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I want to thank all of my fellow C.O. members for stopping by and saying hi. It was great putting faces to some of the names on the forum. The kind words and atta boys meant a lot. My wife and I brought our 2 1/2 year old son to the meet so there were a few trying times and we weren't able to spend as much time visiting as I would have liked. We will be heading home in the morning.
I'll echo what Tim said. Between my tow vehicle problems and being gone part of Fri and Sat due to family issues, I didn't get to spend nearly enough time meeting people, but those who I did have the good fortune to speak with were all great. The C.O. dinner was a lot of fun and I appreciate the efforts to put it together. Packing up my swap meet stuff this morning, then loading the car and heading back home.
This was my first Nationals. I did not take a car to show, but I had a great time and learned a lot. Met some great people from C.O. Had a good time talking with Joe at the C.O. dinner, he is such a good guy. The get together at the Bar on Friday was also great. If I was to make any suggestion it would be to come up with a way to spot another C.O member, Cincinnati Rick was easy to spot. Overall, this was a lot of fun, a great experience and I can't wait to do it again.
My swap meet sales at this this event was the worst. I am sorry I spent several months preparing for this Nats. and was the worst I ever experienced in sales in a long, long time. It must be said not the fault of the OCA Nats. or the host zone chapter. I talked to several vendors and one told me he spent a lot of $$ to attend the OCA Nats. swap meet and sold only one part. We did ok, however we should have sold 3 to 4 times what we sold. I believe the swap meet area was very limited in space. I paid for four (4) 10X20 spaces and they were 10X18. The vendors who pay for these spaces support the OCA. and should get what they pay for! It is to bad Evert got sick as he "ran a tight ship" and did a great job accommodating the vendors.
My swap meet sales at this this event was the worst. I am sorry I spent several months preparing for this Nats. and was the worst I ever experienced in sales in a long, long time. It must be said not the fault of the OCA Nats. or the host zone chapter. I talked to several vendors and one told me he spent a lot of $$ to attend the OCA Nats. swap meet and sold only one part. We did ok, however we should have sold 3 to 4 times what we sold. I believe the swap meet area was very limited in space. I paid for four (4) 10X20 spaces and they were 10X18. The vendors who pay for these spaces support the OCA. and should get what they pay for! It is to bad Evert got sick as he "ran a tight ship" and did a great job accommodating the vendors.
I have not been a vendor at nationals previously, so I can't compare from a vendor standpoint. The swap meet did seem to be much larger and better stocked than those at prior nationals I've attended, so long as you were looking for A-body parts. There was precious little for other years and models. I was surprised that I got no interest at all in my 67 buckets. They'll likely be sold on Wed at Fall Carlisle.
I suspect the low sales and low foot traffic were partly attributed to the weather. Lots of people were happier to sit in the air conditioned hotel than to be out in the soup all day. My understanding is that the Marriott didn't provide the promised space for the swap meet, which was at least part of the problem. I was a little surprised that when I showed up Tuesday afternoon, it seemed like selection of spaces was first-come, first-served. Nothing appeared to have been assigned prior to the day of arrival.
I had 5 spaces & was placed at the very outer edge of the swap meet space. I'll accept some of the blame as I thought I had reserved spots many months ago but apparently I didn't & just reserved them 3-4 weeks ago. That being said I was surprised there were no porta potties or food vendors on site? I did see one lone bar b q vendor by the show car area but not even one stinkin' bath room for all those poeple?
It always amazes me that there are over 500 cars & many more vendors at the Homecoming show(1 day) than for 5 days at the nationals?!?!
I had 5 spaces & was placed at the very outer edge of the swap meet space.
I do have to give a big thank-you to Scott and all the others who gave my 68 hood frequent flyer miles in a "H.A.M.B. relay" on the way from Dayton to my shop in Northern VA, via Indiana and Tennessee. The hood is now safely in my storage building, awaiting resto of my 68 W-30. Thanks again.
I was called when we were about 80 miles away the there were no more swap spots, the area was filled. The team did find a few feet of parking lot at the entrance of the area. It would have gotten ugly if we traveled all that way and we were turned away. Being at the top of the incline we did get some breeze once in awhile.
Some of the worst traffic of buyers I have ever seen.
Car looked good Tim especially with the new trans tag decal.
