"The Host - Where is all the money going?" Topic

I remember going to Cold Wars a few years back, and there was a ton of construction going on in a major reno, or so I heard. At Fall-In this year I overheard an HMGS organizer telling an organizer about all the money the ownership had put into the place and was going to do more. Huh?

My first con at the Host was probably 10 years ago. It was a run down old dump then. But it had the one attribute gamers really care about: cheap. Now it is an even older run down old dump, with a leaking roof (I assume that's what all the buckets in the main lobby were for), peeling carpet, and severe cleanliness issues.

So where is all this fabled renovation money going?

In the pockets of the secret investors

The Bilderbergers.

He says,she says,,,,simply heresay…

The Amish mob!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Plastic buckets for when it rains?

I think someone was pulling your leg about investing money.

Tom

The Host has seen better days, but the hotel staff were great. Very helpful and accommodating for any issues.

Playing Devil's Advocate…

If the money went into "infrastructure" improvements (updating plumbing, electrical, machinery, etc.) and not cosmetic changes (carpets, furniture, new paint, etc.) you probably wouldn't see anything.

Evidently they didn't fix the roof though.

It's paying for the large mobile boiler tractor-trailer truck that sat outside the Paradise room the entire weekend. Some heating system in the Host isn't working, and apparently its cheaper to rent the truck than to fix/replace it.

Boiler truck may not be cheaper, just faster. Where as a 15,000 ton home ac unit may be on the shelf, a hotel size unit would need to be ordered and installation would at least require a small crane.

Well the water was a hot, hot.

The word a few years ago was The Host was on minimal life support waiting to be sold. Then to be torn down for more retail.

Sad.

I am certainly no expert but I used to work in a warehouse with a flat roof. They paid to have the entire roof redone and it still had leaks. Unfortunately fixing a flat roof can be tough,

Does The Host need work? Yes it does. But, I would rather have the convention there than in Virginia.

I have never stayed at The Host, I just find a nice hotel in the area. Yes, parking is a bit insane, but if you give yourself enough time, or get there early enough, you can find it,

If you want a great convention venue try NJCON in June. Fantastic site. The hotels are not attached and you have to drive to them, but the venue is great, lots of parking, and the convention staff is great.

If you want a dump, go down hill to the place behind Pizza Hut. I stayed there a few years ago when Historicon was at the Host and the swimming pool was a malarial swamp.

The Host was last purchased in late 2005, by a management company called Milestone Hospitality.

At that time they invested about $5 USD million in cosmetic upgrades, which relates to about $15 USDk per guest room. That's about $40 USD per square foot, which got them new carpet, curtains and paint, and little else.

If you think of a building as a human body, they basically changed the makeup [paint and trim] and outer garmets [shirt and trousers]. Meanwhile the vital organs, including the kidney's [plumbing], heart [electrical] and lungs [heating and cooling] were ignored, even though it was clear they had issues. Those vital organs are now completely shot, and in the case of the kidney's and lungs need transplants to ensure survival. Think of that mobile boiler we all saw parked outside Distelstink as a dialysis machine.

To overhaul all those systems is a financial nightmare and very expensive – and to maintain the analogy, buildings simply don't get Medicad or health insurance. And given their failing revenue stream, they can probably only just about afford to change the hat [roof] and apply a little more lipstick [paint] at this point in time.

Where is all the money going?

Up the owners noses.

Ligniere: Priceless ^^

Saw the big blue tarp over Lampeter (which is not the flat roof section) and the buckets next to the hotel registration.

More troubling for the Host is the new hotel going up next door – where Lapp's diner used to be. One can only hope whoever knocks it down will keep the golf course and save the open space it's not like the area needs yet more retail…..

The host has been a dump for years (my first con was 1996 and it was a dump then) HMGS really needs to find a new home within an hour drive north, south, east or west soon! Or Ill limit my gaming convention to Historicon in Fredricksburg in the very near future.

SFC Retired

I heard that the portable boiler trailer was back because the boiler tanks at the host were being re-lined.

Since the Host was purchased in 2005, management has never been able to realize that with 1500-2000+ gamers coming that they need 2 bartenders on Friday and Saturday and that they are probably losing 25% of the beer poured from their tap system due to foaming and dumping it down the drain because of the long lines from the kegs in the basement. That makes sense to someone.

On the positive side the TV at the far end of the bar did switch over to soft porn at about 11pm on Friday. With 5 or so tables filled with gamers discussing various I assume gaming topics, it went largely unnoticed by them or even the female bartender until the bar closed at 12pm. It did however provide some entertainment value for some of us at the bar along with some hilarious narration and comments.

OK…. just an update….

A lot of folks want to speculate and inspire to insult….

Give me a moment of your time…. the water truck outside is there because the hot water boilers are being relined…. NOT a cheap date for those of you with the knowledge you know that. That is a good sign. The owners of the Host are currently renovating other purchases of theirs… and now it seems that they are finally realizing the real value in the Host and the money generator if could once again become.

Is it too little too late? I don't know…. but boiler relines on the boilers of the Host is not cheap….. and.. by purring that kind of money into it… well, IMHO… it could only mean one thing…. more will follow. You wouldn't do that if you were going to run it into the ground and then dump it.

I ate at the Host for every mean except 2….. One at Golden Coral…. breakfast buffet because it was cheaper with a bigger spread.. and I wanted to check it out…. AND… I also went to a Thai place on weds night….. my great friend Dano bought me dinner…. and some amount of Guinness!!!!

I found every bit of my meals delicious.. no issues….

AND… before anyone gets on the topic, I'll kill it right now…. It is NO ONE else's fault but mine if anyone is offended by the other group being in there the same weekend. I saw an opportunity to let the showroom out of the contract to save some money…. as I wasn't using it.

In other news….. Next year, Saturday's lunch will be as blend of tomato soup w/ or without rice and a variety of grilled cheese sammiches!!!!

Dan

The Host is a total and utter dump, end of story.

One of my customers showed me a video he made of the room he was staying in; in the video, he showed the "on/off" light switch that controlled the heat and AC; when he flicked it to the "on" position, nothing happened, no heat, no ac, no nothing.

He then pulled the thermostat out of the wall and………….no wires, nothing, just a thermostat mounted on the wall with no electrical connection.

Talk about pathetic.

The dealer hall is disgusting, that rug doesn't have a clean spot on it, it's one giant stain, it gave my brand new old school Puma sneakers hepatitis.

I wouldn't eat or drink anything there if you put a gun to my head, even the coffee is known to give you the Pennsylvania quick step.

The place is one day going to literally collapse into a giant sink hole and disappear from the face of the earth.

HMGS needs to find a new location for Cold Wars and Fall In ASAP; from what I understand, both are there for the next three years minimum; I doubt if the place lasts that long…………

Nothing beats the septic truck parked in front of the main doors, with a one-foot-diameter crap tube sucking out the lobby bathrooms, while Hall Pig is being served 10 meters away. Now, that says "Wargamer Classy."

"boiler relines on the boilers of the Host is not cheap….. and.. by purring that kind of money into it… well, IMHO… it could only mean one thing…. more will follow. You wouldn't do that if you were going to run it into the ground and then dump it."

You might do it because the local inspector whom you begged or bribed to allow you to re-open stipulated that he'd cut you some slack as long as under no condition do you fire up that mold-ridden boiler that he has just condemned….

Double G,

If your understanding is that Fall In and Cold Wars are both at the Host "for the next three years [2016, 2017 & 2018] minimum;" that understanding is not correct.

If someone from HMGS wants to come here and make an official statement of their current contract status regarding their conventions, that's up to them. If and when they have a new venue (or venues), I'm sure they will announce it. Until then, members and vendors can keep up to date by attending HMGS membership meetings. The next one is in March at Cold Wars. Plenty of good seats are available, as less than 30 people usually show up.

Great comparison of the Host to a patient in ICU by Ligniere. Much more graphic (and entertaining) than my analogy of a good ballclub (HMGS) playing in a crumbling stadium (the Host).

Who in their right mind would pay to reline a boiler…….. good money after bad!
Seriously!
Their original boilers are probably not worth scrap value, and definitely not worth saving. They need new compact high efficiency boilers – but that would only make sense if they had an intention of keeping the facility long term….

Poniatowski / Dan,

All kidding aside… I love gaming at the host, it is perfect for most of our gaming needs. The noise level and the space are perfectly suited to what we need (a few less stairs would be nice). I also agree with your decision to let go of the ballroom, we did not need the space for Fall In and it was terribly lit for gaming anyway. I think you and your volunteers do a great job with the "convention" part of the convention…. We are making fun of the host because it's the hotel horror they should use on those funny Hotels . com commercials where Captain Obvious points out that "Hotels . com would have mentioned the cut off finger laying on the floor of your room"…..

That said the "hotel" and I use that term loosely is a dump and has been for many years. I have been coming since long before 2005 and I would love to see these renovated rooms? I have never stayed in one.
I joke with my friends that for the "guys gaming weekend" my hotel requirements are simple.

1. Protects you from the elements (Heat or AC as needed, no rain or snow falling on me while inside)
2. Hot and cold running water (functional plumbing)
3. Filth to a minimum level such that I cannot see it easily or experience a risk of illness (no large piles of dead bugs in the room, no mysterious stains seen without the aid of black lights, no feces from previous guests left in the toilet when you check in to your room…. Etc..)

After all we are not camping in the back woods. Last time I stayed at the host it failed 3 out of 3 of those requirements. Sorry, love gaming there. I choose not stay there anymore and I pack in my own food or eat out. On top of that, the host is not exactly a deal. The Red Roof by the way is almost as bad of a dump, but at a significantly reduced price.

I have found ways to work around the host as a hotel, I just game there. But let's be honest the condition of the building is ridiculous and worthy of our ridicule. I just hope it hangs in long enough for Cold Wars and/or until a suitable replacement can be found. Preferably in the same general area and with similar features that make the host a good gaming site.

Or the Host is truly remodeled as pointed out above, Heart, Lung, and Bowel transplant maybe?

Yes it is my understanding that we're at the Host for Cold Wars and Fall In for three years and my source is a good one.

Not going to dime him out either; my people don't shoot the messenger.

I gave up on the Host when I saw the piss poor job they did shoveling and plowing during the Cold Wars blizzard, that was a disgrace for a hotel to do such a shit job keeping parking lots and walkways safe.

Bottom line is they mailed it in years ago…………

This is pretty pathetic to be honest. There are certain motels you dont stay at because they rent by the hour, or there are still chalk outlines on the room floor and bullet holes in the wall, or the windows all have a great view of the brick warehouse across the alley. Then there are crap hotels like the Host which is one step above the examples.

Can you imagine telling a newbie in the hobby, that the star convention of the hobby takes place in this dive. Imagine what they must think after seeing what kind of places we hang out in.

Bottom line is if the place isn't good enough for me to sleep or eat in, it isn't good enough to game in either.

Regarding the future conventions at the Lancaster Host. HMGS has signed contracts with the Host for Cold Wars 2016, Fall-In 2016, Cold Wars 2017, and Fall-In 2017. There are no signed contracts beyond that. Of those conventions, there are penalties for cancellation with the exception of Fall-In 2017. HMGS has another one year window to cancel Fall-In 2017 with no penalty.

Officers and Directors of HMGS are actively looking for suitable replacement venues. Several site visits have recently been completed and several more are being planned in the coming weeks.

I hope this gives some clarification. If not, please feel free to contact me with any questions. My contact information is listed on the HMGS website.

Respectfully,
John Spiess
HMGS Director of Communications

John Spiess

May I ask, as a Brit, how on earth you think that response is acceptable? If you attempted to run a wargames event in what is clearly a decrepit and run down venue in the UK you would fail to get any visitors. The fact that you have booked up to 2017 when everyone I know has been complaining about the Host for years seems remarkable.

I really don't know why our US cousins get treated so badly.

Bob,

At least Mr. Spiess responds to the membership unlike others in the past. He has just been elected and he and the new BOD will change our club in a positive manner. We could not ask for a better person to be leading us. I say this as an AMERICAN.

ED MILLER

I've been very critical of the Host in the past but need to admit that this year's Fall-In was an improvement over past years events. The facility still shows signs of underinvestment but the staff did a good job of keeping what was there in working order. The bathrooms and public areas were kept clean and the food service was improved. I still will not stay there, but it was at least serviceable for the gaming event given what our little group is willing to spend

If we want better, we need to be willing to pay for a more expensive venue. I'm fine seeing the admission fees double to get a better place – it's still a bargain for multiple days of toy soldiers

Bosco,

Plenty of money in the kitty for a new venue. We just need to try one. Plenty of options out there. What do we have to lose were going to game, laugh, spend money, have some cocktails and eat. All this talk about the dump is just insane. Just leave no problem leaving for H Con don't know what the problem is.

ED MILLER

Correction….. there is NOT plenty of money in the "kitty".

Trying a new venue is already on the tables.

Methinks some of you have no clue as to what you are talking about and I try to say this in the least offensive way possible.

How many times do I need to address the septic truck? It was there because no one reported a plugged toilet and folks continued to try to use it… AND.. it was plugged because of the horrific hygiene of our gamer guests… would you have rather the Host put yellow tape or chalk on the floor? Or closed the whole restroom? The only fix was to do it the way they did it…. or else close it…

Yes, the Host has seen better days. Indicators say the current owners are finally making an attempt at fixing it…. too little, too late….. possibly.

I know most of the jokes are funny.. I akin them to Ghost Ship….

And… one thing all of you seem to forget…. demographics…. and available venues…..

There are very few venues that actually fit our demographics. Now, add to that…. say going to Fredericksburg… there we have a hotel distance issue and some other minor issues… and look what happened…. attendance form the north dropped off considerably.

Look at what happened when Fall-In! moved form Gettysburg… again, not a far move, but attendance dropped….

There are many facilities around that can actually fit our venue.. but nowhere near as many as you all think…. And, then once we find one…. how is it for demographics?

I live very close to Erie PA…. brand new convention center with attached hotel and one across the street.. both would more than accommodate everything for the show…. I have not thrown it out in the ring because it is more a Great Lakes region than East… It would be perfect, is affordable, IS NEW, has lots of food services in and around the conference center, a whole parking garage just for the center and plenty of parking…..

BUT…. it isn't in our demographic area….

Guys, I wish there was an easy answer… I have been at the Host since they started… or closely thereafter…

There is a lot that was done to improve the Host this year.. perhaps it was prompted by the shut down and the potential loss of revenue… but get some more facts straight… there are few restaurants that would pass the kind of inspection the Host had. And all of this and any future items you might see are being prompted and driven by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce… with all of the money they just dumped into the inner city convention center…. their main and only competition is the Host…. And the Host is still winning because the convention center in town has practically ZERO parking and cannot accommodate us in that way…. they have hotels and great food in the area… but like ZERO parking….

Do some research and see who is behind all of the pressure on the Host at the moment… in a lot of ways it is great because it is forcing them to poop or get off the pot… fix it up or get pushed out… for the aforementioned reasons.

Hey, I am with you all…. but please remember. HMGS is not "wealthy' by any stretch of the imagination and to go to a better venue will mean increased dues and costs to attend….. remember that.

This is rather a unique discussion. At other places people are crying out for Historicon to be moved back to The Host and here we have people wanting something better.

I think the venue is great for gaming. I love that not everyone is crammed into one massive room. The chairs are comfortable, and the carpeting, dirty or not, is better than concrete or tile.

The ambient noise level is better than when I was at Fredericksburg, where we were screaming at each other and still had trouble hearing.

I don't stay or eat there. There are enough hotels in the area that you can book and a lot of great restaurants to meet virtually any taste.

If the conventions leave the Host where do they go? Do they also move to Fredericksburg? How about Baltimore? If they move out of the area then I can't attend them due to work. The closeness of Lancaster allows me to attend Cold Wars and Fall In. With the move of Historicon south I attended once but can't do it every year. I attend NJ Con instead.

The Host might be a complete dump but I can only imagine the outcry if Cold Wars and Fall In are moved a lot further away from Lancaster like Historicon was.

Pontiatowski,
Some very interesting points….

If the chamber of commerce is really out to get them, then that raises even more alarm bells. Their goal would not be to get them to fix it, but to get them to give up….

And don't take my post to mean I want it moved demographically. I will keep gaming at the host as long as the roof does not collapse and crush my figures.

My comments were initially just meant as a joke. It is obvious that hotel really is a dump, and it is not defendable as "not a dump"… it is not even a discussion, it is a joke as many people point out.

And if you move it, people will complain, even if you move it 2 miles down the road. Because they will have to walk farther from the parking lot, or the price will be $5 USD more for the badge, or they won't like the chairs, or they won't like the lighting…… . The real issue is we may be fooling ourselves if we think we can continue at the Host indefinitely.

Your job is a thankless one and I salute you for making sure the rest of us have fun.

So in the end, do what you guys have to do to keep the convention going and ignore the peanut gallery.

(by the way, I make no claims on the amount of cash in the HMGS coffers, because I have no idea and don't really care).

How many times do I need to address the septic truck? It was there because no one reported a plugged toilet and folks continued to try to use it… AND.. it was plugged because of the horrific hygiene of our gamer guests… would you have rather the Host put yellow tape or chalk on the floor? Or closed the whole restroom? The only fix was to do it the way they did it…. or else close it…

If you entered a restaurant where a septic truck was parked outside the front door, with a tube pumping the sewage through the dining room, and yet they were still serving food, would you sit down and order lunch? I certainly hope you wouldn't.

I find it astonishing that this even needs to be said, much less said repeatedly, but: You don't serve food in a room in which a septic clean-out is happening!

Sweet Jesus, you shouldn't even be letting people walk through that part of the building at that time. Yes, of course you close that area down until it can be cleaned up!

"I really don't know why our US cousins get treated so badly."

I do agree with Poniatowski about one thing: the gamers have no one to blame but themselves. The same guys who can't figure out how to use a toilet are probably the guys who are OK with sitting down to eat in the midst of sewage.

HMGS gets what it's willing to pay for. If you go back through the archives of TMP, you'll find this topic coming up over and over again, year after year, and most of the respondents were angrily defending the Host and attacking the complainers as "Princess and the Pea type" snobs (those were the OFM's words). The Host was always "good enough."

I suppose it has finally rotted to the point where it's no longer "good enough," but Wow, that's a low bar to finally reach!

Garth pleeese…yes the place is old and is in need of a major renovation but the way some describe the place as it's one step from being condemned. It has served HMGS conventions well over the years by offering us the total run of the place with plenty of room for all HMGS needs.
Sure I would like better accomodations but room for gaming,flea market and dealer area are more than adequate. If we can find another location(not farther south) I would welcome it. Until then I'll toughen up and weather the 2 days I spend at Fall In.

The problem is, as it ALWAYS HAS BEEN, that even with reduced attendance, a HMGS miniatures show requires a certain amount of space that really hasn't gone down in the last ten years. We have a checklist of priorities for considering a new venue. They aren't based on fiction, they are very real considerations. We have to have hotels attached or very near. We have to have a certain amount of square footage (I think 40K might be conservative, I think it might be as far upward as 60K). We have to have free, abundant parking. We SHOULD have a range of eateries somewhere nearby. Importantly, we should be located somewhere near the epicenter of our membership, not in Phoenix or Barstow.

When you look at a place (and it's always the convenient local facility right nearby), don't start singing hosannas until you bring a list of requirements along. I think Paul Delaney has posted these publicly. I think you'll see that the niche we inhabit, requirements-wise, is pretty hard to fill. Most candidates in the right geographic area have something wrong with them in one of the categories mentioned above.

For instance: there's an awesome new convention center in downtown Lancaster. I stayed there once. I was rhapsodizing about the space.. you could throw 3 of our events there, and it has an attached (expensive) hotel. When I parked my car, I found the first problem. The only parking space is a municipal lot across the street, with only 500 spaces. The next closest one is 3 blocks away. Can you imagine our crowd with this facility?

Second Instance: we were looking at the York Fairgrounds. Not a bad place, really, but it's a fairgrounds set up for agricultural shows and the like, not for a miniatures convention. It has multiple big concrete buildings for running wargames in, hotels that are not close by, PLENTY of free parking, but everything isn't attached to everything else like in the host-- you'd have to walk a considerable distance to go from one place to the next. Be serious, do you think that would be a big hit with our crowd? If you do, you need to take another look at average physical shape of the attendees. Myself included!

Another instance: someone reviewed the (I think, I don't know for certain) Dulles Expo center out near Dulles Airport. Immediately someone noticed that it wasn't as accessible to major traffic lanes going North South as, say, a place on the I-95 corridor. Parking was good, but only one hotel, not many eateries, and other hotels some miles away.

Could we overcome these challenges? Sure. There are things we could do, like shuttle busses. It's all a matter of what the membership is willing to live with. The important factor to consider is we are too large just to use one hotel and too small to consider a Baltimore-sized convention center. And we are just not going to get it all in one convenient package like the Host any more, because they haven't built a facility like the Host in years.

Yeah, it's crumbling and pretty skeevy in places. But in terms of a practical solution to ALL requirements, nobody has shown me a decent candidate lately that overcomes all of our requirements.

Walt

A couple of observations from someone who has attended almost all the Fall In conventions from the time it started in Gettysburg:

1) Unless attendance for Cold Wars rebounds substantially in 2016, Fall In is now the second most popular HMGS convention. You may not like the Host, but it is acceptable to at least 1800 gamers, vendors, family and friends every November for the last few years.

2) BobGrognard, conventions in the U.S. are different from shows in the U.K and Europe. They are longer, multi-day affairs which require greater logistical support, mainly hotel rooms and food service. In the U.S., people stay for the entire weekend, unlike the U.K. shows. Plus, entire families attend, not just gamers. You need attractions for the rest of the family. That limits the number of available locations for U.S. conventions.

By the way, we would love to have you and some of your fellow U.K. gamers (and clubs) come to the U.S. for shows in the future and see what your American gaming cousins are up to. We know there are a few things you can teach us about running a good looking game, but we think we have a few things to offer you. Some ideas have been discussed over here about how to make that happen in the future.

3) Regarding the Host, the contract for Fall In 2015 at the Host was signed years ago by a prior HMGS Board of Directors. In defense of that BOD, many of the Host's most recent problems (failed food inspection, roof leaks, no hot water on Sunday morning) did not exist at the time the contract for Fall In 2015 was signed. As the HMGS Communications Director said above, the most recently elected BOD is looking at alternative sites for future conventions.

Unless you want to cancel an existing contract and pay the associated penalties, HMGS is at the Host for the immediate future. (Of course, that presumes that the Host makes it to 2017.) HMGS' experience with Baltimore taught them all they needed to know about contracts. Nobody is looking to repeat that experience.

4) Anybody know when HMGS first moved to the Host?

If you guessed Historicon 1992, you are correct. That's a long time for any group to be at a facility without a major renovation. Think of your favorite sports team, whether baseball, football, basketball or hockey (or soccer (football)) for those of you overseas). Unless they are the Oakland A's or Raiders, they have all renovated or built a new stadium at some point in the last 23 years (and even the Raiders moved to LA for a stretch and are looking at building a new facility soon).

5) Double G, as I said above, you might want to check your sources. Vendor Hall rumors and gossip are a poor source of information. Repeating misinformation on TMP only makes the situation worse. None of this stuff is "Top Secret/NOFORN." (FYI, that's not a shot at you, BobGrognard. It's an inside joke to one other person in the group. He knows who he is.) You just have to go to the membership meetings and ask the appropriate questions. As I said above, the next membership meeting is in March 2016 at Cold Wars, probably on Friday night.

6) Nice responses by Dan and John. HMGS is fortunate to have both of them in their respective positions. They are part of the solution, not the problem.

End of rebuttal.

Hope to see everyone at Cold Wars.

I just checked and if my math (and the published figures) are correct, the Host has 100,797 sq feet of exhibit space, the Lancaster Convention Center has 88,700 (14,000 of this at the adjacent Marriott, which has 4 suites and 297 guest rooms). Some of the square foot numbers are problematic IMHO, and a bit confusing.

I've been to the place (LCC) several times, the last two for my daughter's graduation as an RN, and then as a BSN. Its definitely very upscale and sophisticated, a lot closer to the atmosphere of the Baltimore Convention Center than some place like the Host.

The pace is a nightmare to get to as it is right downtown, and parking is even worse. Onsite parking is listed as $ 18.00 US per day. I'm not sure how you would unload stuff at this place. Lodging and dining is very pricey (the onsite eatery lists a 14 oz New York strip for $ 38.00 US) and there isn't a lot within walking distance that is also inexpensive IIRC.

I'm just about ready to flip over to the Dark Side and support moving away from the Host

BUT . . .

Dan and Walt are correct. Leaving the Host is only half the equation. The other is finding somewhere else to go, and contrary to popular belief, finding another place like a brand new Host is gonna be a bear. Folks are gonna have to pay more and give up something.

Colonel Bill
ageofeagles.com

I think Dan, Walt and John have clearly covered the issues and the challenges in finding new space.

What I understand is -

HMGS is looking, both for long term options and just in case of a short term VCC issue or Chapter 7 or 11 on the Host's part.

Anything new will be more expensive and may have other issues such as location, space available, food options, parking or traffic.

For right now the Host is what we have for Cold Wars 16&17 and Fall In 16. Dan continues to work with them to get us the best outcomes in terms of physical condition possible.

I don't see anything else I can ask from the Board other than what they are doing although maybe a public list of locations looked at and the pros and cons that were noted.

@McKinsrty, I do believe that on the HMGS website there is a topic that covers locations, needed space, etc.. including some information on our demographics.

You are all correct.. it is about both short and long term viability of the shows and the continuation of HMGS to support the hobby!

Yeah, the big issue is what if it closes? What's Plan B?

Extra Crispy:
Plan B is John the OFM's basement.

I don't eat the Host's overpriced sandwiches, and I don't sleep there. There is options for both within a block. Since I don't do either of those, my only real complaint is the heat. It was ridiculously hot in there on Friday with the unseasonably warm weather and all those bodies in an enclosed space. I can't imagine having Historicon there when its 90 out.

That said, to move to a new place some things will have to be given up. I thought the Convention Center at Oaks was good, except there is no on sight hotel.

Pertaining to the boiler trailer. Wasn't it Fall In last year that the hot water was gone Sunday morning?
I was told it showed Saturday morning.
Didn't eat there at all the entire day. Didnt grt a room there. Sat seemed comfortable heatwise.

Grimm

Ah, wargamers. I've been one for 45 years. I've been among wargamers for 45 years. It's not pretty :) We are not a desirable group.

We're cheap. We'll eat anything that comes in large quantities as long as it isn't a vegetable, but we don't want to pay restaurant prices. Some of us urinate the way Star Wars stormtroopers shoot. We're cheap. Some of us clog up toilets with a frequency that seems remarkable. We need a vast amount of space. We need not only ample free parking, but good cargo docking facilities. The air conditioning will struggle against our portly sweatiness. Did I mention we're cheap?

The Lancaster Host, for all its many, many failings, welcomes us. Given the list of our collective habits (see above) I'm not sure how many other facilities would feel the same way.

@mexican jack… Lol

Once again, Mexican Jack Squint has made the long story a short one while managing to make it both extremely accurate and highly amusing. Bravo, Jack.