2021 IPMS/USA National Convention (5)

This year's IPMS/USA National Convention ended on a Saturday (21 August). After a good night's sleep at Hostel Cat, I packed up my belongings and checked out before heading for the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. On my way, I stopped at a Denny's in downtown Las Vegas for a good breakfast.

 

Arriving at the Rio, I checked the drawn raffle numbers in the Model Room, but none of my tickets had been drawn. I also looked around the Model and Vendor rooms.

That morning, I attended the annual IPMS/USA Business Meeting in one of the seminar rooms. President John Noack presided over this meeting, which began with presentations for the next two National Conventions. Scott Hackey spoke for Omaha 2022, giving a status update. The 2022 National Convention will be held 20-23 July. Its theme is "Building the Arsenal of Democracy," highlighting US weapons and equipment built from World War II to the present. Then, Len Pilhofer gave an update on San Marcos 2023. Their group was to have hosted the 2020 National Convention, but the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled that plan. IPMS/USA decided to give San Marcos the next slot, which was in 2023. Its theme, recalling the aborted 2020 show, is "Come and Make It, Take 2: This Time for Sure." It will be held 2-5 August 2023.

Noack then updated the attendees about the state of the Society. He talked about the enhancements of the executive board (e-board) and staff and updated everyone about the operating system improvement project. This includes implementing Wild Apricot member management software into IPMS/USA operations.  Noack also proposed a project for members to build models for veterans and museums. He also asked members to vote for the e-board in the election running through the middle of September.

Most of the national executive board (e-board) are present at this meeting, and they gave updates on their areas of responsibility. Overall, IPMS/USA is in good shape recovering from the pandemic.

After browsing among the contest models and vendors, I caught the first part of the National Contest Committee meeting. This included mention about possible special categories for the 2020 National Convention in Omaha, and concern about possible inflation of special sponsored awards.

I made a last visit to the Vendor Room, picking up some late bargains. Marion Morris offered to take some of my things with him, so I would not have to ship them home. I accepted his offer and got the bag with these items to his room at the Rio. I also made a last check of the raffle, but no winning tickets for me.

With the convention closing until that night's awards ceremony, I drove to a nearby Del Taco restaurant and get a late lunch/early dinner: a burrito and taco combo. It was satisfying. Then, I drove around west Las Vegas for a bit, and called my brothers to let them know how the trip was going.

Returning to the Rio early that night, I relaxed in the hallway before going to the Awards Ceremony. There was no banquet as usual at National Conventions, as the organizers figured the choices of restaurants at the hotel would give attendees a choice.

After finding my seat in the auditorium, Convention Chairman Bob Lomassaro thanked all who attended and who worked on this Convention. He said there were 2680 entries in the model contest. Lomassaro recognized Vendor Chairman Jee Porche. After John Noack spoke to the crowd, Director of Local Chapters (DLC) David Lockhart presented the National Awards for chapters. He recognized the Regional Coordinators present, along with Mark Young, the compiler of chapter newsletters for the DLC. After recognizing the 2020 winners who did not receive their awards in person because the National Convention in San Marcos was cancelled, Lockhart announced this year's honorees.

The first one--Regional Coordinator of the Year--was a major surprise for me, because Lockhart announced me as the honoree. He cited my frequent and effective communication between myself, the DLC, and the chapters in Region 14 (Mid Central), which was formed only two years ago with me as RC. When I came to the stage, Noack told me "No speech," which was good as I had no speech prepared. I posed for photos with Lockhart and the award, which I humbly and proudly accepted on behalf of the Region 14 chapters.

The rest of the National Awards were then presented, the 2023 and 2022 National Conventions were presented by their respective chairmen. Members of the United States Air Force Thunderbirds came on stage to help present the Convention Theme Awards. After those awards were handed out, Aris Papas and Bill Devins made the contest awards presentation. Categories and their sponsored were projected onto screens in the auditorium, soon followed by the top three finishers in each category. (The awards were placed by their respective models in the Model Room.)

Pappas began by recognizing the judges--which included IPMS/Gateway clubmate Jim Victor in Ships and myself in Aircraft--along with the recording team, which included another clubmate, Mike Brickman.

Two IPMS/Gateway members won awards in the contest. Rick Keasey earned six awards: Two in Figures (a First and a Second) and four in Dioramas (two Firsts and two Seconds). Jim Triola's diorama "Last Briefing: USS Hornet at Midway" won in its Diorama category, and two Special Awards: The Theme Award "Aces and Eights" (Hornet was CV-8, and the squadron on the ship was Torpedo Squadron 8), and the Popular Best of Show Award, as determined by votes from convention registrants. (My vote sent to this model.)

After the ceremony, we all went to the Model Room to pack up our models and to congratulate the winners. I also arranged for someone to take a photo of me with the Regional Coordinator of the Year.

I also helped Triola and Marion Morris move Triola's large diorama out of the Model Room and into Morris' minivan that would take them back to St. Louis. I gathered my items and got into my rental car for the trip to the airport.

My final hours in Las Vegas in my next post.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA Home Page | By Modelers... For Modelers (ipmsusa.org)

2021 IPMS/USA National Convention: 2021 IPMS USA NATIONAL CONVENTION (natslv2021.com)

Hostel Cat: Hostel Cat | Las Vegas No.1 Hostel

Las Vegas Tourism: Las Vegas Tourism, Official Site

Denny's: Home Page - Denny's (dennys.com)

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas | Caesars Entertainment - Official Site

Wild Apricot: WildApricot | #1 Membership Management Software Award (6 years in a row)

Del Taco: Del Taco - Home

USAF Thunderbirds: Overview (airforce.com)

IPMS Gateway Chapter: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

2021 IPMS/USA National Convention (4)

Day three of the 2021 IPMS/USA National Convention in Las Vegas was a Friday (20 August). After getting up and getting dressed at Hostel Cat, I drove to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino for the convention.

Arriving at the Rio, I then made way to the Hash House A Go Go restaurant there, for a breakfast meeting. I attended as IPMS/USA Region 14 Coordinator, along with six other Region Coordinators (RCs): Paul Helfrich (RC-4), Jeff Neal (RC-12), Jeff Herne (RC-5), James Corley (RC-3), and Mike Mackowski (RC-10). Also present were Neal's wife Cathy; John Noack, President of IPMS/USA; and David Lockhart, IPMS/USA Director of Local Chapters.

We all enjoyed generous sized breakfasts as we socialized and talked IPMS/USA business. Noack spoke about a new website and the Wild Apricot operating system coming to IPMS/USA in the coming months. Lockhart and several RCs (including myself) spoke about conflicts arising from chapters holding shows on the same date as those in adjoining regions. This would affect attendance by vendors and modelers. Helfrich, Hearne, and I agreed to be in contact soon regarding this issue, as our regions have chapters fairly close together.

I then checked out the vendor room, where my IPMS/Gateway colleague Mike Brickman told me that our club's founder, Del Miller, had died earlier that morning from a stroke. Mike and I made sure our clubmates in Las Vegas knew about Miller's passing. A down note to carry forward during this convention.

Besides making the rounds of the vendor room, I also made more circuits of the model room, where more models were entered into the contest. I also made sure to cast my vote for the Popular Best of Show Award.

That afternoon, I attended a seminar given by Scott Cohen, co-founder of Tru-Color Paint. He talked about his company and their products, which I examined at his firm's stall in the vendor room. Cohen also passed around model parts painted with his product. I was impressed with Tru-Color Paint and will consider it for my future scale modeling needs.

David Lockhart hosted another seminar I attended that afternoon, regarding the Dynamics of a Model Club. He used his experience as president of IPMS/Atlanta on how to effectively run a club--Promoting the club and hobby, running meetings, encouraging involvement by members, and keeping things fun and interesting. I walked with a woman from St. Louis who was in town occasionally and did my best to answer some questions she had regarding model club members.

Late that afternoon, I grabbed a snack from a convenience store at the Rio, before making my way back to the convention area for the Contest Judges Briefing. There were over 120 judges on hand for the meeting, held at one of the meeting rooms and conducted by Mark Persichetti, Chairman of IPMS/USA's National Contest Committee. 

Persichetti introduced the head class judges and went over judging procedures. He then recognized contest judges for their 3-, 10-, 20- and 30-year anniversaries at IPMS/USA National Conventions. Among those recognized on their three-year anniversaries was yours truly. I received a certificate recognizing this, along with a blue and silver pin.

After the briefing, we headed into the contest room around 6:30 pm to begin our work. I gathered with the other aircraft judges in one part of the room to learn our team assignments and the first categories we would judge. I was drawn into team 10, led by Lee Forbes from IPMS/Alamo Squadron in San Antonio and Tom Henderson joined us. Our team was asked to judge category 120. Aircraft; Medium and Large Prop; 1/48, Out-of-the-Box. The three of us spent over 20 minutes evaluating some 15 entries in this category before deciding on the top three places in the category.

After finishing that category, our team judged two more aircraft categories: 107E. Aircraft; Small Prop; 1/48--Axis Radial; and 105C. Aircraft; Small Prop; 1/72--US/Allied Radial; Other. We carefully evaluated the entries in these two categories before agreeing on the three places in each category. After that, our team judged entries eligible for one of the Special Interest Awards: The Jack Morris Award for Best Korean War US or Allied Aircraft. After surveying several candidates, we agreed that an F-86F-25 Sabre was the best of these entries and would receive the award.

After judging, I signed the book confirming I was a judge at this contest and received a pin for doing so. This went with the convention's registrant pin I received in my packet two days before.

After checking to see if I was still needed to help judge other categories and being told I was no longer needed this night, I left the Rio sometime after 9:30 pm to return to Hostel Cat. I understand that some judges were up until 1:30 am Saturday finishing the judging. Some categories were so close to call.

After arriving in my room, undressing, and charging up my battery and cell phone, I went to sleep. Another big day done, with one more to go.

Later.

Websites of entities mentioned in this post:

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA Home Page | By Modelers... For Modelers (ipmsusa.org)

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

Hostel Cat: Hostel Cat | Las Vegas No.1 Hostel

Las Vegas Tourism: Las Vegas Tourism, Official Site

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas | Caesars Entertainment - Official Site

Tru-Color Paint: Tru-Color Paint | When You Need Tru-Color (trucolorpaint.com)

IPMS/Atlanta: Home | ipms-atlanta

 

2021 IPMS/USA National Convention (3)

The second day of the IPMS/USA National Convention in Las Vegas was a Thursday (19 August), and it was the first full day of the convention. More attendees arrived during the morning and events were in full swing at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Not only were more attendees entering contest models, buying raffle tickets, and shopping among the vendors, but there were also several seminars on scale modeling topics during the day.

Besides me, there were five others from IPMS/Gateway at this convention: Mike Brickman, Rick Keasey, Marion Morris, Jim Triola, and Jim Victor. Marion's wife Regina also came.

That morning, I did get a convention T-shirt that my friend and IPMS/Gateway founder Del Miller had ordered. He was not able to come to the event but asked me a few weeks before the convention to get the shirt for me. This was the same pattern T-shirt I picked, featuring the US Air Force Thunderbirds on the back. (The other t-shirt pattern had an alien on the back.)

I got lucky with the raffle, winning two prizes during the convention's first two days. People with winning tickets were asked to come up on the stage in the contest room and select their prize from the available donated items. Most of the prizes were kits, but there were also detail parts, decals, paints, and tools to be given away. Both times my tickets were picked, I selected paint sets--one for World War II US Army Air Forces aircraft, the other for natural metal aircraft. 

Two much listened-to podcasts aimed at scale modelers were present at the convention. One was Plastic Model Mojo, which is co-hosted by my friend David Knights. They were set up inside the vendor room. The other was The Model Geeks, who had a table outside of the vendor room.

After several hours at the convention, I drove to a nearby In-N-Out Burger restaurant for lunch. It was my first experience with this legendary fast-food chain from southern California. I ordered a cheeseburger with French fries--both cooked to order--and a soft drink. It was most tasty, and I was glad to enjoy this lunch experience.

After lunch I returned to the Rio for more of the convention. When it wrapped up for the day, I joined the Morrises, Triola, and Victor for dinner at Metro Pizza, a short drive from the Rio. It was a nice pizzeria, and we had enjoyable conversation over dinner. In my case, it was the Bleeker pizza, with Italian sausage and garlic. It was most delicious.

Our party returned to the Rio after dinner, and I then got into my car and drove to Hostel Cat to get some sleep. Before turning in, I made sure to charge up the batteries for both the camera and cell phone, so they would be ready for the next day's activities.

The third day of the convention will be in my next post on this topic.

Later.

Websites of entities mentioned in this post:

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA Home Page | By Modelers... For Modelers (ipmsusa.org)

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino: Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino Las Vegas | Caesars Entertainment - Official Site

Las Vegas Tourism: Las Vegas Tourism, Official Site

Plastic Model Mojo: Plastic Model Mojo

The Model Geeks Podcast: The ModelGeeks Podcast

In-N-Out Burger: In-N-Out Burger

Metro Pizza: Metro Pizza

Hostel Cat: Hostel Cat | Las Vegas No.1 Hostel

2021 IPMS/USA National Convention (2)

After checking in and entering my contest model on the first day of the IPMS/USA National Convention (18 August), I began walking around the contest area to see what had been placed on the tables so far. I also purchased some raffle tickets for the show. They had many prizes donated by members and vendors for this raffle.

I then went around the vendor room to see the many vendors who came and to see what they had to offer. Most of them were manufacturers and distributors I had seen before, but there were a few new ones. It was so nice to visit these tables, chat with the vendors, and to make a few purchases.

While in the vendor room, IPMS/USA Director of Local Chapters (DLC) Dave Lockhart met me. We chatted for a bit, and he presented me with the Region 14 Newsletter of the Year Award for my work editing The Arch Scaler News for IPMS/Gateway. This was my second Regional Newsletter of the Year honor in three years, and I was proud to receive this award. 

Late that afternoon, I was done with the Convention for the day, so I left the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino--the Convention venue--to check into my accommodations for the next few days. I drove approximately 4.5 miles (7.3 km) north of the Rio to Hostel Cat, located on Las Vegas Boulevard. I found this place on Hotels.com and reserved my room through this website. It's not the greatest of places to stay--six to a room, with three bunk beds, and in a seedy neighborhood--but it was inexpensive and the place was secure.  All I ready needed was a bed to crash into at night, and Hostel Cat filled the need.

After checking in and parking my car, I brought my gear into my room. I found a top bunk to climb into, and after brushing my teeth I went to bed.

More on my time in Las Vegas and the IPMS/USA National Convention in my next post.

Later.

Websites of entities mentioned in this post:

IPMS/USA: https://ipmsusa.org

IPMS/Gateway: https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino: https://www.caesars.com/rio-las-vegas

Hostel Cat: https://www.hostelcat.com

2021 IPMS/USA National Convention (1)

Last week, I took some vacation time from my job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. I was home last Tuesday (17 August), where I spent time packing up and trying to finish a model aircraft--an F4U Corsair--to bring on my trip. However, I ran into difficulties on the Corsair's canopy and decided not to try to finish it at this time. I did have a 1:72 F6F Hellcat I finished some months back that I decided to bring along.

At approximately 1:00 am the next morning (18 August), I woke up, got dressed, and packed my bags into my car. Then, I drove to The Parking Spot 3, a long-term parking facility located west of St. Louis Lambert International Airport. After parking my car in a slot, a shuttle bus came to pick me up with my luggage. It then took me into Terminal 2 at Lambert. I admired a Monocoupe aircraft hanging from the ceiling.

I arrived well in advance of my flight on Southwest Airlines. After checking one of my bags to go into the cargo hold, I went through the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint. Then, I walked to my gate. With time to spare, I walked to a nearby store and bought a charging cable for my phone, which I plugged into a jack at the gate.

Then, the time came around 5:25 am to start boarding the Boeing 737-800 aircraft for the flight to Las Vegas. After getting aboard, stowing my carry-on luggage (including a plastic box with the model), and getting into my seat, our flight departed Lambert around 6:00 am for the approximately 3.5-hour flight west.

I was able to access the Internet on my phone, which I used to track our flight and to listen to some podcasts. These helped me pass the time. The flight attendants served us refreshments: Mini pretzels and a choice of drinks. I selected Community Coffee. 

 

Around 7:30 am Pacific Time (9:30 am Central Time), our flight landed at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. After getting off the aircraft and getting my bag from the baggage claim carousel, I got on a shuttle bus to the Rental Car Facility just southwest of the airport. I walked in and went to the Enterprise counter. I checked in and paid for my rental, which I had reserved a few weeks ago, and went to the Enterprise section of the garage to pick up my rental. The employee gave me a choice of three cars, and I went with a Toyota Corolla, which I liked most since I have an older Corolla as my personal car.

After driving off the facility in the Corolla, I realized that I had left the box with my contest model at the Enterprise area. From my car, I called Enterprise to report this, and they said they did not know if they saw the box. All they could do was look for it and let me know. I was feeling a bit low at that point, like a chump for leaving the contest entry behind. 

Gathering myself, I drove on to my first stop of the day, The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. Located in a former courthouse, the musem traces the history of organized crime in the US and the authorities that fought the mobsters. I had bought my ticket online, so I just showed it to the ticket taker and then began my tour of the three-story facility. Starting at the top floor, I began to look at the exhibits relating to the history of organized crime from its roots in poor immigrant neighborhoods in the late 19th century.

There are many interesting exhibits and audio-visual displays. One was the brick wall in front of which the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of Chicago mobsters occurred in 1929. There are weapons and personal effects of mobsters and crimefighters, along with pictures, posters, and archival film. A courtroom in the building was used for hearings held by Senator Estes Kefauver's committee in 1951, which investigated organized crime and which were nationally televised. 

After touring The Mob Museum, I brought a t-shirt and some postcards in the gift shop. The t-shirt featured several fames mobsters of movies and TV--Tony Soprano of "The Sopranos," Tony Montana of 1983's "Scarface," Vito Corleone of "The Godfather," Frank Sheeran from "The Irishman," and Tommy DeVito from "Goodfellas" in a card game. The four postcards were all mobster-related, with one saying KEEP CALM AND TAKE THE CANNOLIS, another saying KEEP CALM AND FUGGEDABOUTIT, a third in eye-chart form saying I SAW NOTHING AT THE MOB MUSEUM LAS VEGAS, and a fourth with a quote by "The Teflon Don" John Gotti: "Don't ever say anything you don't want played back to you someday." It's a terrific museum and I highly recommend it.

I then drove back to the Rental Car Facility to see if someone had picked up the box with my model. Sure enough, the box was where I left it, on a counter in the center of the facility facing the Enterprise counter. Apparently, it had not been touched since I left it there. Amazing! I got the box--with the Hellcat model intact--and drove on to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. That was the venue of the 2021 International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA (IPMS/USA) National Convention. 

I checked in, having registered online some months back, and picked up my packet. This included information on the show and some of its vendors, Las Vegas tourism info, and a decal sheet exclusive to this convention on several aircraft based at nearby Nellis Air Force Base. I also got my t-shirt, which featured the US Air Force Thunderbirds on the back with the Convention emblem.

Then, I found my way to the contest registration, where I checked in (I filled in my contest forms at home the day before). After that, I took my Hellcat into the contest room, found the category it belongs to, and placed my model on the table.

I will pick up the story from late that first day at the IPMS/USA National Convention in my next post.

Later.

Websites of entities mention in this post:

Enterprise Rent-A-Car: http://www.enterprise.com

The Parking Spot: https://www.theparkingspot.com

St. Louis Lambert International Airport: https://www.flystl.com

Southwest Airlines: https://www.southwest.com

McCarran International Airport: https://www.mccarran.com

Las Vegas: https://www.vegas.com

The Mob Museum: https://themobmuseum.org

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino: https://www.caesars.com/rio-las-vegas/hotel