limited time frame the NSCC uses for the show. Back in the day we had NSCC's later in the summer but now they have been doing their best to have shows when kids are out of school. That is about a six-week time frame in today's world as an area like NY City ends about June 21 and Texas amongst others begins early in August.
3) Are you able to guarantee enough hotel rooms for these venues. Back in the day before the second explosion which was a by- product of the pandemic this was not a guarantee.
4) And there was also the pesky little by-law rule that the NSCC could not be in a neighboring state the next year and also had to be alt least 400 miles from the previous show. The reason for that came because the 1981-3 cycle was and I'm going to put in the City Name here. Detroit then St. Louis then Chicago. The rule was adopted because people were afraid the NSCC would never leave the midwest as there were a ton of dealers doing the show from that area and driving smaller distances was a major benefit to them. Frankly that rule was correct as moving the NSCC around the country got a ton of more people exposed. That rule will have to be changed so we can have the back to back Chicago NSCC's in a couple of years.
And that is how in 1984 we ended up at the Aspen hotel in Parsippany New Jersey. And please don't look for the Aspen hotel as it is long gone.
Those are just some of the considerations the NSCC managers have to take account into just finding places even before the dealers vote on where they want to go. I might never want to go to Atlantic City again but if a majority of dealers had taken the deal AC offered to give them a significant amount of their booth money back, we might have ended up there.
This is not a comprehensive list of things needed for the NSCC but just some of them from what I've gathered over the years.
Some things have changed and Mr. Berkus is no longer with us but many of these topics about the NSCC from a Net 54 thread I started 15 years ago are still valuable.
Comments