The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 35, August 14, 2005, Article 6

CHARLES DAVIS REPORTS ON THE ANA CONVENTION

Regarding the recent ANA convention in San Francisco,
numismatic literature dealer Charles Davis writes: "The Union
situation was not a problem as those who brought in a "normal"
amount (in my case 14 boxes of books that I had UPS'd to my
hotel) found the free porter service quite convenient. The
biggest negative was sitting in a taxi with the meter running while
the queue of cars and vans moved slowly to the loading dock.
But once in, the UPS charge, taxi and tip to the porter did not
represent an excessive amount. The main problem was that
someone forgot to invite the public. It seemed that the number of
people in the hall at a given moment numbered in the hundreds
instead of the thousands we have been accustomed to. I have
not seen the official numbers, but an unconfirmed rumor had it
that 3,600 people had registered through Friday. Extrapolation
through Saturday would make the total 5,000, a pathetic number
for any convention, more especially so for a major city like San
Francisco. Most of the dealers in the middle to the back of the
hall said they had never seen a smaller crowd. Only the fact that
the hall was small (going only to row 900 instead of the usual
1200-1300) and thus compacting the public, stopped dealers
from the proverbial bowling in the aisles. The big boys in front
did their wholesale millions I am sure, and will put a positive
spin on the whole affair, but wow, where was everybody?
Certainly a West Coast convention suffers from being 2,500
miles from the population center of the country, and Europeans,
not wanting to spend 11 hours in a plane, were nowhere to be
seen. Denver in '06 and Milwaukee in '07 will probably not be
much better, attendance not improving until Baltimore in '08.
In sum, it was more like drudging for a week in the office than
an A.N.A. Convention. No spark; no buzz. The highlight was
the banquet, Wendall Wolka as the M/C in black tie and one
very large tux kept the program moving smartly and sharply,
and Arthur Fitts eloquently installed the new board including
the candidate that had defeated him. Arthur may have lost the
election, but he won the admiration of those who saw him
perform this difficult task with grace. "

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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