"HMGS BOD Update to the membership as of 31 Oct " Topic

Im posting this here as well, I'm about to depart for FI and will not be monitoring TMP while I'm there. So I wont be responding till I get back.

As you may know, Todd Kauderer has resigned from the Board due to health reasons. All of us wish him well for a speedy recovery. To fill the vacant seat, the Board has elected Tom Uhl as his successor to finish out the term. Tom brings extensive experience with convention planning and will take his seat on the Board at Fall In. We look forward to working with him.

Future Conventions:
As previously reported at the Historicon 2016 Membership Meeting, the Board is looking at sites for all three of our 2018 conventions (Cold Wars, Historicon, and Fall-In!). While all three have signed contracts for 2017, this is not the case for 2018. On August 20, 2016 the Board met at the Lancaster Host to further discuss the situation for convention locations in 2018.

We have been evaluating 2018 contract offers from both the Fredericksburg Convention Center in Virginia and the Garden State Exhibit Center/Doubletree Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey (hereafter "Somerset") for Historicon 2018. These are the only two venues that have offered HMGS an executable cost feasible contract for any of the 2018 conventions. The Lancaster Host's new management has declined to offer us any 2018 contracts at this time, and are not expected to do so until after the results of Fall-In 2016 are reviewed.

Accordingly, the Board drafted a Request for Proposal ("RFP") for all of our 2018 conventions. The RFP was sent out in early September to 11 convention and visitor bureaus and 8 national hotel chains.

While the responses from the RFP were still outstanding and not expected back until October, we were informed on September 16, 2016 by the Doubletree Hotel in Somerset that another group wanted to book the dates we had previously reserved for Historicon 2018. The hotel management gave us a 10 day period as a courtesy to make a decision to sign a contract and send a non-refundable $5,000 USD deposit which would be applied towards the hotel bill.

The Board met by teleconference on September 18, 2016 to discuss this development. In order to keep this location option open while we still waited for any other responses from the RFP, the Board authorized the President and Treasurer to sign the Somerset Hotel Historicon 2018 contract and make the deposit to hold the dates.

As of today, the deadline for responses to the RFP has past and there have been no proposals for Historicon 2018. While we received responses from everyone, only 7 were of a useful nature for Cold Wars and Fall-In!, which asked follow-up questions, but nothing beyond that.

The RFP, the addressees and the signed hotel contract are posted to YM in the membership section under HMGS 2016 Board of Directors Minutes.

Kevin Kelley for BOD HMGS

H'con in NJ…another one to miss…

700 miles to Somerset is just too far; it is not drivable in 1 day in either direction. I hope Historicon stays in Fredericksburg and one of the others moves to Somerset.

Not a fan of either Fredericksburg or NJ.

Nobody is ever happy about anything.

Who was not happy with King of Prussia? What happened to Gettysburg?

The three most popular convention sites:

1 Where it is.

2 Somewhere else.

3 near my home.

in no particular order.

Duncan

Somerset would work great for me. (number 3)

Kevin thank you for that detailed information.

Fredricksburg and Somerset suffer from the same problem. Shore traffic. Just an observation. It is not a con I normally attend.

" Who was not happy with King of Prussia? What happened to Gettysburg? " Amen brother!

Ask yourself this, do want the summer con to be farthest south or maybe 150ish miles north. Got to be a 10 degrees less up north. With a shore breeze.

Summer con north. Winter con south. Simple.

I think Somerset is a great choice.
Near a major airport
A major university in town

2018 HCon there would be great.
Clif( from SF Bay Area

Let me see if I get this straight…

1: BOD gets notice from NJ that "another group" wants to book the same dates and we'll give you the courtesy of taking 10 days to send us Five Thousand Dollars (non-refundable of course), for the 'option" of keeping the days open…not even for confirming it.

2: So even if BOD decides against the Somerset, they still made 5K off of HMGS, and still get the "other group" booking it…

Well folks..looks like y'all are having Historicon 2018 in NJ.

Have fun.

Frankly, Somerset as a site for Historicon should be great for those in NY, NJ, PA, DE and New England. It's wash for air transport for those from out of area – about 30 mins drive from Newark International Airport. I lived in Sopmerset for 3 years, albeit mid 1980's, and shore traffic is NOT generally a big issue there (Somerset is about 70 minutes drive from the NJ shore on a good day), although the time of day and route make a difference – Sunday afternoon or evening can sometimes be an issue. It is located near the confluence of I-287, the Garden State Parkway, The NJ Turnpike, and US-1, and not far from I-78 and I-80 for major East-West highways, so plenty of routes to and from.

I certainly hope one HMGS convention remains at Fredericksburg, which is still a fine site, but I for one will be delighted have 2017 be the last time I have to make the miserable drive from New England through the Baltimore-Washington-Richmond corridor. Spreading out the conventions to three, geographically diverse locations makes sense to me if otherwise feasible.

@ Murphy – the number of sites in the target geographical area that can Host Historicon is very limited. With no ability to count on using the Host, and some good reasons to shift Historicon back North, as the BoD have already presented, it was certainly not an unreasonable decision to reserve the leading candidate site. As others have said, no matter WHERE it is, there will be those who are happy and unhappy with ANY change… or lack thereof!

Ah well, if it goes to NJ I guess I'm done with it. I had already kind of given up on making the nine hour drive to Lancaster any more and Somerset is 10+ hours from Charlotte and that's just too far for my old bones. All good things come to an end, I suppose…

> BOD gets notice from NJ that "another group" wants to book the same dates and we'll give you the courtesy of taking 10 days to send us Five Thousand Dollars (non-refundable of course), for the 'option" of keeping the days open…not even for confirming it.

This is a common practice. It shows that the person putting the deposit down is serious about possibly wanting the venue.

Okay a quick run down: (All information taken from the websites for each and or their PDF brochure).

#1: Convention Center Space:

A: FCC: 120,000 sq ft:
80,000 sq. ft. exhibition hall
380 (10' x 10') Booth Capacity
10,000 sq. ft. Ballroom
11 separate meeting rooms
1,200 free onsite parking spaces

B: Somerset: 62,000 Square feet, plus a 7,500 Square Foot
Lobby, which may be used for Additional Exhibits

#2: # of Hotel rooms to support:
A: FCC: currently listed on the website: 394 rooms in 3 hotels within walking distance.

Hampton Inn & Suites Fredericksburg at Celebrate Virginia
122 Rooms

Hilton Garden Inn Fredericksburg
148 Rooms

Homewood Suites by Hilton at Celebrate Virginia
124 Rooms

B: Somerset: Doubletree Hilton: 364 rooms.

#3: # of Parking Spaces:
A: FCC: 1,200 on site and free.
B: Somerset: 500 Parking Spaces in Main Lot
(additional Parking Available)

#4: Sales Tax:
A: VA: 5.3%
B: NJ: 7%

#5: Room Prices:
Since there is no hotel bookings set up for 2018, I decided to used 2017, Check in would be 13 July 2017, and check out 16 July (Thurs-Sun), for 1 adult, 1 room.

A: VA: Hilton Garden Inn: 1 King Bed, free wifi (you can upgrade to premium), and breakfast and bed package: $189.00 USD

B: Somerset: Doubletree 1 King Size Bed, with breakfast and wifi (neither is free): $153.00 USD a night.

Oooooookay…
So…after looking at five items; this is essentially what I've kinda sorta learned:

1: Smaller Convention Center in Somerset than FCC.
2: Less Parking in Somerset than FCC.
3: Higher sales tax in NJ than VA, (that should make the Vendors happy).
4: Less direct hotel rooms (within walking distance) in Somerset than FCC.
5: Rooms in Somerset are approx. 36 dollars a night cheaper than in VA.

So for less parking, a smaller convention space, higher sales tax rate, less direct hotel rooms, but cheaper rooms by 36 bucks, HMGS BOD just dropped 5 grand just to "keep da dates for da booking" open….

Man…someone is laughing on their way to the bank.

Sounds like a bad decision to me…but hey…what do I know?

This is a common practice. It shows that the person putting the deposit down is serious about possibly wanting the venue.

Really? almost 2 years out?

And if it is a common practice, um…how come I don't remember anyone saying anything about it for FCC?

Maybe the HMGS BOD can confirm or deny that FCC wanted 5K (or however much) up front to just "hold the reservation dates open for HMGS to make a decision."

> Really? almost 2 years out?

Yes.

BOD gets notice from NJ that "another group" wants to book the same dates and we'll give you the courtesy of taking 10 days to send us Five Thousand Dollars (non-refundable of course), for the 'option" of keeping the days open…not even for confirming it.

This is a common practice. It shows that the person putting the deposit down is serious about possibly wanting the venue.

I wasn't going to "weigh in" in public but I have to since no body else will.

This is a common sales tactic. You see it in car buying and real estate sales. "You had better hurry! There are several other interested buyers."

It's not like Somerset is the only venue on the planet. You keep shopping until your deadline and not before. This, to me, is a bush league mistake. Likely, there was no signed contract by anyone and the BOD should have taken the time to find all plausible options.

> It's not like Somerset is the only venue on the planet. You keep shopping until your deadline and not before.

Deadline is fast approaching, Two years is NOT a lot of time to rent something along the lines of a convention center.

Maybe I should just give up and jump on the "It must be a conspiracy" bandwagon.

Well, the folks who wanted Historicon back up north got their way. Congrats..I havs my misgivings..but hey, you got what you wanted.

What is this ""It must be a conspiracy" bandwagon" you speak?

King of Prussia/valley Forge threw us out. at the last minute, in favor of slot machines.

Gettysburg allowed the facility to decline to a level of both simple habitability and certainly service (food, Cat Show, double booking) that made the Host a significantly better site because the All-Star didn't give a rats backside as they were counting on a gambling license. The facility has continued to decline and is beyond a dump.

The newly refurbishing Host doesn't seem inclined to contract with us.

Bottom line. We are not a desireable entity given our needs for space, parking and rooms all at the cheapest rates. Facilities are not falling over themselves for our business.

The BOD is in an impossible position as no matter where they go/choose, substantial portions of the membership will loudly announce the site is too far, rooms too expensive, rooms too dump like and recently. too in league with the Illuminati in a hidden plot to enrich someone and/or end western civilization.

Location is and will continue to be a series of compromises and trade offs and I appreciate the BOD's willingness to suffer the slings and arrows while being a great deal more transparent and upfront than times in the past.

I do think spreading the conventions is the ideal approach and given that all three are essentially equal (I actually find Hcon the least attractive timing wise), which goes where is unimportant.

Having grown up on the PA side of the river I have an ingrained visceral dislike of North Jersey reinforced by 40 years of flying into/out of the worst cross wind, ATC delay airport in the US, Newark, but it appears Somerset is a reasonable choice given the lack of options for at least one of the conventions.

Joker – your joking me.

Well, I for one will not loudly announce anything. I will heave a sigh of regret and wish HMGS all the luck in the world if they move to NJ. I just can't drive that far any more. Things change and life moves on…

Many of us won't be able to make events as life changes. I certainly can't afford to fly into three and I'm too old to drive from Colorado. I expect that many of us are in the same boat.

It is amazing that we were as stable as we were prior to the great Baltimore Debacle but there is zero evidence the BOD's have done anything since except try their best to keep us solvent and find places to be. I appreciate their volunteer, unpaid and often excoriated efforts in a job I wouldn't do at gunpoint and think think they deserve better than be accused of regional bias (and I drove up from Atlanta for years) or even sillier, some form of conspiracy (from another thread).

Maybe they are downsizing since it keeps getting less attendance. Also by having a smaller area it will look fuller with less people. Also by moving North they get more day trippers.

Had the HMGS Board been around during the time of our Savior, I have no doubt that Judas Iscariot would have remained a disciple in good standing whereas the Board would have found themselves thirty pieces of silver richer. Notice I did not cuss.

Bottom line. We are not a desireable entity given our needs for space, parking and rooms all at the cheapest rates. Facilities are not falling over themselves for our business.

You nailed it.
Wargamers are notoriously stingy (Is frugal a better word? Naaaah.).
We are CHEAP.
The number of venues that please everybody is zero.

I am realistic. My knee stiffens up after a half hour of driving. Plus I can't afford lavish spending like I used to. I really don't mind staying home anymore. Make up your mind what's important to you. My vote doesn't really count since I am unlikely to attend anyway.
If my vote did count it would be for the Mohegan Sun Pocono Downs since it's 5 miles from my house.

"…rooms too dump like and recently. too in league with the Illuminati in a hidden plot to enrich someone and/or end western civilization…

McKinstry; fwiw, I checked via secret code with The Illuminati on this, and they assured me that they are clear of this conspiracy. They are too busy working on other ones as of this moment.

However, I have not yet received any answers back from "The Rothchilds", "The Trilateral Commission", or "The Skull and Bones Society"….

I blame Satan. Perhaps if we burned a witch or two a venue acceptable to all would mysteriously appear featuring vast space, rooms for $39 USD per night, 5 star food on a perpetual buffet with top shelf booze at $1 USD per drink and of course, within an hours drive of all members?

Somerset? Hey, that's drivable from New England for a change!

I posted a reply in the other 'CONS' thread – I probably should have made the OP there.

Kevin