[dwarfed centipede]

As for 'making it something different', the idea is worth talking about.  I'd think anything home related would tie in nicely.  Just ideas that pop into mind, how about contacting some local furiture galleries and see if they would be interested in outfitting rooms with decor.  Maybe the exhibitor could pay $300 to have their room decorated with nice seating and other decor, and the furniture maker could leave information in the room for attendees to take.  How about art being displayed in a similar fashion, or a gallery in the hotel lobby?  Just ideas ...

I like this approach.  I wonder if we could make it a mancave exhibit somehow?  I'm sure this will take it a lot longer to set up, but with multiple vendors paying for the same exhibit, it would really reduce costs and also make it something completely different.  We could get room acoustics vendors on board for sound treatments.  I wonder if we could even host it at like an ashley furniture and partition off the room areas?  Maybe tie in some of the electronics stores to setup some home theater rooms that show off their fancy gadgets. 

To add to the possible tie in's would be the two beer festivals that St. Louis has every year both located in Forest Park.  The St. Louis Microfest is usually early May (6-8th this year) and the St. Louis Brewer's Heritage festival is usually early June (10-11th this year).  Not that we would want to hitch our wagon to these festivals but if we could time the festivals to run on the same weekend this may be additional draw.

Another good idea, we should definitely look into planning this around another large STL event.  Although this might make it hard to book the hotel, others have pointed out that we can host the event in a different area of STL and people will still be willing to drive to the other events.  One thought that came to mind for next year would be doing this around fair st. louis weekend?  If we host out in chesterfield or collinsville, there should be enough hotel spaces.

[Steve]

Just curious if any decisions or other factors have been made? 

Cheers.

[kentj1948]

Hi Steve,

No decisions have been made.  I am planning on checking out St. Charles off I-70 this week and see if anything there would also be workable and affordable.  I will report back on that. 

Kent

[Steve]

Hi Steve,

No decisions have been made.  I am planning on checking out St. Charles off I-70 this week and see if anything there would also be workable and affordable.  I will report back on that. 

Kent

Thanks Kent. No hurry and just wondered since I do not know if the AKfest near Detroit will be held next year as an alternative (there were unfortunate illnesses and no AK last year; hope all is well with Dave and family). 

Cheers and thanks again Kent.   

[kentj1948]

I spent this morning checking out the hotels along the I-70 corridor in St. Charles.  There is only one that works for our needs but it works virtually perfectly.  It is the Embassy Suites near old St. Charles.  It is only 7 miles west from Lambert and easy to find.

This hotel adjoins the Convention Center but has a very large meeting room as well as two smaller ones of its own.  The hotel has about 300 rooms and ten floors.  If we can do a show involving about 50 exhibitors, we can use two floors.  There is a restaurant inside and adequate parking.  The hotel runs a shuttle to Old St. Charles and the Casino so no driving is required to get to these places.

The staff has run events similar to ours but not exactly the same.  The saleswoman I talked with understood what we wanted and did not seem to think there would be any issues.  Each room is a suite so there is a bedroom area that can be closed off with a door as well as the suite space.  Unlike RM, a person who wants to listen can do so and the talkers can go into the suite area.  There are larger corner rooms that would be large enough to set up two systems.  The heat/AC does not use the in-room units that are too noisy to be around.  I think these room are clearly superior to what is being offered at RMAF.

Typical costs for these rooms are about $110-125-ish so they are a bit more but for that they are also bigger and more updated.  As long as we can offer a room to exhibitors at a competitive price and clear our expenses, the actual cost of the room is not that much of a factor.  I think that can be done here.

I have been promised a phone call with a better idea as to costs and as to whether there is any time next spring that works better for the hotel that we can take advantage of. 

If we are going to do a show, we need to make some decisions and get moving.  A show next March is only 9 months away and a lot needs to be done. 

If you get a chance to check out the Embassy Suites let us know what you think.

On another note. 

Audio Express in Springboro, Ohio is doing a "Midwest Audiofest" next weekend.  This get together is confined to their facility.  I think we need a new working name for our show involving Gateway.  I also think Fest is overworked.  How about Gateway Audio Expo or something like that?

Kent

[Steve]

I spent this morning checking out the hotels along the I-70 corridor in St. Charles.  There is only one that works for our needs but it works virtually perfectly.  It is the Embassy Suites near old St. Charles.  It is only 7 miles west from Lambert and easy to find.

This hotel adjoins the Convention Center but has a very large meeting room as well as two smaller ones of its own.  The hotel has about 300 rooms and ten floors.  If we can do a show involving about 50 exhibitors, we can use two floors.  There is a restaurant inside and adequate parking.  The hotel runs a shuttle to Old St. Charles and the Casino so no driving is required to get to these places.

The staff has run events similar to ours but not exactly the same.  The saleswoman I talked with understood what we wanted and did not seem to think there would be any issues.  Each room is a suite so there is a bedroom area that can be closed off with a door as well as the suite space.  Unlike RM, a person who wants to listen can do so and the talkers can go into the suite area.  There are larger corner rooms that would be large enough to set up two systems.  The heat/AC does not use the in-room units that are too noisy to be around.  I think these room are clearly superior to what is being offered at RMAF.

Typical costs for these rooms are about $110-125-ish so they are a bit more but for that they are also bigger and more updated.  As long as we can offer a room to exhibitors at a competitive price and clear our expenses, the actual cost of the room is not that much of a factor.  I think that can be done here.

I have been promised a phone call with a better idea as to costs and as to whether there is any time next spring that works better for the hotel that we can take advantage of. 

If we are going to do a show, we need to make some decisions and get moving.  A show next March is only 9 months away and a lot needs to be done. 

If you get a chance to check out the Embassy Suites let us know what you think.

On another note. 

Audio Express in Springboro, Ohio is doing a "Midwest Audiofest" next weekend.  This get together is confined to their facility.  I think we need a new working name for our show involving Gateway.  I also think Fest is overworked.  How about Gateway Audio Expo or something like that?

Kent

Audio Expo sounds good. Also, AK fest used Embassy Suites, Detroit, the last fest, and before that per my understanding, as well. Did not really hear next door neighbor, seemed like a nice place when I exhibited. May not accomodate the 7 foot behemoths, but then not many rooms do.

Cheers, and thanks Kent.




Cheers.

[Bob in St. Louis]

To all GAS:
I've forwarded an email from Kent, with attachments included.

bside, your AOL email address "kicked back" the email as undeliverable.

And as always, any GAS members who didn't receive it, send me a PM with the address you'd like it sent to.

Great job Kent, thank you very much.
Bob

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hebrew Randy, your email address kicked the message back too.

[dwarfed centipede]

Lol at Hebrew Randy.  Haven't heard that one yet.

I like Gateway Audio Expo, but the acrynm is GAE... just thought I would point that out.  I also like the location in St. Charles.  I think it will save some driving time staying along highway 70.  I know old St. Charles is fun to walk around, it might provide enough extracurricular activities.  Can we plan this around any other events happening in the spring?  Are they having any large poker tournaments or anything at the Casino?

[Bob in St. Louis]

Lol at Hebrew Randy.  Haven't heard that one yet.

Just keepin' it fresh and creative, ya know? 

Bob

[Vapor Audio]

How about stealing THE show's idea of a wine and cigar party as part of the show?  I've actually been to that Hotel where the Newport show was, many times actually.  I think I know where/how they did it, and the Embassy in St Charles should be able to do the same thing.  I have plenty of contacts for wine distributors and cigar shops that would love to setup displays at the show. 

[Mitsuman]

Scroll down the page................this is the kind of advertising we would need! 

http://www.parts-express.com/home-audio-video.cfm

[Steve]

Update?

Thanks.

[kentj1948]

My most sincere apologies Steve.  I thought I had notified everyone who responded to my initial email that I was not pursuing the idea of a Midwest show any longer.  You were the first one to commit to the show and I am grateful for that.  I can't believe I failed to  contact you back.  Best regards, Kent Johnson

[Bob in St. Louis]

   I hadn't heard that either. What's the reason?

[kentj1948]

There just wasn't enough interest.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Understood. Suprising, but understood.

Kent, a sincere "Thank you" for the work and time you've spent looking, driving, and talking to people.

Bob

[BPT]

"If you build it, they will come."

[Steve]

There just wasn't enough interest.

Thanks for letting us know Kent. I appreciate all the work you have performed.   

Cheers.