There are many people whose efforts go into making a successful Annual Meeting. This year was especially tough, I know, for the NRA Public Affairs office, who are very short staffed right now. It seemed everyone was just much busier this Annual Meeting than in previous ones. I also want to thank the bloggers who came out this year, and especially Old NFO, who was unbelievably kind enough to treat everyone to a dinner at Carmine’s Steakhouse in St. Louis.
The City of St. Louis deserves a lot of credit too, given that the convention area was much improved over the last time we were there. Businesses were open, and bustling, with a lot more eateries in the area than I remember. Taxis were easy to come by, unlike 2007 when we had to call one. I’d still rather see more police presence in the convention area, given that aggressive panhandlers were one problem that needs to be addressed, but overall our experience this time with St. Louis was quite good compared to last.
Next year Annual Meeting will be in Houston, a city I’ve been to many times, but never for a convention. In 2014, we’ll be in Indianapolis, then Nashville, and finally back to Louisville. They had a number of cities on the member survey this year. I picked Las Vegas. I’m hoping by then the reciprocity issues with Nevada are fixed.
I was tempted to vote Phoenix again for a future meeting since that city managed it so well. However, I am a big fan of how easy it to travel to Las Vegas.
I don’t remember all the cities on the voting list, but at least half of them were western cities. I guess that means they are looking for 2017 or 2018 out there again.
Glad my home city welcomed you well. Shame I couldn’t be there this year.
In 2007, it was pretty obvious they didn’t get the scale of the NRA meeting. This year they were very much on the ball.
Y’all are very welcome :-) Glad you could join us!
Flights are cheap and plentiful into Las Vegas and it is a nice location.
Would love to see another Western venue soon. Phoenix was a great venue and so easy to get around in. The room rates were cheap and plentiful. Vegas would be great like the Shotshow. So would Reno, Salt Lake City, Boise and anything except for California. I’ve heard the NRA will never go back to California.