<VV> Vendor eviction on Friday?

[Vairtec Corporation]

I was an outdoor vendor, and as such was not subject to the same move-in 
and move-out constraints that might apply to an indoor vendor, but in 
general the posted "selling hours" are the same.

Until I arrived at the convention and picked up my registration 
materials, I did not realize that the selling hours on Friday were to 
conclude at noon.  But that was my oversight and I had no problem with it.

It did strike me as odd that the selling hours were to conclude at noon 
on Friday, simply because the indoor vendor area was not to be converted 
to the banquet area as has been done at some prior conventions.  But, 
not being part of the planning, I cannot know the reasons for the 
schedule being what it was.

Where Tom's question is correct is with the notion that the noontime 
closure caught some late-arriving attendees off-guard. Yes, it was 
scheduled and published, but just as I had not noticed the hours, 
neither had some others.  There is little we can do about that, except 
perhaps to keep in mind for future scheduling purposes that all 
conventions draw more than those of us who stay all week.  There are 
plenty of day-trippers, and the vendors are often why they make the trip.

Let me also echo Tom's sentiments that this was an enjoyable convention 
and by all evidence a well-run one.  We don't know what sort of paddling 
was being done below the waterline, but for the attendees the surface 
appeared to be smooth.

--Bob


On 7/30/2013 10:39 PM, Tom Berg wrote:
> Folks,
>   
> I haven't seen any comments on the reported eviction of vendors from the convention's host hotel at midday on Friday, a day earlier than expected by some late-arriving attendees, who wanted to shop for parts but couldn't. Were vendors were told at 10 a.m. to be off the premises by noon? Was this in the schedule or was it something decided suddenly by someone?
>   
> My wife and I left Kalamazoo on Friday morning so I am no witness. But a couple of guys told me that vendors were surprised and unhappy about it. Did they have a right to be, or should they have known about it? Vendor sales were on the general schedule for Friday but not Saturday, so the cutoff wasn't a day early. I don't have my detailed program so don't know if the closing time was supposed to be noon or 4:30 or 5 p.m., as it was on the previous days.
>   
> Please enlighten me, as I'm doing our club's newsletter and want to print facts, not misconceptions.
>   
> --Tom Berg in Ohio
>   
> PS: Please understand that we enjoyed the convention (I more than my wife, who's really bothered by heat and humidity, but that couldn't be helped). And we greatly appreciate the work of the organizers.