Regina Morris--wife of our club's Marion Morris--and I took the admission and contest registration charges from the public. I asked these people where they heard of our show, and where they were from; this information was kept for survey purposes. It was quite a stream of visitors we had, especially in the first our we were open.
I did briefly venture into the ballroom where the contest, vendor, and raffle areas were to check on things and to enter a model I finished that morning. I also visited the breakout room, where the children's Make & Take model building session took place.
After grabbing a bit of lunch from the hotel's vendor in the nearby atrium, I went into the contest room for the judges' meeting. I was paired with another judge and we judged the Figure Entries. It was challenging for us to go over the entries in the three subcategories, but we were able to select the top three models in each subcategory, plus the best Figure Model of the show. I joined with other judges in selecting the Judges' Grand Award for the Best in Show--which was the Figure model.
I also had a chance to briefly look at the kits being raffled off; proceeds from this are going to the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program in Metro St. Louis (https://bridgeton-mo.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/default.aspx). I also browsed a bit among the vendors; however, I had neither the time nor inclination to shop from them.
Around 3:00 pm, the contest results were announced and trophies were presented. The sole model I entered--a 1:144 scale Vostok Rocket--was the only entry in the Real Space subcategory of Space & Science Fiction, so it took First Place. It may not have been the best model by far in that category, but I was happy with the win nevertheless.
Afterward, I helped to clean up and pack my things before leaving the hotel. Overall, it was a great show, judging from the feedback from attendees.
After coming home and bringing in my things, I changed clothes and headed to World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/SOCCERPARK) for that night's United Soccer League (https://www.uslsoccer.com/) match between Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) and Reno 1868 FC. I joined in the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate before the match, then we marched into cheer on the home side. We ended up happy, as Saint Louis FC ran out 1-0 winners. The team serenaded us after the match, as they do when they win. With only six matches remaining and the team just outside of playoff position, points are precious to Saint Louis FC. They are on the road for two matches this week.
The next day (9 September), 15 IPMS/Gateway members and guests attended the club's annual picnic, held at Deer Creek Park in Maplewood, Missouri (https://www.cityofmaplewood.com/79/Maplewood-Local-Parks). We talked about our show the day before, other modeling topics, and other matters. IPMS/Gateway President Chris Merseal cooked burgers and bratwursts on the barbecue grill, the club provided beverages (beer, soda, and water), and attendees brought side dishes. (I brought some cookies I bought at the store on the way over.)
We found out that our show was attended by 234 persons (including two Adult Building Course students on complementary tickets), and the contest had 253 entries from 59 contestants. Merseal said these were average figures for our show. Our survey showed that 11 of those attendees heard about our show from the segment we did the week before on "Fox 2 News in the Morning" on KTVI (https://fox2now.com/). We'll be back at the Holiday Inn St. Louis SW--Route 66 for our next Invitational on 14 September 2019.
Back to work today, and a usually busy Monday. Things did go well, though.
Later.
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