Canvention 50 Status - Go or No-Go??

[Scott]

The BCCA has been very quiet about the status for Canvention. It's now three months away and I have no idea if it's even going to happen. Maybe some stuff has been put on Facebook about it but I don't spend my time there. Anyhow, at some point soon, a decision really needs to be made. Yes there are lots of unknowns that the BCCA has no control over. At this point nobody can accurately forecast what the health conditions will be like and what sort of restrictions will be in place. Still it seems time to acknowledge the 800 lb. gorilla and make some effort to keep the membership up to date. Even an announcement saying "we don't know yet, but here is when we'll make a decision" would be something.

Pure speculation on my part here but this is what I think is going on right now. The BCCA signed a contract with significant financial obligations. If they choose to back out then they will be on the hook. If the hotel, City of St. Louis or State of Missouri shuts it down, then they are probably not financially bound. It's all in the fine print of the agreement. The BCCA may be waiting for one of those parties to make a call. If so, who knows when that will happen. It's similar to the situation I had with some international airplane tickets. Had we backed out, we would be stuck with a voucher. Because the airline ultimately cancelled our flight, they were obligated to refund the full price of our tickets.

So BCCA, what's it going to be? A canvention this year or not? If you don't know yet, please tell us what you do know. Many of us have plans to make or cancel.

[keithker]

@Scott I provided this to the Chapter leadership and asked them to pass this along.

BCCA Chapters Matter MayJune 2020.pdf

(100.95 KiB) Downloaded 109 times

[keithker]

@Scott Also, the BCCA was all set to make an announcement to cancel 3 weeks ago but were reminded of the standing contract by the convention center office controlled by the city of St Louis about a VERY large amount of money if we (the BCCA) decided to just back out. We want to do what is best for the members and those that want to plan for CANvention. If we hold it and don't meet room obligations with the hotel....guess who pays for those empty rooms? Yes...the BCCA. It is a tough position to be in but until something definitive is heard back from the city of St. Louis we will remain in limbo. The CANvention committee is working hard to address this issue.....

[Scott]

Thanks for the info Keith. It appears that my guess about the contract obligations stalling any decisions is fairly accurate. I totally understand the predicament the BCCA canvention committee finds themselves in and am sure they are doing what they think is best for the club. Hopefully they can keep the membership informed as the date gets nearer even if it's just a message saying they don't know yet.

[jssiintl]

While I'd been planning to go for a long time, I tick too many of the 'higher risk' boxes. I'll sit this one out even if it's a go, but everyone's got to make that decision for themselves. My guess is that Missouri/St Louis will be open with some restrictions, which means the BCCA will probably be on the hook. I'd expect it'll be lightly attended, relatively speaking, which is a damned shame. But I'll wait for #51.

[jacoby4664]

One potentially positive scenario for the Canvention would have MLB change the schedule and the Cubs not be in town that weekend. With the rumored abbreviated season, the schedules will have to be revamped. Moving the Cubs from St Louis will mean that downtown will have exponentially less people around that weekend. Just a thought. So the worry over Covid-19 would be mitigated.

[foreigncanman]

One potentially positive scenario for the Canvention would have MLB change the schedule and the Cubs not be in town that weekend. With the rumored abbreviated season, the schedules will have to be revamped. Moving the Cubs from St Louis will mean that downtown will have exponentially less people around that weekend. Just a thought. So the worry over Covid-19 would be mitigated.

Hopefully the club has little financial commitment in the overflow hotel and members will be able to move to the main hotel thus reducing any losses. Tom

[Dixie Dave]

I appreciate any information I can get about what is going on regarding Canvention. I still haven't booked any rooms for the trip to or from St. Louis yet until I feel secure enough that it will happen.

Should I go on and register for Canvention or hold off a month or two?

Lastly, Keith has a good idea about buying more can totes for whenever we do have can shows again. Mine are all full and I have a growing number of extra cans.

[halfquart]

Folks,
We ask that you continue to defer on registering for CANvention at this point. All of the comments are pretty much spot on and are what the BCCA and CANvention planning committee are working to resolve.
Can we effectively practice social distancing and have a great 50th CANvention? Guess that is a rhetorical question.
As any decisions are officially made, I will post them here as well. Keith is doing a super job at communicating any official information that comes out.
We ask for continued patience.
Thanks,
Mark

[Ceskydup]

Thanks Mark! Standing by. I know Keith and Charlie Smith are the 2 that really are in the know about CANvention 50. There are the FB and Social Media Guru's

CAN't wait

Big "R"

[Dixie Dave]

Thanks to Keith and Mark for keeping us as up to date as possible on the status of Canvention. Canvention is an enormous challenge to do in a normal year, with an avalanche of things that must be coordinated with the hotel and the city and vendors and so on. I can only imagine the nightmare of all this with the pandemic added to it. I'm glad we have this forum as a reliable source of news to keep us apprised of new developments as this weird year unfolds. We all owe Keith and Mark and the others who are trying to make Canvention happen a debt of gratitude.

Can we 'social distance' at the show? Should be easy enough on the trade floor. There is room to move about and look at things without being on top of each other. I'm still optimistic that things will be as near to normal as we can get by September. If not, would mandating masks in public areas help ease worries among our members and the city and hotel? There are a lot of ways to give a little and get our show in some form as a reward.

[Beamer]

Not sure how the Dave Van Hine Dump could be socially distanced. Maybe a couple of kids to start on a timer, followed again by a couple until all the kids have had their chance? Then the same for the adults. Just something to think about. Would be sad to not have this tradition take place at CANvention.

[Tinman]

Yes, thanks to all who are working on trying to make Canvention a go, from an international members perspective we
are 99.9% sure that we will not be able to attend, as of now the border remains closed to non essential travel. If by chance
this changes over the next while, we suspect that all travelers will be required to self quarantine for 14 days both arriving in
America and upon leaving it to come home making it a potentially five week adventure, four of which would be in quarantine.

Here in Canada today (June 10th) they released info regarding travel between provinces for this summer and as of now we
are still very limited in travel even within our own province, many provinces are not even allowing non resident travel so I don't
see us leaving Canada anytime soon.

Social distancing would be easy to do on the trade floor but hospitality nights would be a whole new game especially micro night.

I'm going to keep my reservation till the last week (or the BCCA cancel's) in hope that a miracle vaccine is developed. If by
chance Canvention 50 goes as planned It will be very disappointing to miss, but health is priority.

A Canadian's 2 cents.

STAY SAFE!

[oldindiapaleale]

One potentially positive scenario for the Canvention would have MLB change the schedule and the Cubs not be in town that weekend. With the rumored abbreviated season, the schedules will have to be revamped. Moving the Cubs from St Louis will mean that downtown will have exponentially less people around that weekend. Just a thought. So the worry over Covid-19 would be mitigated.

I just looked at the Cardinals new schedule and during the dates of Canvention (SEPTEMBER 10-12 2020) the Chicago Cubs have been replaced by the Cincinnati Reds.

Also no fans in the stands.

Do you think this will open up some rooms at the hotel? Such as no Cubs fans following their team.

[Scott]

I see another month has passed with no word from the BCCA that I'm aware of. Maybe something has been posted on Facebook. Anybody heard anything?

My nephew plays for the Reds. He's going through social distancing spring training at the moment. Wonder if they will give the players a few passes to hand out to wives, family, etc. A few hundred people or so could space themselves out pretty easily in a 50,000 seat stadium. If I decide to go I'll have to ask him about that since they will be in town.

[oldindiapaleale]

"My nephew plays for the Reds. He's going through social distancing spring training at the moment. Wonder if they will give the players a few passes to hand out to wives, family, etc. A few hundred people or so could space themselves out pretty easily in a 50,000 seat stadium."

Up until now I would think it unthinkable that all the major sports when they restart over the next few weeks will be playing in empty, quiet venues. However the 1918 baseball season was cut short due to the Spanish Flu pandemic. Let's wait and we see what happens this year.

[Sea Monkey]

One potentially positive scenario for the Canvention would have MLB change the schedule and the Cubs not be in town that weekend. With the rumored abbreviated season, the schedules will have to be revamped. Moving the Cubs from St Louis will mean that downtown will have exponentially less people around that weekend. Just a thought. So the worry over Covid-19 would be mitigated.

I just looked at the Cardinals new schedule and during the dates of Canvention (SEPTEMBER 10-12 2020) the Chicago Cubs have been replaced by the Cincinnati Reds.

Also no fans in the stands.

Do you think this will open up some rooms at the hotel? Such as no Cubs fans following their team.

This is JUST NY OPINION: There will NOT be a Canvention this year. I think the Committee has to wait for the hotel/city to officially ban gatherings during our period so that we can legally get out of our contract and not be responsible for all the room nights ect. If the BCCA were to cancel the show before we are released them we would be responsible for the contract regardless of what happens in St. Louis. They have to be able to say that we were ready and willing to execute the contract except the City would not allow it in order for it to be cancelled without huge penalties. This is a legal matter now.

Bottom line is it will not be happening. WAY too much of the hobby is in the "high risk" category be it age or health issues for this to happen during a Pandemic. Even if it was to go on, it would be too sparsely attended to not loose a ton of money for the BCCA. With this being the 50th, that would be a disaster. I am keeping my room reservation for now because it doesn't cost me anything to do so. Hopefully it can be "rolled over" for the show next year. If not, I will cancel closer in.

AGAIN, THIS IS JUST MY OPINION...

[halfquart]

There are 4 moving parts that need to work together to resolve the fate of CANvention 50. The BCCA, the Marriott, Explore St. Louis (CVB) and the America’s Center. They all have to get it right amidst all of the uncertainty we live with in this Covid-19 world. There will be a formal announcement soon. Just a wee more patience.

ADDED: Scott-The decision we are trying reach with all involved should (will) minimize the financial impact on both the BCCA and the other parties we have contractual obligations too. The other goal is to have a well attended and successful CANvention 50. There are many moving parts, we figured about 2/3 rd’s of the brewers participating in Craft beer night would have to drop out. That would mean we would have to at least double what we have budgeted for beer........ Two or three of the things that need to happen to bring this to a successful outcome are happening at once. Right now the ball is back in the court of the Marriott and the x-hall. We are not trying to delay any notification as we know people need to make plans. We want to have as much information as possible to release all at once so we don’t leave any unanswered questions. I promise the moment I get the info from Paula/Beer Dave I will post it here unless Keith beats me to it.

[foreigncanman]

One potentially positive scenario for the Canvention would have MLB change the schedule and the Cubs not be in town that weekend. With the rumored abbreviated season, the schedules will have to be revamped. Moving the Cubs from St Louis will mean that downtown will have exponentially less people around that weekend. Just a thought. So the worry over Covid-19 would be mitigated.

I just looked at the Cardinals new schedule and during the dates of Canvention (SEPTEMBER 10-12 2020) the Chicago Cubs have been replaced by the Cincinnati Reds.

Also no fans in the stands.

Do you think this will open up some rooms at the hotel? Such as no Cubs fans following their team.

This is JUST NY OPINION: There will NOT be a Canvention this year. I think the Committee has to wait for the hotel/city to officially ban gatherings during our period so that we can legally get out of our contract and not be responsible for all the room nights ect. If the BCCA were to cancel the show before we are released them we would be responsible for the contract regardless of what happens in St. Louis. They have to be able to say that we were ready and willing to execute the contract except the City would not allow it in order for it to be cancelled without huge penalties. This is a legal matter now.

Bottom line is it will not be happening. WAY too much of the hobby is in the "high risk" category be it age or health issues for this to happen during a Pandemic. Even if it was to go on, it would be too sparsely attended to not loose a ton of money for the BCCA. With this being the 50th, that would be a disaster. I am keeping my room reservation for now because it doesn't cost me anything to do so. Hopefully it can be "rolled over" for the show next year. If not, I will cancel closer in.

AGAIN, THIS IS JUST MY OPINION...

Cancelling later may help the BCCA with its cause ie it is them canceling not us. Tom

[pinnacle-project]

As I am sure most have you have seen via the e-mail sent out, Canvention has been canceled for this year. I think this was a key line from the e-mail.

"The cancellation will be a relief to many members and a disappointment for others."

Yes, this announcement brings on a mix of emotions. While I think most, if not all, of us would have loved to have been there, canceling it was the right thing to do. Thankfully, the patience of all those involved led to a solution which did not cause the BCCA to lose money by pushing the event back a year. Thank-you very much for all of the hard work people have put into this event.

[pinnacle-project]

By the way, here is the announcement for anyone who may not have received it via e-mail.

[Beverlx]

I wish the Canvention Committee members a good night's sleep. Gotta be exhausting, fighting to cancel with a couple of entities that you still want to maintain good relations with for 2021 (or whenever). I'm gratified to read that ultimately the BCCA was released from 2020 obligations and we'll do St. Louis soon. This was done right.

Grateful for your work, guys, this year and every year.

[halfquart]

Bill,
Thanks for the appreciation you expressed in your post. We have been working on this for a few months and any response from the St. Louis players has been miserably slow. This was why we could not provide any updates.
We really wanted CANvention 50 to be a memorable event and trying to force it into this year would have been a disaster.
Thanks to everybody for their patience with this decision, but we had to get it right.....

Mark C

[Dixie Dave]

To Mark, Keith, Beer Dave, and everyone else involved in trying to put Canvention 50 together:

While I am personally saddened to hear that we will not have a Canvention this year, I think the decision to cancel is best for everyone concerned.

Thank you for all of your hard work to make this the best Canvention ever, and once it became a big question whether the show would go on or not, thank you for your patience with all of us asking you if we should change our plans or not. I hope we weren't being too pesky- I was trying my best to just sit back and patiently wait for one of y'all to update us on the status of things, because things with cities and counties and states change seemingly every other day or so.

Thank you also for the equally hard work of finding a way to postpone this show where the club isn't taking a huge financial loss from cancelling the show, and for starting the work to set things up for next September. I just hope all of this current situation is long passed by then and we can throw the party to end all parties in St. Louis. I just hope that we aren't going against the Cubs v. Cardinals next year!

[willssoda]

Maybe a Rusty Bunch Online Canvention? Maybe a onetime open to everyone show or is that even possible? Just a thought.

[golf_lover44]

To Mark, Keith, Beer Dave, and everyone else involved in trying to put Canvention 50 together:

While I am personally saddened to hear that we will not have a Canvention this year, I think the decision to cancel is best for everyone concerned.

Thank you for all of your hard work to make this the best Canvention ever, and once it became a big question whether the show would go on or not, thank you for your patience with all of us asking you if we should change our plans or not. I hope we weren't being too pesky- I was trying my best to just sit back and patiently wait for one of y'all to update us on the status of things, because things with cities and counties and states change seemingly every other day or so.

Thank you also for the equally hard work of finding a way to postpone this show where the club isn't taking a huge financial loss from cancelling the show, and for starting the work to set things up for next September. I just hope all of this current situation is long passed by then and we can throw the party to end all parties in St. Louis. I just hope that we aren't going against the Cubs v. Cardinals next year!

Seconded.

[halfquart]

Thanks to all for the supportive comments. We will provide updates as we get signed contracts firmly in place.
Mark

[Boardman]

yea - we are sad, but I am sure that most of us saw it coming. Will cancel my hotel reservation and look forward to next year.

some sort of online show for acknowledgement of the 50 and some fun would be good - maybe a zoom party with room to room!

Thanks to all who helped out and the attention to detail and keeping us safe; as a committee member for the PDX show 2016 - I understand what is involved on the Chapter end and have a good idea of what is involved on the BCCA end.

Michael

[josh]

I think I'll still go just in case others are there and do some room to room if possible.

[stringsx24now]

I think it was the right decision. Tough, but correct.
Thanks to all that have been working on this problem and did their best to minimize the financial obligations to the BCCA.

One thing I want to clarify before I act: it was not addressed in the email which it probably should have be explicitly mentioned: should we now go ahead and cancel our hotel reservations now--or is it still best that we wait for a bit?