IPMS National Convention

[airdale]

I was just wondering why most of the Nationals are held on the East Coast or Midwest.  How many shows are they going to have in Virginia? Last year its was Wisconsin, this year Virginia , next year Indiana, really.  When can we expect and west Coast show? Calif, Washington, Oregon, How about it. It's not fair to people that live on the west coast. I understand that clubs bid on the shows. How about IPMS helping get a show on the West Coast.

 

TIA

[Cat Barf]

I think that it has more to do with finding a West coast club willing to host an IPMS Nationals. My local IPMS Chapter, IPMS San Diego, hosted the Nationals in the late 1980s and they have less than zero interest in ever doing it again. 

[Spruemeister]

Vegas and Phoenix had the last shows out west. Find a willing group and you’d be in. Same as anywhere else. 
 

Rick L. 

[Dave Roof]

IPMS/USA doesn't just choose the location. IPMS clubs need to make the decision to host the Nationals, then they need to put in a bid. If the clubs on the west coast don't put in bids, the Nationals aren't going to be held there. 

 

2027 is going to be in Huntsville, Alabama. Know why? They were literally the only club that put in a bid. 

 

The shows also need to be profitable, and I am absolutely certain that is one of the reasons the clubs out west haven't put in bids recently. Venues and overall costs are simply too high. I'd bet money that crime is also taken into consideration.  

[MHaz]

On 8/11/2025 at 5:52 AM, Dave Roof said:

2027 is going to be in Huntsville, Alabama. Know why? They were literally the only club that put in a bid.

As part of the team that put that bid together, I can tell you it's not a trivial task to put a credible bid package together to host the Nats. You've got to have at least 6-7 club members willing to run all over town, make phone calls, talk to hotels, convention centers, tourism bureaus and everything else.

 

Bottom line up front: you have to have at least these 3 things to host the Nats:

• A willing club or group of clubs with enough dedicated individuals willing to donate their time for not just the bid, but the local legwork on behalf of IPMS/USA leading up to the show.
• Support from your local businesses/tourism bureaus/chambers of commerce, etc.
• A good financial model that makes sense and shows you have a good chance of making a profit. A hyper-expensive venue and prohibitive hotel costs are a very fast way to get shot down.

 

Having said all that, I will tell you that the Nationals Contest team at IPMS/USA is willing to bend over backwards to help any club interested in putting together a good proposal. We were able to get answers to most every question we asked of them within a day or two, because they WANT to help clubs put on the show. Plus, we got tied in pretty quick with the teams from Hampton and Ft. Wayne, and continue to refine things for our show, 2 years out, as we learn from previous contests.

[HOLMES]

On 8/11/2025 at 11:52 AM, Dave Roof said:

IPMS/USA doesn't just choose the location. IPMS clubs need to make the decision to host the Nationals, then they need to put in a bid. If the clubs on the west coast don't put in bids, the Nationals aren't going to be held there. 

 

2027 is going to be in Huntsville, Alabama. Know why? They were literally the only club that put in a bid. 

 

The shows also need to be profitable, and I am absolutely certain that is one of the reasons the clubs out west haven't put in bids recently. Venues and overall costs are simply too high. I'd bet money that crime is also taken into consideration.  

Interesting post.

I've  learnt something  new.

[Tank]

5 hours ago, MHaz said:

Bottom line up front: you have to have at least these 3 things to host the Nats:

1 and 3 are needed for any local contest. If you are not seeing as many contests as before it is mostly because people are burnt out and venue space cost does not support a profitable model. So thank your local contest committees when you go to the shows as even the small shows are lots of work. 

[Tracy White]

On 8/22/2025 at 10:05 PM, MHaz said:

A hyper-expensive venue and prohibitive hotel costs are a very fast way to get shot down.

 

Welcome to the West Coast! IPMS Seattle looked into bidding for a convention a few years ago and ran into multiple problems. IPMS USA only wants to do conventions during summer, when rates here and in other west coast locations are highest (been a couple of years but I think hotel rooms at the hotels near convention centers large enough were ~$250 a night). We asked if we could move it back to September or October and the Nats committee said nope.

 

So, yeah - you're going to get more conventions in areas that are less attractive in the summer because they're going to be the only locations that will be able to get spaces cheap enough.

[eraucubsfan]

12 hours ago, Tracy White said:

 

Welcome to the West Coast! IPMS Seattle looked into bidding for a convention a few years ago and ran into multiple problems. IPMS USA only wants to do conventions during summer, when rates here and in other west coast locations are highest (been a couple of years but I think hotel rooms at the hotels near convention centers large enough were ~$250 a night). We asked if we could move it back to September or October and the Nats committee said nope.

 

So, yeah - you're going to get more conventions in areas that are less attractive in the summer because they're going to be the only locations that will be able to get spaces cheap enough.

Hmmm, weather aside, I would think a "cooler" weather show would be better.  Most people, especially in areas that have a "winter," most likely model more.  Also, I would think people would have less going on.  Summer months are full of family vacations and other stuff that makes it hard for people to make a Nats.  I, for one, usually cannot make Nats because I go to Oshkosh for the airshow.  I cannot do both since they fall almost at the same time of year.  

[Tracy White]

The reason we were given for the show not being able to be held outside summer months was effectively "for the children." Summer vacation and all that, but I question how many show goers actually have and bring their kids with them on the trip. I know a bunch of wives from IPMS Seattle go to the show, but everyone's effectively retired. The last one I went to was Santa Barbara / Anaheim well over a decade ago (almost two now) so maybe it's a legitimate reason.

[Da SWO]

25 minutes ago, Tracy White said:

The reason we were given for the show not being able to be held outside summer months was effectively "for the children." Summer vacation and all that, but I question how many show goers actually have and bring their kids with them on the trip. I know a bunch of wives from IPMS Seattle go to the show, but everyone's effectively retired. The last one I went to was Santa Barbara / Anaheim well over a decade ago (almost two now) so maybe it's a legitimate reason.

We make it a family vacation, driving to the Northwest in the winter would be a no-go for me.

[MHaz]

 

On 8/24/2025 at 6:31 PM, Tracy White said:

 

Welcome to the West Coast! IPMS Seattle looked into bidding for a convention a few years ago and ran into multiple problems. IPMS USA only wants to do conventions during summer, when rates here and in other west coast locations are highest (been a couple of years but I think hotel rooms at the hotels near convention centers large enough were ~$250 a night). We asked if we could move it back to September or October and the Nats committee said nope.

 

So, yeah - you're going to get more conventions in areas that are less attractive in the summer because they're going to be the only locations that will be able to get spaces cheap enough.

 

As part of the research we did for our bid, we got the data from the last several years' worth of shows, just to make sure our numbers were reasonable. Trust me, renting the South Hall of the von Braun Center is NOT a cheap proposition. Most larger cities tend to be more expensive than smaller cities (Huntsville, Chattanooga, Ft. Wayne, etc.) for venue rental and accommodations. Their convention centers are geared towards things like SDCC, where you'll have upwards of 10000 people attending. IPMS-USA Nats is more in the 3000-4000 range, and that makes a huge difference in revenue. So once again, smaller cities tend to be better equipped.

 

There was also some other interesting information in the data we gathered - in larger cities (PHX, Vegas, etc.), the convention centers tend to have stricter rules on vendors regarding unloading/setup/loading of their items, which can result in unplanned costs for the vendors. For one show whose data I got(I won't name names), the venue required any vendor using a hand truck or cart to have a union steward push the cart and charged for the time. That gets real expensive real quick when you're a small business like most of us GK guys are! Parking tends to be another unpleasant surprise, along with required food/internet vendors, etc. 

 

Also - "less attractive?" That kind of stings. Huntsville's got rather more to do here than you'd expect for a city of our size. If you saw our proposal package, that was just the highlights of what's in the area. We've got pretty much everything a larger city does, we just don't have it in the quantities they do - malls/shopping, professional sports, touristy things, and so forth. We're trying to work with the Space Center for some special events at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration during the Nats, and we've got one of the top 10 in the US botanical gardens. If you enjoy spelunking, we've got that nearby. Motorsports? Yep. 

 

On 8/25/2025 at 8:30 AM, Tracy White said:

The reason we were given for the show not being able to be held outside summer months was effectively "for the children." Summer vacation and all that, but I question how many show goers actually have and bring their kids with them on the trip. I know a bunch of wives from IPMS Seattle go to the show, but everyone's effectively retired. The last one I went to was Santa Barbara / Anaheim well over a decade ago (almost two now) so maybe it's a legitimate reason.

 

We pushed our dates into mid-July for several reasons. While it does get a *trifle* warm here in north Alabama and the Tennessee Valley, July usually isn't our hottest month - August is. Plus, most Alabama school districts go back to school in early August. While most of us probably don't bring the whole family, if you're holding a convention right after school starts, you're pretty much eliminating anyone with school-aged children from attending. The fact is, it's generally easier to make a trip somewhere during the summer.

 

[Tracy White]

11 minutes ago, MHaz said:

Also - "less attractive?" That kind of stings.

-snip-

11 minutes ago, MHaz said:

We pushed our dates into mid-July for several reasons. While it does get a *trifle* warm here in north Alabama and the Tennessee Valley, July usually isn't our hottest month - August is.

 

Heat was  all that I was talking about with "less attractive."

 

Arizona, Alabama, Texas, Nevada in the summer time - not great places to transport models that can have issues with heat to.

 

Ron S from your club is a good friend of mine and we've talked at length about the activities in the area. I haven't been to a Nats since 2007 or so, but I'm planning on going to the 2027 show, for what it's worth.

[MoFo]

On 8/24/2025 at 5:31 PM, Tracy White said:

 

 

We asked if we could move it back to September or October

 

God, I can already hear Darren Roberts whining!

 

On 8/25/2025 at 7:30 AM, Tracy White said:

The reason we were given for the show not being able to be held outside summer months was effectively "for the children."

 

There are several very large regionals that do perfectly well outside of the summer months.  Ditto all the large European and Asian shows.  Sure, some people who want to travel to Alabama in July may not travel to Seattle in October... but lots of people would go to Seattle who wouldn't go to Alabama.

 

It would be really interesting to see if IPMS have done any demographic breakdowns on visitors and participants.  And if they haven't, they need to.  What proportion are retired/working, how many families/spouses also attend, how many are travelling from out of town/state/region vs. local.  If a sizeable portion of attendees are families travelling from out of the region, fair enough.  If there are only a small number of families and/or they're mostly fairly local, it's probably better to prioritize actually having a convention rather than limiting it to a four-week span in the middle of summer.  And since there have been a few recent bids that have won by acclamation, I suspect it won't be long before we have a year where nobody is interested in bidding.

 

Ultimately though, I suspect "won't somebody think of the children!!!" is mostly just a fig leaf for "but we've always done it this way, and I'm scared of change!"  

[Da SWO]

10 hours ago, Tracy White said:

 

 

Ron S from your club is a good friend of mine and we've talked at length about the activities in the area. I haven't been to a Nats since 2007 or so, but I'm planning on going to the 2027 show, for what it's worth.

Would love to meet you then.

[Dutch]

MoFo for IPMS USA President!

[lockheed2004]

The makeup of my local IPMS club is probably similar to most nationwide.  There are about 6 people who have young children (toddler/grade school age).  The other 40 club members are of an age range from 50-80 and are more likely to have grandchildren.  The demographics for convention attendees probably mirrors this.  It seems they are pushing the need date for a summer convention to cater to a minority, and not the majority.  They could run an online survey of all IPMS members and see what dates people favor.  Throw in a demographic question about age range of the respondent and it should be fairly simple to see why "think of the children" isn't a valid reason any longer.

[wxltcol]

My club is 50-80 years old, except for one guy in his 30s.  No kids at all. And we only have about a dozen active members. Another National out here in the Denver area would require the Colorado Springs, Denver, Longmont, and Loveland clubs' participation.  I doubt that would happen.  And it would need to be later in the year (September or October) for heat reasons.

 

IPMS needs to break its paradigms and think outside the box (cliche time!).

 

Just my 2 cents. 

 

Tom

[Tracy White]

Just a point of clarification as the "for the children" did contain some hyperbole on my part.

 

1) I was not a part of the group that talked to  the national committee and I didn't actually hear / read the words that came out of their mouth / fingers.

2) The wording that was passed on to me was that it was for "families with children," which I changed to "for the children." A little different, as I'm sure the focus is on making it easier for mostly fathers with kids, but still largely "because of the children."

 

Firmly believe they should look at opening the window up though. Oahu in December somewhat close to the beginning of the month for those who want a near-tropical winter get away with some historic possibilities? I know there's probably not membership to support it, but there are a lot more theoretical possibilities than might be apparent.

[Geoff M]

21 hours ago, Dutch said:

MoFo for IPMS USA President!

It might be a problem since he is from canadark🤪

[Geoff M]

What would an October convention for instance, do to the attendence of those Junior Modelers we value for the future of the hobby?  Hmm 🤔

[82Whitey51]

3 hours ago, Geoff M said:

What would an October convention for instance, do to the attendance of those Junior Modelers we value for the future of the hobby?  Hmm 🤔

I think it is less about Junior Modelers than it is about parents needing to be home for the kids who are off to school. 

That being said, there were a number of Junior Modelers, as well as college age modelers at this last convention...don't forget about that demographic, which is a pretty significant one especially in the Mecha, Sci-fi, and GUNPLA scene.

[MHaz]

On 8/27/2025 at 12:00 AM, Tracy White said:

-snip-

 

Heat was  all that I was talking about with "less attractive."

 

Arizona, Alabama, Texas, Nevada in the summer time - not great places to transport models that can have issues with heat to.

 

Ron S from your club is a good friend of mine and we've talked at length about the activities in the area. I haven't been to a Nats since 2007 or so, but I'm planning on going to the 2027 show, for what it's worth.

Can't wait to have you! 

 

I get it about the heat, but for what it's worth, we just had our local show this past weekend, and nobody had any issues with models melting in the car. The ice cream and milkshakes from our food trucks, yeah, but not the models. 😁 (I'm still amazed we are able to get the trucks we do! Even more amazed that both of them keep telling me that they make bank every time they come to our show.)

 

 

On 8/27/2025 at 12:53 AM, MoFo said:

 

God, I can already hear Darren Roberts whining!

 

 

There are several very large regionals that do perfectly well outside of the summer months.  Ditto all the large European and Asian shows.  Sure, some people who want to travel to Alabama in July may not travel to Seattle in October... but lots of people would go to Seattle who wouldn't go to Alabama.

 

It would be really interesting to see if IPMS have done any demographic breakdowns on visitors and participants.  And if they haven't, they need to.  What proportion are retired/working, how many families/spouses also attend, how many are travelling from out of town/state/region vs. local.  If a sizeable portion of attendees are families travelling from out of the region, fair enough.  If there are only a small number of families and/or they're mostly fairly local, it's probably better to prioritize actually having a convention rather than limiting it to a four-week span in the middle of summer.  And since there have been a few recent bids that have won by acclamation, I suspect it won't be long before we have a year where nobody is interested in bidding.

 

Ultimately though, I suspect "won't somebody think of the children!!!" is mostly just a fig leaf for "but we've always done it this way, and I'm scared of change!"  

Darren Roberts isn't the only one who's a school teacher... There are more than a few vendors, large ones that you would know instantly were I to say their names, who have school-aged kids.

 

There already HAS been an instance where nobody bid for a year - I think it was the last time Omaha hosted - they were asked to put together a bid because nobody else was going to do it. To be frank, Scott Hackney and the eboard seemed rather relieved to know we were putting our bid together for 27. I know of a couple other clubs in the southeast/midwest that are interested in hosting a Nats, and again, it all comes down to having a club or group of clubs willing to do it. 

 

I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather have to deal with having to travel a bit extra than to not have one at all.

 

Oh, and one more tidbit: in the fall, you're in the middle of college and professional football season. While some may not give 2 farts about football, others of us do, especially in the Southeast (It just means more... 🤣). Any city with a college or professional team nearby (which is pretty much any decent-sized city) is going to be less willing to have cheap rates on hotels for a show with 3000 people when there's going to be 40000 screaming and paying football fans wanting hotel rooms on the weekends. If you're a hotelier, who are you going to cater to? I give the following example: during the summer, the Hampton Inn Starkville, MS (Mississippi State University - GO BULLDOGS!), charges about $120/night for a room, give or take. On a football or baseball weekend, that same room's going to set you back $300-400/night or more, depending on the game, and that hotel will be sold out months in advance.

 

[Chuck1945]

We lived in Pullman WA, home of Washington State University, for 19 years, moving to outside Spokane when my wife retired at the end of 2019. We still have many friends there and attended a 70th birthday party for one of them on a Saturday night, my Pullman/Moscow IPMS club met the next day so I opted to stay over instead of making the 150 mile round trip again on Sunday. It was also the first weekend for students at both WSU and the University of Idaho as well as Pullman’s National Lentil Festival. What would have been a $140 room the week before was $300; fortunately I had enough points to cover the room.

[GW8345]

I think one thing needs to be considered if you move the nationals to a non-summer month, weather. Weather doesn't play that much of a factor during the summer but during late fall to early spring it will play a huge factor depending on where the convention is being held. 

 

If the convention is being held in a northern mid west city think what would happen if there was a major snow storm. Think of the traffic chaos when the northeast gets hit by a nor-easter in January when the temp is hovering right around freezing. 

 

I believe having the convention in the late July/early August is the best timeframe, basically, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

Just my $.02

GW