P3D Green Bay '99

[Mary Ann & Wolfgang Sell <vmmasell@xxxxxxxxx>]

As an officer and fellow of the NSA I hate to toot our own horn
but I have to express my 2c and testify that this was one of
the best NSA conventions I have ever attended.  Harry Richards,
John Roll, Bruce Springstein, Tim White, Bob Swenson and Dean
Kamin were extremely generous in sharing their time with the NSA
in order to pull off such a great event and my hats are off to
these dedicated individuals.  I know there were others on the 
committee as well and I apologize to anyone left off -- I can't
find my program right off the bat.

One of the best features of this years convention was the ability
to "interact" with other members that you don't normally socialize
with on a regular basis.  Of course, this always happens during
room hopping (yes, we were up to midnight or after almost every
night with folks discussing View-Master and the like), but this
year we had the added addition of the breakfast and happy hour
setting -- this helped all of us get more friendly with one another.
Card collectors were swapping stories with stereo photographers and
View-Master folks were sitting side by side with both -- it was
great -- the cross over was invisible due to this added feature.
(Or was it the free beer? -- Killian's Red anyone?)

Dr. T sold out of his book so quick I didn't even get a peek at
it -- save one for us and for the library please, George. With all
of the time you spent on it -- it was sure to be a hit! Hayden
and I who have swapped stories at most past conventions completely
passed each other by this year and I'm sorry about that.  I remember
the time he insisted he I look at one of his VM reels -- with
great hesitancy I put my eyes to the viewer -- and surprise...not
a dead body but a beautiful red rose!  Bill Davis is geared up
for the Buffalo 2001 convention and is ready to put his shoulder
to the grindstone again (he did it before in 1996) for which I
am extremely grateful. Tom Dory seems to have Mesa well in hand and
his presentation on NSA in Y2K was a real treat -- seems they have
something called "cacti" where he lives:-)  What can I say, Jon
Golden was great (as usual) and welcomed all to see his precision
crafted items from around the world (I started getting concerned when
Wolfgang spent more than 1/2 hour there and was surprised when he
came home empty handed -- this time).  Who else...gee, let's see
Dave & Robin Wheeler with a large assortment of wares, Sheldon
who is always a delight to see at any convention, Ken & Bonnie
Williams who are mainstays in the stereo view community as are
Tim & Monika MacIntyre...almost too many to mention.  Pete Sinclair's
great lenticular images were almost gone by the end of the show and
I was happy to see this - we especially thank him for donating several
of these to the library.  Lois Waldsmith, busy manning the NSA membership
desk received the meritorious service award -- certainly well deserved.
Too many great folks to list them all but all made this convention
one of the best for me.

Of course, the fact that View-Master was so well represented didn't
hurt either.  The VM team spent all of Thursday morning filming out
of my room (bed was finally able to be made up at 4 p.m.) for a Video
News Reel that will go out to the media this coming week.  Close to
a dozen collectors were interviewed for this video and we owe them
all a big thank you.  The VM team helped us realize an extra $1,000
with their donations to the NSA auction and they provided our keynote
speaker as well.  Hats off to corporate involvement on their part.
It was certainly appreciated.  If you attended the View-Master meeting
you know all about the Popeye limited edition gift set.  If you are
planning on ordering do so quickly as they are almost gone!!!

I'm sorry not every venue can provide the resources for inter-action
as well as this hotel did.  Most venues that provide these services
are just not big enough to hold our group.  I think our new VP of
activities will consider similar sites for future conventions providing
the space is sufficient.  That seemed to be the only problem -- the
stereo theater was a little on the small side.

Mesa may not have the same amenities as Green Bay but it will still
be a great place for NSA 2000 and like Paul Talbot said, who goes
outside of the hotel anyway?

Thanks to all who attended and all who made it so wonderful.  See ya
next July in Mesa.  (Cheap flights into Phoenix from most cities
should make this a great convention with an early sell out!)

Mary Ann
NSA Vice President


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