[Squaredancing] Discussion on the National in Charlotte

[Bruce Morgan]

I thought it was a great convention.  The sound in the Live Band hall was
very bad on Wednesday night but was a lot better the remainder of the
convention.  The music in the Live Band Hall was just too loud most all the
time.  You had to really strain to hear the callers over and above the Band.
It was nice that they had the convention center people manning the
escalators so that in order to go down to them main dance halls you had to
have a Convention Badge on.  This eliminated a lot of non dancers just
milling around looking.  They were able to watch from window on the main
floor.  

The food was excellent.  We even went to the mall across the street from the
convention center and ate 2 nights.  This place had at least 3 places that
were open almost all the times that the convention was open.  We really
enjoyed it.  There were a few fast food type places that were not open all
the times.  They were geared toward the working people.  Since our activity
is held almost at night these places were closed when we needed them the
most.  It would have been nice if they had been told and could have stayed
open.  I am sure they would have been busy.  

All in all, it was a great convention. As for the dress code.  I think it
was a BIG mistake to ask people to leave because they weren't dressed as
required.  The, as required, is not spelled out so that everybody knows what
is required.  If we are going by the CallerLab description then most people
that were asked to leave probably met that requirement.  If this is going to
be enforced at future conventions then it needs to be stated well up front
as to what everybody is to wear.  If it is good for the dancers then the
callers, cuers, etc. need to be held to the same standards.  They are not
special people.  They should not get special treatment.  

Bruce Morgan
Orlando, FL 


-----Original Message-----
From: squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com
[mailto:squaredancing-bounces at rbnsn.com] On Behalf Of Ken Robinson
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2007 12:14 PM
To: squaredancing at rbnsn.com
Subject: [Squaredancing] Discussion on the National in Charlotte

Since this list has been very quiet lately, maybe we can get a  
discussion going about the recent NSDC in Charlotte, NC.

There has been a lively discussion in the SD-Callers list about the  
"Dress Code violation incident" in the C1 hall.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good convention from a dancers  
point of view.

On the positive side:

The convention center is small, so the convention filled it nicely.  
The food was good and reasonably priced. There was an $8 buffet for  
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I never saw the food run out completely.

The sound was good with little bleeding between halls.

The education area was easy to get to and well signed.

The attendance was up about 10% over last year. Total: 8021. (I have a  
web site that shows the attendance over the years  
<http://www.rbnsn.com/nsdc/>

Now some negatives:

The rubberized plastic floor that was put over the carpet was hard to  
dance on at first and it rippled in spots. I heard that some round  
dancers tripped on the ripples.

I heard that the transportation provided was pretty bad I didn't use  
it, so I can't comment on it. I walked the few blocks to/from my hotel.

The convention organizers really should speak with the restaurants and  
fast food places near the convention to make sure they can stay open  
in the evening. There was a small shopping mall not far from the  
convention center and almost all the fast food places were closed by 5  
PM.

The hall used for the exhibitions and ceremonies did not have bleacher  
seating set up. This made it very difficult to really see the  
exhibitions and the Parade of States.

The signs for some of the halls, especially those which were created  
by dividing big halls, was very poor and it was hard to figure out  
which hall was which.

Does anyone else have anything to contribute??

Ken Robinson
Hillsborough, NJ / Baltimore, MD

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