C W Burfle posted:.......................
Or shrink the show....... shut down the dealer halls. return the show to its old hours on Friday and Saturday only. If need be, reinstate the one table per member limit, and close another hall. Eliminate money wasters like ice cream socials. That should cut expenses. Not enough? ..... then the admission and table fees could go a bit higher.
I've always felt that had a significant impact on the TCA (National) membership roles.
While I would assume the change to dealers being able to purchase booth space for a price is more advantageous to the ED in terms of collecting money for the meet (possibly even necessitated for the new Orange hall - I'm guessing the York Fairgrounds charges a bit more to rent their "Cadillac" vs their "Yugo"), all of the previous family members of actual dealers who no longer needed to be TCA members in order to support a large table count for a business had to have a significant impact on the membership roles.
If one keeps track of the membership thermometer that is published over the years, I would bet you see a significant drop back when booth space was first available for sale in the dealer halls. All the spouses/brothers/sisters/parents/kids of dealers that dropped off was I'm sure not insignificant.
At the time, there was still a higher interest (new people due to the explosion of new product being offered) and the death toll from natural aging of the demographic was not as big of a factor as it is today.
-Dave
