"Lancaster host up for auction" Topic

I was sent this recently-

To the Membership:
The Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center (the "Host") is going up for auction. The HMGS, Inc. Board of Directors concluded a teleconference Sunday, December 6, 2015, which addressed the upcoming potential sale of the Host, the site of Cold Wars and Fall-In. The discussion centered on our current contractual obligations and the alternatives available to us. While the situation is still developing and very unclear at this point, we would like to provide a brief update to the membership.

What we know:
On December 3, 2015 it was publicly announced that the Host was listed for auction. The auction starts on December 14, 2015 and ends on December 16, 2015. Representatives from the Host informed us of the pending auction on the same day that the public announcement was made. We were informed that they knew of the plans since Thanksgiving, but were not allowed to divulge this information. The bidding will start at $2.7 USD million, but there is an undisclosed minimum sale price which also needs to be met. Several interested parties have already made site visits to the Host, and several more are scheduled this week.

Contract Background
HMGS, Inc. has been at the Host since 1992, almost 24 years, and this is not the first time the Host has experienced a change of ownership. The current convention contracts for Cold Wars 2016, Fall In! 2016, Cold Wars 2017, and Fall In! 2017 were all signed in November 2013. The language in these contracts includes a cancellation liability for both parties on a sliding scale, in which the penalty increases as the convention date approaches. With the exception of Fall In! 2017, all three other conventions are already in the penalty phase if a cancellation is initiated. We just renegotiated the Fall In! 2017 contract, and have until October 2016 to cancel Fall In! 2017 with no penalty.
Options and Alternatives
At this point, the Host has not cancelled Cold Wars 2016. HMGS, Inc. also cannot initiate a cancellation of the convention without incurring a substantial monetary penalty, something which this Board will not consider. While we hope for the best, we have planned for the worst. The Board has already been actively looking for viable alternative sites to the Host. In fact, some of these locations have already submitted proposals on future dates for us to consider. We will not know or have any clearer information until December 16th. Until that time, we will be calling each of the alternative sites on our short list to find out if they have any available convention dates in March or April 2016. Once we know the results of the auction, we will also need to re-evaluate the status of our contracts if indeed there is a new owner of the Host .

Our Goal
Our goal is to run an outstanding Cold Wars 2016 convention, whether it is at the Host, or another location. We have been thrown a curve ball, and time is short, but we have every intention, and will make every effort to make this happen. In effect, this is one of the main purposes for our cash reserves. However, in the event that the convention cannot be held due to circumstances beyond our control, it should be made clear that any pre-registrations or pre-payments to HMGS, Inc. by attendees as well as vendors will be reimbursed. We will have another update to the membership as soon as any new relevant information is received.

Respectfully,

John Spiess
HMGS, Inc. Director of Communications

Your a little late. A few topics on this already.

Thanks John
This is the best info I've gotten

John is the Director of Communications for the BoD. To criticize him for communicating is rather foolish, Dynaman8789.

The gist of the message is not that the Host is up for sale, but what HMGS is doing about the events in relation to the set conventions.

As General Colt said: "You're suppose to be the communications officer! What's the sense of having a communications officer who can't communicate?"

Thanks for the update.

Good for him, but all this info was in other posts as well.

Dynaman8789 I haven't seen anything on this on the forums here unless I missed one so if you can find it in your heart to forgive me it would be appreciated.

Seems HMGS is doing everything right about it so far, I couldn't find it on the HMGS website though.

Have you tried de-caf?

aynsley683, thanks for the update.

I check TMP several times a day and did not see this mentioned, so it was useful for me and perhaps many others.

Does nobody in the US think that it is odd that you have a supposed national governing body and yet your conventions are held in the most terrible flea pits and the hobby is contracting as its members get older, whereas in the UK, where there is no governing body, the shows are held in modern venues (Salute is in the same venue as the Ideal Home exhibition) and the hobby is booming?

It seems remarkable to me that you put up with it. No wonder numbers attending conventions are falling so much.

Those who are seeing this information for the first time, may also want to check out these relevant threads regarding the same topic from earlier:

TMP link

TMP link

TMP link

TMP link

TMP link

"Does nobody in the US think that it is odd that you have a supposed national governing body and yet your conventions are held in the most terrible flea pits and the hobby is contracting as its members get older, whereas in the UK, where there is no governing body, the shows are held in modern venues (Salute is in the same venue as the Ideal Home exhibition) and the hobby is booming?"

That may be true, but firstly we have no "National governing body". HMGS is just a big club on the East Coast when all is said and done. They run three big multi-day conventions a year, which are completely different from the way UK conventions are done. Other HMGS branches are regional clubs and are NOT controlled by the main HMGS group. I believe they get a small amount of financial help at the start but that's about it, apart from the name.

Secondly, The Host BECAME a "flea pit" gradually over the last 24 years of some of the main three cons being there. It had the space we needed, was cheap, and had become very accommodating to the society. Over the decades the cons had also been run at a variety of other places, most of which were pretty nice.

Lastly, I'd hardly say the hobby is contracting here. Attendance to the three HMGS events has remained about the same in the smaller two and dropped a bit in the main one (because of the economy and it moving to a nicer but less popular location, primarily). As for other HMGS chapters I have no idea whether they are getting more gamers to come or not. Comparing the UK to the US as far as this sort of thing is apples and oranges, too, simply because of population and just how bloody BIG the States are in comparison.

Jerry

Naz pretty much hit all the talking points. I will expound on the point Nazrat made about the geographic size of the Continental United States versus the U.K. Consider that the state of Texas is almost the same area as Europe. The Eastern sea board where the main HMGS conventions occur is also in terms of population and land mass far larger than the UK. All this makes for an entirely different dynamic and as Nazrat stated makes for different types of produce.

Also the nature of miniature conventions in the UK and US is completely different. My understanding is that UK shows are primarily one day trade show where manufactures demonstrate and sell their product with some demo and or showpiece games on display. In the States it is almost the opposite. Hundreds of games are being offer for participants to play in over the course of two to four days depending on the venue and vendors are also there to sell and put on demos.

It does seem strange that a number of people post without first checking if the topic they are posting about has already been posted here. Maybe if people would also check the main page of tmp in addition to just going to specific boards it would reduce this.
kallman, you hit the nail on the head as far as what they do in the UK as opposed to here in the states. It is like trying to mix apples and oranges and calling them all apples. True they are both fruit but not the same thing.

It also seems strange that some people seem to think others check every different page here at TMP. Maybes if some people could be more helpful rather than posting unhelpful comments things would be easier around here.

You don't need to check every page. Just the main page. Not a difficult concept to comprehend. And that is the helpful comment.

There are those who do not go to the main page at all.
This is on the American Wargaming Board, while all the others are in Conventions.

I for one think it's rude to castigate people for repeating a topic. Who is harmed?

What I also find amazing is people who attack others making observations. I think that is rude also.

what I find amazing is how did they get those 8 great tomatoes in that little, bitty can?
ba dum dum dum…..Contadina!

Rude, isn't that part and parcel – sadly – with TMP? (Though it has gotten better the last couple years)

I agree about bad hotels – why? Here in California a main convention is a in a premium quality hotel. There is no way I'd room in a flea bag hotel no matter the event. And, no, I'm not rich, I just have certain standards and expectations in return for my money where lodging is concerned.

And HMGS? Out here, it is too laugh. Well, maybe far south and much farther north, but not in this part of the most populous of the states (38 million plus now).

Thanks for the update, John.

The communication from this BOD to the HMGS membership and other interested parties has been better than in the past.

Keep up the good work. Whoever nominated you for the BOD certainly knew what he was doing.