No west coast convention for a while

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phillinley

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For anyone who was hearing rumors about a possible ARBA convention on the west coast, this was printed in the latest ARBA magazine in the president's report:

"As they are written now (convention guidelines), due to the shipping costs built into the current guidelines, it is virtually impossible from a financial standpoint for a convention to be held on either one of the coasts."

Kind of a bummer. Although I wouldn't bring rabbits to the west coast, I would attend. Any excuse for me to drive through the mountains I'll take.
 
It stinks for people living on either coast, but it is cheaper all the way around to a large majority of members for it to be held in the center section of the country. If it were held on the west coast, I'd never attend it solely because of the cost and distance it would involve. It does stink for people who live out there, though.

How in the world they apply that "standard" guidline while granting the convention to Harrisburg, PA is beyond me, though. It's close to the east coast by just about anyone's standard. That sounds like your typical Mike Avesing PC response, but if I lived out west, I'd be royally torqued over this. It needs to be applied across the board, not selectively. That is not a slap at the Harrisburg committee or the good people of the state of PA, but rather at the ARBA right up to and including President Avesing. There is alot of waste being generated in their annual budget.

Before they ever give another bid to the group which put on this year's convention in Wichita, serious thought needs to be given on another venue for the event. The site of this year's convention was barely adequate for the numbers which showed up, and it was unacceptable to receive requests from the convention committee to consider eliminating entries to atone for overages in entries versus available coop space. It was simply poor planning which turned into a jam packed mess.
 
I think it should be held in KS every year :roll:

I think in general though, it would make it so much simpler for everyone to have it in midwest. While it makes it super conveinant for people here, it also makes it evenly distanced for the coast people. i could see how annoying it would be..west coast driving 20 hours while east driving 4 hours.
 
SatinsRule":37nt7bfu said:
How in the world they apply that "standard" guidline while granting the convention to Harrisburg, PA is beyond me, though. It's close to the east coast by just about anyone's standard. That sounds like your typical Mike Avesing PC response, but if I lived out west, I'd be royally torqued over this. It needs to be applied across the board, not selectively. That is not a slap at the Harrisburg committee or the good people of the state of PA, but rather at the ARBA right up to and including President Avesing. There is alot of waste being generated in their annual budget.
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I think he is saying both coasts, to rule out the southern atlantic area. The cages and equipment are the big expense and those are housed in Illinois. So Harrisburg is not that much farther away from them than a Texas show would be. So figure about 12 hours in any direction from Illinois is probably the upper bound of where they can put it. Atlanta would probably be the far south boundary. So really the only region that gets screwed by this policy is the west coast. Even if they put on a Denver show, that's still a far drive for anyone in the Pacific time zone, and at that time of year, potentially putting you in hazardous driving conditions driving through the rockies.
 
phillinley":3ovxdtcr said:
SatinsRule":3ovxdtcr said:
How in the world they apply that "standard" guidline while granting the convention to Harrisburg, PA is beyond me, though. It's close to the east coast by just about anyone's standard. That sounds like your typical Mike Avesing PC response, but if I lived out west, I'd be royally torqued over this. It needs to be applied across the board, not selectively. That is not a slap at the Harrisburg committee or the good people of the state of PA, but rather at the ARBA right up to and including President Avesing. There is alot of waste being generated in their annual budget.
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I think he is saying both coasts, to rule out the southern atlantic area. The cages and equipment are the big expense and those are housed in Illinois. So Harrisburg is not that much farther away from them than a Texas show would be. So figure about 12 hours in any direction from Illinois is probably the upper bound of where they can put it. Atlanta would probably be the far south boundary. So really the only region that gets screwed by this policy is the west coast. Even if they put on a Denver show, that's still a far drive for anyone in the Pacific time zone, and at that time of year, potentially putting you in hazardous driving conditions driving through the rockies.
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Phil, look at it this way. Harrisburg, PA is a mere 170 miles from the Jersey coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 2700 miles from Sacramento, CA. Look at it even more realistically. If it were held in Harrisburg this year, the convention would have been forced to evacuate due to the hurricane. Wanna talk about chaos?

While it may not be as expensive from the ARBA's standpoint, they need to stop and realize that a sizeable portion of their membership is on the west coast. Let Avesing make a comment like that in an issue of DR prior to the ARBA's recent election, and we have a new president right now. He only won it by like 400 votes in the first place. There is also of speculation that he may move to have the ARBA's home offices to cater to Eric Stewart during Avesing's last term (which is now, because of term limitations). How much more simple does that make things from a managerial or logistical standpoint?

Besides, the conventions are put on by an investment group known at Rabbitcon. Every decision the group makes is centered around making money, not making the conventions center around the exhibitors involved. Just let the CA, OR and WA crowd get tired of travelling the distances they're forced to travel for these things and stop attending them altogether, I will flatly guarantee you that the movement toward not having them in that part of the country will stop dead in its tracks. It would have to, and I would totally agree with them doing it. All it would take is those exhibitors banding together and stop attending conventions. Entries would drop considerably, sponsorship would slow right along with it, and conventions would become unprofitable as a result of all of it.
 
You can make all the arguments you want about the numbers in the west coast. They all pale in comparison to what you can pull in when putting it anywhere else in the midwest, south and east. This just isn't rabbit shows, this is a lot of shows who look at their clientele, take a bath putting a show at west, and then never go back whether that's unfair or not.

Refusing to show up would probably have the opposite affect. Numbers would be down in the west coast making even less of a need to have a show there if they think no one would show up there either. Sound short sighted? Heck yea it is, but I've worked for multiple convention companies that have this mindset. If Rabbitcon is calling the location shots, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they'd trend towards that type of thinking.
 
Phil, you're understating how many breeders from the west coast show up for conventions. At some point, they have to be able to host a convention which is somewhat local to where they are at, and when they're being told that it's logistically impossible to host one near either coast, then they see a convention being hosted 170 miles from the Atlantic seaboard, the 2 just won't line up with what they're being told by the ARBA's president.

Rotating it to allow an occasional convention to be held out there is the right thing to do. That convention committee won't bankrupt itself by doing so. Yes, it will be more expensive to do so, but at the end of the day, they're promoting the business in an area which is one of the largest population centers in this entire country by having a convention there. I'm not saying we should have a convention in the western U.S. every 2-3 years, but I don't think it's at all unreasonable to have one out there every 5-10 years versus putting it into a venue where the committee is sending out requests for exhibitors to cut their show roster numbers just a couple of weeks prior to the show.

The exclusion you're promoting basically makes a convention in a place like Orlando unlikely to happen. I think everyone can live with that, but to exclude an entire region of the country which stretches from Seattle to San Diego is wrong.
 
I think Central is better. I would definitely be out if it were in Oregon.
 
I probably wouldn't attend it either, Bunnie, but there are plenty of people out there who would do so when they wouldn't be able to make a show in Indianapolis, Ft. Worth, Wichita, Minneapolis, Louisville, darn sure not in Harrisburg, and it's simply not right to exclude them year after year because you or I wouldn't be able to make conventions out there. The west coast has a staggering number of members and local/state clubs and associations, and altogether ignoring them would be foolish.

There are always going to be breeders who will make the trip regardless of where it is held because it's the type of cooperation and spirit that has traditionally existed, but that spirit exists because convention sites have been regionally rotated over time, and the convention needs to be held in each section of the country periodically. Fair is still fair, and the day we begin excluding certain sections of the country from the hosting equation is the day that we start destroying that spirit and cooperation. It was just a dumb thing for the ARBA president to come out and state in the issue which immediately followed an election campaign.
 
Okay then we'll make sure to not attend your MS shows either. I think it is ridiculous that OR, WA and CA folks drive out every single year to attend conventions half way across the country, carpooling and splitting driving time just to make it there safely and affordably, but as soon as one is mentioned in our part of the country everyone raises their hands and says they're instantly out. Portland is a beautiful part of the country you would all be lucky to visit, and this is a perfect opportunity to travel as there are other people headed that way so carpooling and hotel splitting are an option. Since West Coast people have shown such dedication to the conventions in the past clearly we are willing to spend some money why not have a convention over here, I bet you we'd all buy more since we are not spending our vacation pay on travel time.

RRR frustrating. I can understand that it's hard to ship those things, but to see other exhibitors instantly shoot us down because it wouldn't be convenient for them to return the favor that west coast exhibitors have been doing for many many years? Wow really makes you feel like a welcome part of the ARBA community.
 
WallTenter":3k82otl8 said:
Okay then we'll make sure to not attend your MS shows either. I think it is ridiculous that OR, WA and CA folks drive out every single year to attend conventions half way across the country, carpooling and splitting driving time just to make it there safely and affordably, but as soon as one is mentioned in our part of the country everyone raises their hands and says they're instantly out. Portland is a beautiful part of the country you would all be lucky to visit, and this is a perfect opportunity to travel as there are other people headed that way so carpooling and hotel splitting are an option. Since West Coast people have shown such dedication to the conventions in the past clearly we are willing to spend some money why not have a convention over here, I bet you we'd all buy more since we are not spending our vacation pay on travel time.

RRR frustrating. I can understand that it's hard to ship those things, but to see other exhibitors instantly shoot us down because it wouldn't be convenient for them to return the favor that west coast exhibitors have been doing for many many years? Wow really makes you feel like a welcome part of the ARBA community.
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WallTenter, I understand your frustration but please don't take it out on people that are just being honest about what they will or will not do. I live in South Texas and, in my case, I cannot attend show on EITHER coast because of distance and cost involved.
 
I did not mean to offend anyone. I am not attending convention this year either because of the location. I do understand that it can not be convenient to everyone, but it's not like I am the one who made that decision. I simply stated that if it were in Oregon there is no way I would be able to go. Not trying to diss anyone but I can not afford to drive 40 hours for a rabbits show.

IF I had something that could be competitive at convention I may attend. The one this year is 16 hours from me and I won't be able to go to it either. Maybe one day I will have something quality enough to make me want to drive that far, but not at the moment.
 
Harrisburg is a different story for me because it is about half the distance from me compared to Portland. I can swing 1.5 days of travelling each way, but 3 days each way (which is what most locations out west amount to for me) is a bit much. Flying isn't much of an option, either, mainly because of the places I'd make connecting flights being in traditionally hot climates almost year round.

This year, the Satin Nationals are being held in Reno, NV in conjunction with the West Coast Classic, and while it may not seem as such when looking at a road atlas, that is 2,000 miles one way for me. That's a long way to travel for a 1.5 day show. Even still, the ASRBA gives occasional bids for that section of the country because they recognize the contributions the breeders out there give year in and year out, and having the show out there is just the right thing to do, although most midwest and eastern satin breeders will be in Ohio for the mini convention being held there. The reason they're not going is due to the distance, but you won't likely hear many of them griping about where the show is being held. All too often, the NASS is held much closer to where they live.

The excuse the ARBA president is throwing around is flimsy. The revenues generated by the convention is considerable enough that members routinely invest in helping to fund it in the form of what amounts to becoming a shareholder, and they make a pretty penny in return, too. The money is not the problem, and it's likely nothing that raising entry fees by another $2 per rabbit wouldn't solve most of.
 
So I am guessing that newsletter quote never panned out to anything - the bidding process is still on for portland 2015 ...
 
I live in WA. I would be able to make an Oregon show, but likely never to make convention if it stays in the east... too bad really. I would love to go.

It would be nice if they either had it centralized, or took turns every year alternating between west, central, and east. I can't understand why some people think it is okay for people to drive across country, but don't feel like they should have to. Doesn't really make sense to me. Seems like they would welcome the extra "competition".
 
A Lot of the reasoning seems to be Financial. The cost of Shipping the equipment around the country is skyrocketing. The Entries that would defray much of that cost...tends to be a bit lower when Convention is on either coast. Middle of this country..."Seems" to draw from all corners and usually about breaks even.

( not saying it is "fair"... just Practical )
 
Speaking as someone who hasn't gone to a convention yet and is totally new to rabbits: I like the idea of a centralized location. If both coasts have to drive to Kansas or Nebraska that seems much more fair and easier to plan. However this doesn't work when you claim that Harrisburg isn't part of the East Coast. I consider Pittsburg part of the East Coast and I grew up in Eastern PA. Being a military wife now I never know where we're going to be in 3 years but if the convention was centralized it wouldn't matter. Just my opinion.
 
Why don't they just move it across the United States, rent a storeage facility for the equipment? Each year continue moving it a couple states west or south or south west, then back towards the east and North?

If the equipment is transported from IL to wherever the convention is, that costs money so rent a storeage place, then rent a uhaul and go a few states over. That way it would be fair for everyone. Transporting costs wouldn't be much, storege is not that expensive and because it is only traveling a state or two it keeps the cost down.

Ou dog Natls used to do that and it made it fair, no one felt they were being left out or were unimportant.

Sometimes instead of people (ARBA) saying they can't it is a better use of energy to to come up with some different, workable solutions.
 

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