INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...

Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles, I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh - Continued)

In the morning the hall was inspected to make sure that everything was just right. At noon the doors were open and people came streaming in. Judi and I had been asked if we would run one of the games, which we gladly did. It was both hectic and a lot of fun. The enthusiasm of the participants was infectious. Eventually everyone was asked to find their table and take a seat. The meal was served with military precision and was delicious. During the meal silent auction winners were announced, as were draw winners. Near the end of the meal the “live” auction began. As the auctioneer described what was being offered, large screens showed the auction item. With that, the auction began in earnest! It’s hard to imagine how much money was spent, that day, but a lot! Then, just as quickly as the event began, it ended. As I mentioned before, people were asked to leave the hall without delay, so the Secret Service and bomb sniffing dogs could begin their work!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...

Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles, I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh - Continued)

If you have never been to a really large banquet (several thousand attendees), then you’ve missed something really spectacular! The NRA Conference luncheon was no exception! Although I don’t know the exact number of people in attendance, I would estimate that there were over 3,000. Each of these types of banquets include a meal (of course), silent and live auctions, draws, games and presentations. It takes a lot of work for just a small event (just ask any Ducks Unlimited committee member), so you can imagine the effort put into an event like this! Frankly, it was amazing! It all started the evening before, when most of the hall was set up. Games surrounded much of the perimeter of the hall, along with tables of silent auction merchandise. There were also tables displaying prizes that could be won in one of the many draws. Nearer the main stage, was the focus point, with all kinds of fantastic “live” auction items. Proudly, we had framed and donated quite a few.

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...

Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles, I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh - Continued)

The Vice President of the United States of America

The guest speaker for the event’s evening Gala was the then 46^th Vice-President under President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney. I’ve been to a number of high-profile events, but nothing, in my experience, compared to this! There were police, secret service and police dogs everywhere! Even though Vice President Cheney wasn’t due to speak until later that evening, the banquet room was constantly being “swept” when the room was being set-up for the lunch banquet. As a matter of fact, Judi spoke during the morning set-up with a Pittsburgh police officer who told her some of what was happening. Once the luncheon was over, everyone was ordered out of the hall and then a thorough inspection was performed. No one was allowed back into the hall until the doors were opened for the evening event. Judi and I did not have tickets to the evening event, but Sam and his wife, Sandy, did. Sam later told us what happened at the event. When they arrived, all the guests had to stay outside the hall in a reception area. They stayed there for quite some time but eventually were allowed in. Cheney was scheduled to speak in person to the group. A large screen had been set up ready for Cheney’s speech so that everyone could see the Vice President. The crowd waited patiently for the Vice President to appear! Nothing!! Finally, there was an announcement that the Vice President would not appear in person, but would give his speech from a different room (undisclosed location). The speech would be broadcast over the large screen. I am sure most of those in attendance must have been very disappointed, after all, Cheney was the main draw to the event!  I am sure that there must have been a good reason for this drastic change, after all, the safety of the Vice President came first! I would not want to have been him!

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...

Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles, I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh - Continued)

The Protest...

The NRA (National Rifle Association) is an American institution dedicated to preserving the rights of gun and rifle owners. Its mandate is based on the Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution being part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791 along with the rest of the Bill or Rights. It is, as you can imagine, a controversial organization.  Each year, as I mentioned in last weeks blog, the NRA holds a national conference. This draws attention to the organization and people against gun rights are drawn to the conference to protest. It was under these circumstances that Judi and I entered the Pittsburgh Conference Centre where the event was being held that year. Fortunately, we were with Sam Pursglove, the then Executive Director of the Ruffed Grouse Society, USA. Sam is a rather large (tall) individual with a booming voice (being a little deaf!), so we were pretty confident that we could safely passed through the protesters to enter the building. Although it was quite intimidating, we did pass through without any problems. The biggest challenge was the noise from the crowd that had gathered. Even from inside the Conference Centre we could hear the protesters! This was democracy at work.

INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 36)

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

The Biggies and More...

Judi and I have attended and volunteered at a number of fundraising auction dinners. These are a lot of fun and, of course, raise money for worthwhile causes. In the next few articles, I am going to tell you about two of the larger and more interesting fundraising dinners we have visited and about some of the funny things that we have seen at other fundraising auctions we have attended!

National Rifle Association Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh)

The Annual Meeting of the National Rifle Association (NRA) is held each year in a different city and, it is always a BIG DEAL! The year we attended it was held in downtown Pittsburg, PA. We had been invited to the conference because our company did all the framing for the Friends of the NRA banquets (about a 1,000 in total). As you can imagine, it was a very large and important account to our company and it was important that we attend. Fortunately for us the conference was very well organized and there was very little we were asked to do to help.

The main event that we attended was an afternoon luncheon/auction. This was an event attended by several thousand people. Judi and I were just two of the many. Because our actual involvement was fairly limited, I’m not going to describe the luncheon in detail, but rather I'm going to give you some of the more “interesting” highlights of both the luncheon and the event!