Looking forward to the show very much. Lots of friends and good people. Hopefully a buff safari as well.

I hope it stays in Vegas after 15 it will make it much easier on us to have it in one location.

Personally, I much prefer Reno, even though it is twice as long a drive. It's a much more friendly environment--Vegas people act like you owe them something-not vice-versa. Also, the distance from parking to exhibits is longer in Vegas, an important consideration when so many of the show attendees are getting on in years
Tim

Just did a walk through the Convention center. Animal Artistry has an incredible display, the Dangerous Game, life size elephant,rhino,lion,
leopard,croc,buffalo, hippo coming out of the water.All mounted on one habitat piece.

Looks to be a great show.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Ferrall:
Personally, I much prefer Reno, even though it is twice as long a drive. It's a much more friendly environment--Vegas people act like you owe them something-not vice-versa. Also, the distance from parking to exhibits is longer in Vegas, an important consideration when so many of the show attendees are getting on in years
Tim

Could not agree more. I really do not like the atmosphere in Vegas and much prefer Reno. Sadly it is back to Vegas next year I believe.

Over the years we've found that when it's in Reno our expenses are about 30% less than in Las Vegas. To quote a friend of mine..." Reno is a dump but it's OUR dump!

I prefer Reno for selfish reasons as it takes a little over 3 hours to drive. Round trip on a tank of fuel. Air fare from Redding to Las Vegas is $355.

It does appear that Reno will not be large enough to accommodate SCI much longer. So I will enjoy the current venue while I can, and see what develops

I like Reno for a lot of reasons-most have been discussed. I will take advantage of the Reno shows and pass on the future Las Vegas shows. Went to Vegas last year and found I still dislike it as much as I used to.

I prefer Vegas. Easier to get to with more things to do other than the show when staying for the entire week.

IIRC, most of the exhibitors stated their show success was much higher last year in Vegas compared to Reno as well

I too prefer Vegas over Reno hands down. Read Kathi's post. Reno has failed to prepare long term for SCI and I doubt it will ever return to Reno after 2015. Looks like Vegas will be its permanent host.

I guess it really doesn't matter what we think. SCI is Making the decision . There are positives and negatives to both. I am going regardless of where it is.

The only vote I get is with my feet and my pocketbook. I will not go to Reno, it is a pain to try and get to and the weather can be iffy. On the other hand, Las Vegas is a direct flight (and generally a cheap flight) from most anywhere and the weather is generally going to be good. As regards some of the criticisms of Las Vegas, in particular, the fact that the convention was split between two floors, everyone is issued a convention floor plan. Not sure how exactly someone could not understand or know there was a second floor. And gee it was only an escalator ride away not like it was in another building.

Mike, you said that very well.

Mike is right of course. Reno is a massive pain in the backside to get there. For the most part, the restaurants & hotels suck. I remember the years when a large portion of the attendees got stuck there because of the weather. The town is scrungy at best.

I don't know how it got started going to Reno. I gave been going for about 20 years, maybe more. I can only remember 3 years when it wasn't in Reno.

i heard a lot of positive comments last year from both exhibitors and attendees. hopefully, the move to Vegas will be positive.

I have a bit of info on the move to Vegas straight from an SCI director. The move is largely because the Reno facility is too small. SCI had to turn away about 300 exhibitors because there was no room.

I have been to the show in Reno 4 Times and in Las Vegas twice. I' m not a fan of Vages but IMHO the show is better there. The hotels in Reno are poor, the show is chopped up, it is hard to get to, and unless you ski there is not much to do. The only thing that Reno has over Vages is that most people in the hotel are going to the show so it is easy to strike up a conversation with strangers.

It is simple math folks. I understand all the complaints about Reno. I am right there with them. The biggest being the pia to get there. Yes by many folks standards the hotels and restaurants are not up to par. Vegas on the other hand does have better weather and the hotels and restaurants are great. It is easier and cheaper to get to. However the costs for the show in Vegas are substantially higher. SCI makes an extra million just by being in Reno. As has also been noted Reno wants and needs us. Vegas could give a crap, we are just one of many. As Rich said there is a 30percent difference in expenses between the two for exhibitors. I assume this also applies to guests but the percentage is probably about 10 percent less from I have seen and heard. At the end of the day it is the money that matters. To paraphrase Rich, "It may be a dump but it is our dump"! I am willing to put up with the deficiencies for the extra money going into the coffers.

By that logic, let's move the convention to Detroit or some hell hole in New Jersey then . . . SCI could save all kinds of money.

Arizona, Texas, Florida - anywhere hunter-friendly, warm and not filled with drunken or spaced out gamblers at all hours of the day and night!

Here now. Sitting in a continuing legal education sponsored by SCI and the State Bar of Nevada. The show is good, but slower a bit so far, by reports I've heard, than it was in Vegas. Bookings are good by report and people are spending money. I understand that SCI made considerably more money in Vegas last year than they have in Reno. It doesn't look to me that SCI and the exhibitors will make more here than they did last year in Vegas.

Throw in an extra couple million and Detroit is possible. Newark or some other NJ s---hole is going to take a lot more money in my book.

If we would somehow go to Detroit how are your combat driving skills? There is no such thing as defensive driving anywhere around the greater Detroit area, it is all offensive! In all seriousness though it could be just about anywhere. If you go for the show it is all inside. Security is usually good. I don't have time for anything else other than meeting people for dinner or drinks. Any number of cities would serve the purpose. I like to gamble once in awhile but that isn't what I go for so it isn't really an issue. That said, the best thing about places that do gamble is they are more in tune with the crazy hours convention people keep.

Bwana I don't know we will have to wait until the numbers come out. In my mind at least a million off the top is significant. Guess I need to go back to the bush leagues. Pun intended.

In all honesty I really do not care where we hold it. My personal requirements not in any order are:
warm
easy to get to with lots of direct as well as connecting flights
cheaper flights since it is a major hub
good hotels
better restaurants
In a place that is fairly hunter friendly
In a place that wants and needs our business
All this for a reasonable meaning fair rate
Oh just looked at the clock, I see my meds are past due but you probably already guessed that.

My guess is that Texas would be out because of the DSC, but San Antonio would seem to be a great venue. New Orleans is another place that comes to mind that could accommodate a large convention, has plenty of hotels and nice restaurants, is hunter friendly, etc. My guess is that the SCI leadership could care less where the members want to have the convention. It would be easy enough to poll the members based on four or five possible venues across the country, but the reason they will not do that is that if you ask, then you have to be prepared to provide the results and explain why you chose to do your own thing. Just speculation on my part though.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Smith:
Throw in an extra couple million and Detroit is possible. Newark or some other NJ s---hole is going to take a lot more money in my book.

Bribes in Detroit are actually quite cheap. Congressman John Conyer's wife who was on the Detroit City Council got bought for only an $8000 bribe on a $2Billion sewage contract. Kwame Kilpatrick's bribe's were on a sliding scale, depending on which relative of his accepted the bribe and how much they stole before giving it to Kwame. Of course, both of these parties are in prison now, so the price of bribes in Detroit probably has gone up with the increased scrutiny.

Why not move the show to atlanta. I'm sure if it can handle the olympics it can handle sci. Just a thought.

Guys , putting on an event like this takes a lot of planning YEARS in advance . Even if SCI polled the members, it would be at least 5 years before they could change . They have entered into contracts far in advance.

If you don't start planning sometime, it will never happen. I think it has less to do with the years that are committed in advance and more to do with a lack of a desire to even start thinking about making a change. But I could be wrong.

No complaints about the Reno show. Enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones. Finalized some arrangements for June hunt and trip to Vic Falls. Did some window shopping for a follow on future hunt. Enjoyed the show.

quote:

Originally posted by ndorobo1:
Why not move the show to atlanta. I'm sure if it can handle the olympics it can handle sci. Just a thought.

There is a lot more entertainment value in Vegas.

Out of the 300 exhibitors who are on the "waiting list" most are additional beef jerky vendors. How many beef jerky vendors do we really need at the SCI Show?????? This show is already huge, so why does it need to be larger?? $$$$$$ of course. Maybe SCI should concentrate on making it "better not just bigger"??

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
I have a bit of info on the move to Vegas straight from an SCI director. The move is largely because the Reno facility is too small. SCI had to turn away about 300 exhibitors because there was no room.

Just returned last night from SCI Reno. Enjoyed the show as usual, saw lots of friends, saw lots of great taxidermy, saw some AR members, gambled a little, saw a good dinner show, all in all a good time.

I think attendance was down some, but all the Vendors I know and talked with were fairly well pleased. A lot of the crowd were serious folks looking to book and not the tire kickers who bumped attendance in the 2007 to 2008 era. The economy is the main difference as it's obvious when folks are out of work, making less than they used to, and less deposable income they are not out looking for things of this nature. Big ticket items were still selling but the medium to lower end offerings were the ones that were down according to several vendors I spoke with.

As far as the Show schedule, the "Official" word from SCI Administration is it will be in LV next year, in Reno 2015, then LV for a five year span. This is good news for some and bad news for others I suppose. As I will never attend again in LV I guess it's the bad news side for me. This leaves only one SCI Convention in my immediate future. Personally very sorry to see SCI go in this direction. Oh well!!

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

Friday night at the Silver Legacy Island bar, surrounded by all the Zim PH`s and the booze flowing and the cruizing all night long-reminded me when I was 18.That alone was worth the trip! Next morning I commited to buying a double.

What Larry said, plus one!

Reno is a six hour drive, and hotel rates are about half of Vegas. 400 miles VS 750.

On a personal note, Reno was great! I brought my 71/86 clone to Doug Turnbull's booth. He diagnosed the problem, took it with him to fix it, and color case harden the receiver. 8-10 weeks, and the 50-110 will roar again.

I can save enough $$$ by not attending next year to make my hunt in Africa in 2014 instead of 2015.

Bottom line...

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
Friday night at the Silver Legacy Island bar, surrounded by all the Zim PH`s and the booze flowing and the cruizing all night long-reminded me when I was 18.That alone was worth the trip! Next morning I commited to buying a double.

It is very pleasing that you had such a great time!! A lot of these guys are just jaded and crusty. SCI convention IS a good time!!

Like Rich said Reno is a dump but it's our dump - very well put. But the show must go on and it's back to Sin City we go... dodging hookers and nasty cab drivers...

After 2015 I will always remember Reno favourably ... so many things... Rumbullions of course, very friendly (and appreciative) locals, easy driving around town, trips to Cabelas - so many things.

I'll never understand why people say Reno is 'hard to get to' - from inside the USA. Notwithstanding bad weather - attendees (and I don't mean exhibitors) seem to find their way there from all around the world. I cannot see the issue....

quote:

Originally posted by ndorobo1:
Why not move the show to atlanta. I'm sure if it can handle the olympics it can handle sci. Just a thought.

SCI held a show in Atlanta many years ago, and they easily could have simultaneously staged a trap shoot inside the hall without a fatality!

They also tried one in Florida's Disneyworld, and also tried hooking up with a show in Europe. The results were the same: Exhibitors and members simply weren't interested.

Bill Quimby