P3D Convention report by Starkman & Pinsky

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This was forwarded from David Starkman & Susan Pinsky of Reel 3-D:

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The National Stereoscopic Association 25th Annual Convention
July 8-12 1999

1999 Celebrates the 25th year since the beginning of the NSA, and it seems 
appropriate that the 25th annual convention in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was one 
of the best ones that we have attended since our first NSA convention in San 
Jose, CA in 1982.

The schedule for the convention followed the same pattern that has been used 
for many years. Unofficial "Room Hopping" (definition for newcomers: buying 
and selling of stereo cards, 3-D cameras, equipment and any other stereo 
items in the rooms of attendees, before the official Trade Show begins) began 
as early as Monday, and continued to pick up steam until Thursday, the 
official first day of the convention.

Thursday was mostly a setup day, with lots of room-hopping. Registration 
began at 1:00 PM, and there was a View-Master Meeting from 2:30 to 4:30 and 
an Internet Meeting from 4:30 to 5:30.

This is a special year for View-Master, as it is their 60th anniversary. 
Several representatives from Fisher-Price, the relatively new owners of  
View-Master, were there to tell us about "what's new" and what the future 
holds in store for View-Master. The best news is that they indicated that 
Fisher-Price is taking the View-Master product quite seriously. They have 
many plans to turn around a product that was neglected for many years by the 
previous owners. 

To demonstrate their commitment to a revival of the View-Master image, they 
demonstrated two new products: The Virtual Viewer, and the Super Show 
Projector. (Earlier in the year they launched the new Discovery Combination 
View-Master Viewer and binoculars, which has turned out to be a great seller, 
and a positive sign for Fisher-Price!).

The Virtual Viewer is an all new viewer design that features modern styling, 
and 50% larger magnification than the previous toy store models. It features 
double element plastic lenses. The only other model to feature double lenses 
was the Model D focusing viewer.

The new projector features ergonomic design, and a much brighter and sharper 
image than the previous hand-held model. The side-by-side comparison they 
demonstrated was staggering!.

Of interest to collectors, and representing a "dip in the water" by 
View-Master to create collectable items, was a new boxed set featuring a 
reprint of a Popeye 3-reel packet from 1962. The packet comes in a unique 
"retro" box, printed with the 1950's style View-Master lettering. It also 
comes with a unique 3-color model L viewer, with special stickers on the 
viewer and box. The set is limited to 2000 units, and is sold only by The Toy 
Museum, 636 Girard Ave., P.O. Box 238, East Aurora, NY 14052.  Price is a 
reasonable $14.95, plus shipping. The order forms that were handed out 
disappeared in seconds!

The Internet Meeting was hosted by Dan Shelley, and  was basically to provide 
an introduction to "newbies" and to let us know what resources are available 
on the Internet. For those wanting more information on "Photo 3-D" go to the 
www.stereoscopy.com/services page, and then click on the "Photo 3-D" link for 
more information.

On Friday the Opening Ceremony of the convention began at 8:30 am, with 3-D 
slide programs in the "NSA Stereo Theater" running from 9am to 5pm with a two 
hour break for lunch. 

All of the programs were top-notch this year. Sadly, only one slide show was 
made from copies of antique black-and-white stereo view cards: "Immigrant 
Photographer - Andrew L. Dahl" by Tim & Karen White. This outstanding show 
featured more images with groups of people and families than I have ever seen 
in a group of antique images. The musical background from the era provided a 
perfect accompaniment to these historical images.

Other shows (color slides, projected in Realist Format with either a Brackett 
Fader, an RBT 3-D projector, or with multiple Ektagraphic projectors) 
included:

"3-D Travels" by Charley Van Pelt, "A Tourist at Home" by Gary Schacker, 
"Orcas Island" by Lawrence Haines, "Travel Quiz" (Panoramic Stereos) by 
Manley and Lois Koehler, "Anamorphics from Switzerland", by Ernst Lips, 
"Macro & Computer" by Ernst Lipps, "Beneath the Sea in 3-D" by Mark Blum, 
"3-D For A Living", by Hugo de Wijs of The Netherlands, "The View-Master 
Sequence Exhibition" of the Stereo Club of Southern California,  "Barbie!" by 
Eugene Mitofsky, "Day of the Dead, Mexico's Livliest Celebration" by Robert 
Bloomberg, "Fur Coats are Not Needed Here", by Al Sieg, "Mesa Arizona, NSA in 
Y2K" by Thomas Dory, "Inside China in 3-D" by Ron Labbe & Ed Shaw, "It's not 
a Flat World" by Rich Dubnow and Ron Panfilio, and "Nocturnal Moments, Dream 
Sequence / Horse Vision" by Lynn Butler.

There is not enough space to describe each of these shows here, but 
definitely each one was interesting, entertaining, enjoyable and a good 
example of the art of stereography.

Since we are dealers we did not have the time to attend the workshops on 
Saturday & Sunday (they were at the same time as the Trade Show) but they 
included: "Getting Started in 3-D with a Manual Stereo Camera", "The Ins & 
Outs of Stereo Slide Viewers", and "Stereo Slide Mounting" all by George 
Themelis (a.k.a. Dr. T). There was also "How to Publish a 3D Book" by Stuart 
Stiles, "Restitching a Camera Case" by Bill Davis, "Medium Format Magic" and 
Digital Photo Manipulation" both by Tom Deering. 

Saturday and Sunday were the days of the Trade Show -- probably the biggest 
reason that most members attend the convention. With over 100 tables with 
dealers from all over the country one can find everything from antique stereo 
graphiscopes, wooden stereo cardholders, stereocards, viewers, to Tru-Vue, 
View-Master, 3-D collectibles of all sorts, and modern 3-D supplies and 
equipment. On these two days of the year there is possibly more 3-D "stuff" 
for sale in one location than anywhere on the entire planet! 

The dealers that we talked to all seemed to feel that it was a very good 
show, and very well attended. We were told that the NSA had blocked out and 
filled 205 out of the 225 rooms of the hotel, and arrangements had to be made 
to put more members at two adjacent hotels!

The hotel itself turned out to be one of the most ideal venues that we have 
had for this type of convention. First, all of the rooms were suites, each 
including a bedroom, living room, kitchenette with refrigerator, coffeemaker 
and microwave, which left much more room for sellers to set out their wares 
for "room-hopping" talking and relaxing with 3-D friends. Included in the 
cost of  the room were a buffet breakfast from 6:30 to 9:30am and a free 
drinks "happy hour" in the enclosed atrium courtyard in the center of  the 
hotel from 5 to 7pm. Since the majority of the hotel guests were NSA members, 
both of these daily events turned into easy, casual social events as well. We 
could not recall ANY previous NSA convention that we have been to, which had 
so much quality time for just meeting other members and having a chance to 
chat with them! This idea should be taken into consideration for future NSA 
conventions.

Many attendees left on Sunday evening, however, many also stayed for a bus 
tour of Door County  -- a part of Wisconsin that more resembles New England, 
with lighthouses, fishing villages and coastline. Most of the people on the 
Tour said that they had a great time, and a highlight was a lunch stop for a 
local "Fish Boil" that is unique to the area. They all said it was delicious!

The convention ended unofficially on a quiet note, with those of us still 
remaining attending the Monday night Happy Hour, and a small group of us 
going to dinner at a nearby restaurant located in an old train depot.

This convention was extremely well organized and beautifully planned, with 
every tiny detail thought out ahead of time. Someone was always on hand to 
pleasantly help out when there was any question or need. Our kudos to the 
impressive planning committee, who extended so much time, energy and 
helpfulness to creating a memorable, purely enjoyable time for so many 
people. 

If you have not yet been to an NSA convention we invite you to consider going 
to the next one (in Mesa, Arizona, July 6-10, 2000). There is no other place 
where you will meet so many friendly 3-D people, or find so many 3-D goodies 
to purchase!

David Starkman & Susan Pinsky
July 13, 1999


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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 3397
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