<html><head><style type="text/css"></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Jurgen,</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">I'll miss having you there to exhibit... but on the bright side, I won't have to take an extra suitcase to haul home the cool stuff you supply. <grin></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Take care,</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Dave Davis, RPT<BR><BR></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">----- Original Message ----<BR>From: Jurgen Goering <pianoforte@pianofortesupply.com><BR>To: pianotech@ptg.org<BR>Sent: Monday, April 16, 2007 12:06:11 AM<BR>Subject: Kansas City<BR><BR> <DIV>Piano Forte Supply will not be exhibiting at the National Convention in <BR>Kansas City this year. The exhibit hall was sold out in 19 hrs, about 4 <BR>months before the event, and anyone who came later came too late.  I among <BR>others.  I am sorry for the many of you on this list who were counting on <BR>visiting my booth.  Needless to say, I am also disappointed at not being able <BR>to show all my new items.<BR><BR>Responding to exhibitor complaints that not enough technicians were making <BR>their way over to the exhibit hall in 2005, the decision was made to move the <BR>exhibit closer to the main  convention activities.  However, the only room <BR>available is 40% smaller than the hall previously used.  I haven't yet fully <BR>understood how this can contribute to the biggest and best ever 50th annual <BR>convention.<BR><BR>Home office told me that 120 booths could have been sold, but the exhibit <BR>hall only has room for about 70 booths. (The size of every booth had to be <BR>reduced by 20% to accommodate even this small number.)  So, at over $600 per <BR>booth, that amounts to a lost potential revenue of around $30,000 (!) for the <BR>convention.  I could imagine that with $30,000 a lot of enticements could <BR>have been afforded to draw technicians across the way into the the exhibit <BR>hall.  Let me see:  free food? how about caviar canapes, or perhaps a $1,000 <BR>door prize every hour of the exhibit?.... Maybe a grand piano as a prize?  <BR><BR>I can't help but wonder if enough thought was given  to the drawing <BR>technicians to the large exhibit hall, instead of opting for the poor <BR>compromise of the smallest exhibit hall in years. (The breaks between <BR>sessions in '05 were far to short, for example) I don't know why there always <BR>seems to be such a huge problem surrounding the exhibit hall in the last few <BR>years.  I don't want to bring up past mistakes, but they were surely made, <BR>and one important lesson doesn't seem to sink in: a good exhibit hall is <BR>vital for the success of a convention - it draws technicians to attend.  I <BR>cannot count the number of technicians who were full of disappointment at the <BR>Rochester convention, saying to me that they would not have attended if they <BR>had known there would be only one tool and parts supplier from whom to <BR>purchase. I know many will be disappointed with the exhibit hall again this <BR>year.  It is a real pity.<BR><BR>Oh, well, here's hoping for Burbank in 2008.  See you there!<BR>Jurgen Goering<BR>Piano Forte Supply<BR><A href="http://www.pianofortesupply.com/" target=_blank>www.pianofortesupply.com</A></DIV></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><BR></DIV></div></body></html>