I attended the annual IPMS/USA Business Meeting, where the Executive Board (E-Board) reported on the society's state as of now. IPMS/USA is in good shape, overall. After that meeting, I went into a nearby meeting room to catch the second half of a presentation by my friend Mike Mackowski on modeling Gemini spacecraft variants that were proposed, but not built. (He had one of these models--of a Gemini lunar rescue craft--entered in the contest.) As usual, Mike delivered an informative and interesting talk on the subject.
Next, I sat in on the bids offered for hosting the 2021 and 2022 IPMS National Conventions. Groups from Omaha and Las Vegas made their pitches, talking about the venues, space for contest models and vendors, tours they are proposing, and the like, plus fielding questions from the audience. The E-Board then met in private to consider these bids.
After this E-Board meeting, I met with Jim Coatney, IPMS/USA Region 5 (Midwest) Regional Coordinator (RC) and with Dave Lockhart, IPMS/USA Director of Local Chapters (DLC). About two weeks before the convention, Coatney talked with me about the possibility of his region being divided roughly in half, as it has nearly 40 chapters, which is high for an IPMS/USA Region. The proposal has Coatney remaining RC of a smaller Region 5, made up of chapters in the upper tier of Region 5, with a new Region 14 consisting of the lower tier to be formed and for me to be its RC. I agreed to this, and Lockhart also agreed. He said he'd submit this to the full E-Board for approval, but thinks this should be approved.
I then made a last go around of the model and vendor rooms, getting lunch at the snack bar in the vendor room. I did make a few small purchases, and collected some information from these vendors. I also checked my raffle ticket that all registrants received for a model kit to be formally released this November from Tamiya (https://www.tamiyausa.com/). This is a 1:48 scale kit of the P-38F/G Lightning, and Tamiya made 300 copies available for sale at this convention. My ticket hadn't come up earlier in the show, but late in the afternoon the remaining tickets were called towards selling the remaining kits. I waited and had no luck, until soon after it was announced that the last kit was up for raffle that my number was called. I was excited and went to redeem the ticket. The kit sold for $50, and I imagine it will cost more when it goes on general sale. Earlier in the show, I saw the built up test shot at the Tamiya booth. Like their kits, this P-38 should be most accurate, highly detailed, yet easy to assemble. I'm looking forward to building this kit.
I also checked my other show raffle tickets, and they had some prizes left over. I ended up with an aircraft kit, aircraft decals, and an unassembled paint rack. This was my lucky day.
Late that afternoon, I walked a few blocks to the Pickle Barrel (https://picklebarreltn.com/). This pub catered to a younger crowd, but I thought it was fine and sat down to dinner: Patty melt, freshly made potato chips, and a beer. It worked out well for me.
Returning to the Convention Center after dinner, I relaxed in one of the chairs in the hallways before the closing night reception. Usually, IPMS/USA National Conventions have a final night banquet, but Chattanooga instead had a dessert bar reception, which was much cheaper. I chatted with some fellow modelers there.
The program began with comments from the Convention Chairman Mike Moore, who mentioned that there were 961 registrants and 1675 display-only models at this Convention. He also thanked his staff and all who came. Ron Bell, IPMS/USA President, then spoke.
Several IPMS/USA awards were presented, then the hosts for the 2020 National Convention in San Marcos, Texas (http://www.nats2020.com/) made a presentation to welcome us there next year. Bell then announced that Las Vegas will host in 2021 and Omaha in 2022.
Then, Aris Pappas and Bill Devins took the stage to announce the contest results. They said there were 3112 entries in this year's event from members from the US, Canada, Japan, Argentina, Venezuela, and Spain. Three IPMS/Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home) members--Caleb Duttlinger, Rick Keasey, and Doug Barton--won awards in the contest. I was certainly happy for them and for the chapter.
After the presentation ended, we all made our way to the model room to pack up our models and began the trip home. I was packed and in my car to leave Chattanooga around 11:30 pm, Eastern Time.
I began to drive all the way east to St. Louis, fortified with a coffee drink and three cans of energy drink. I did make stops along the way to use the men's room, but otherwise pressed on in the night. I made a stop in Marion, Illinois at around 4:30 am, Central Time, and rested for about an hour before returning home at around 7:30 am, Central Time. I drove nearly 1000 miles (1609 km) during my vacation.
I was tired when I got home, but happy for the experience. Hopefully, I will be in San Marcos next year.
Later.
