C'mon Spud. Please....
Can someone please tell me why and how the "meaning" of the meet is diminished by having it at a beach hotel?
Sorry you feel my poll is poorly worded. But to me there are a BUNCH of assumptions going on here. Granted, I am making some assumptions as well, but much of my motivation here is based on real feedback from members who have actually atteneded at least one of the last three meets. So, my assumptions are at least somewhat qualified. And if you had been at the meet I mentioned where the A/C really struggled when it got noticably hotter than usual for MARCH then you might also feel otherwise.
That you guys would want to travel so far and rather spend time in a trailer park clubhouse in a somewhat isolated location, with an admittedly underperforming A/C unit rather than a reasonable Beachfront hotel completely baffles me.
To say it's not ideal for everyone traveling from afar is really not fair. How could you possibly know this? And how can you be so sure that just because you feel this way, that 8-10 people less would show up for the meet?
Right now, it looks like we only have 8-10 interested parties TOTAL if we do it at the beach. And apparently less attendees if we do it at the clubhouse again.
And how do you know your expenses to Sorrento would be any different from your expenses to Tampa Bay, Miami Daytona, or any other location, for that matter? I was going to say let's see what Ed finds out for us, but it looks like that is not going to happen now.
And why do you say the timeframe is too short? Are you saying you want a two-day meet? Then you'd need to take even more time off? Sorry, but I don't follow your logic on that one either. I would think that having the meet at a more "destination" type of location such as the beach would be more appealing and likely to inspire turning the trip to Florida into a vacation, which would in turn justify taking some additional time off and making you feel better about the money spent and time taken off.
Then again, having the meet in March, while it is still freezing cold up north, but in the mid-to-high 70's and low 80's here does tend to make Florida much more appealing destination in late winter and early spring than in the heat of June, when daily highs hit triple digits with regularity! So, while I'm on that thought, I'll bring up the one thing that none of you guys are acknowledging, which is the HEAT!!!! You are all completely ignoring the warnings made straight from Tony about the weak AC in that clubhouse and how hot it will be there.
I'm sorry, but that is a very real issue to take into consideration that you guys are just blowing off. (C'mon Ira, you've also been to every meet there and are hardcore defending that location, yet you never once acknowledge the weak AC there???) You guys sound almost brainwashed by the thought of the "free clubhouse."
About security.... The thought of someone stealing my boxes at the hotel vs. the clubhouse never even occured to me. Anyone who knows the true potential value of these things would be at the meet anyway. Seriously, 99% of the general population would walk right by a grail boombox priced at $15 in thrift store without giving it a second thought. Many think we're nuts for collecting these things. And we are talking about going to a good-vibe, low crime kind of place, not the deprived inner city! So, we make a pact that the meeting room will never be unattended by one of us. Problem solved. To me, the security issue is really a non-factor. I've had boomboxes in dozens and dozens of florida hotel rooms and never had an issue. Common sense and good judgement with us watching out for each other (as I would like to think we would automatically do anyway) shoudl be more than enough to keep our gear safe.
While I might not sound like it, I am VERY appreciative of Tony and Linda for what they have generously done for us in the past, which made this a very difficult subject for me to even bring up in the first place, but I can tell you that at the last couple of meets I had several people (not gonna name names, but they were not all from FL) tell me they would like to see the meet somewhere else and were unlikely to attend if it were held in Sorrento again. Sorry, but as uncomfortable as it might be, the thought is out there and it deserves attention. That's the price I pay for having the kind of personality that makes people feel comfortable confiding in me, and then having the guts to act on it and be a voice for that "silent" opionion.
And about doing a meet somewhere more centrally located in the country. I am 100,000% onboard for that and would work hard to make my attendance to such a meet happen, but I can remember several times where the thought was kicked around and nothing ever seems to get traction. The reality is that everyone wants to have an opinion, but not many people are willing to step up, take the lead and organize. Criticism and making jokes is always easier than leadership.
This whole thing is getting to the point of ridiculous and about the only thing I am really starting to agree with in your post is that maybe the Sunshine mix has indeed run it's course.
I'm really sorry to everyone that this has become such a polarizing subject.
great options :
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Tony is an exceedingly great guy and would do anything for anybody - and that goes for his wife too. It all stems, at least I think, from a desire to make the Sunshine Mix bigger and better. Having it at a location that is more family-friendly could attract more attendees and perhaps give the event more exposure thereby attracting new collectors to the scene.
