Dec. 21, 2009
HMGS Board of Director’s Announcement
HISTORICON 2010 LOCATION
HISTORICON July 8-11, 2010 will take place at the Valley Forge Convention Center located in historic Valley Forge, PA.
http://www.vfconventioncenter.com/
Here is a snapshot of what attendees can expect for HISTORICON 2010
- 108,000+ Square Feet of Historical Miniature Gaming
- 2,500 FREE Parking Spaces
- 488 hotel rooms onsite – HMGS special rates Single, Double, Triple, Quad/$109.00, Suites/$124.00 (plus Tax)
- Additional Hotels and Food nearby
- Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) approximately 45 minutes (shuttles available) to the VFCC
- Budget Car Rental onsite – no need to rent car for full time or pay 1 way rental fees
For GMs/Gamers
Same great convention, cozy new location ”big box” feel
Easy load in/out access to gaming areas
24 hour gaming
Several Bars, Restaurants and Food Concessions onsite.
Bigger Vendor Hall, better flea market, best historical gaming
For the History:
Valley Forge National Park – http://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm
Battleship New Jersey - http://www.battleshipnewjersey.org/
Historic Philadelphia - http://www.gophila.com/C/Historic_Philadelphia/624.html
For the Family:
Famed King of Prussia Mall http://www.kingofprussiamall.com/
Philadelphia Premium Outlets – http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=75
Nearby:
Adventure Aquarium, Camden, NJ - http://www.adventureaquarium.com/
Philadelphia Museum of Art - http://www.philamuseum.org/
Please Touch Museum - http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/
The Franklin Institute - http://www2.fi.edu/
And much more - http://www.vfconventioncenter.com/local_attractions.htm
For Vendors:
Non-Union Facility
Good access to load/unload areas
Working Air-conditioning and plumbing
Drayage Services Available
We will continue to post further separate releases and updates for the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society membership, and to the gaming community as soon as additional details are confirmed.
Sincerely,
The HMGS Board of Directors
Frank Preziosa
Michelle Preziosa
Orest Swystun
Dudley Garidel
Jim Petrie
Heather Blush
Pete Panzeri
Commentary (my thoughts only, not anything from HMGS-East)
My feelings are mixed. I am greatly relieved that our convention program is not going to be dismantled, but I am having grave doubts about the cost. I really need to be certain of a few things before I can muster enthusiasm for the Valley Forge move. Primarily, are we disengaged from all the poorly negotiated agreements made by one individual with the Baltimore Convention Center this quickly? Was the BCC that eager to cut loose HMGS-East, regardless of whether they would get a PR black eye from suing a 501.c3 nonprofit or not? After all, business is business, and the BCC is not full most weekends, from what I hear. The absolute WORST thing that could happen to HMGS East would be entering into the convention season with TWO very expensive facilities under contract, one of which we wouldn’t even use! I will ask the BOD members I know how we managed to disentangle so quickly– I thought the legal wrangling would go on well into 2010, personally. Secondly, I know from some past experience as Cold Wars Director– six months is not much time to execute a convention plan. Will it be sufficient time to change horses from BCC to Valley Forge? I don’t envy Historicon 10 director Bob Giglio or his staff– they have a mountain of work ahead– largely thankless, I might add. They have both my support and my sympathy for being placed in this lamentable situation.
Lastly, and most importantly… have we learned anything at all from this? Will we make long term fiscal policy changes? Adopt a more stringent form of cost control? Try to stay above the cost line, at the very least? We have a lot of capital to make back after a solid year of overspending (on poorly explained, or non-explained items such as ‘professional services’). I sincerely hope this disaster has taught us the value of stringent cost control mechanisms and the wisdom of regulating out of control BOD members.
To my friends on the Board of Directors, I congratulate you one and all for arriving at such a speedy resolution, and a big pat on the back for a job well done!