At 4PM, we assembled in the lobby for a tour of the facilities given by one of the convention center staff. We checked out the reception areas, conference rooms, banquet hall, guest rooms, hospitality suite, parking lots—the whole calzone. It was obvious to everyone that the resources offered by the establishment will more than adequately fill the bill. Our convention attendees will have an excellent, comfortable home base for everything that will be going on! We then retired to a meeting room to get down to business (well, OK, and also to get down to some chicken cordon bleu).

We were fortunate to have in our midst Joel and Linda Edinburg of the Ohio chapter, a couple who just happen to summer in New Hampshire. They have also chaired AROC conventions themselves, attended about two dozen of them, and have acted as advisors on seven or eight of them in the past. Their knowledge of what it takes to put on a good convention runs very deep. They gave us a good couple of hours of debriefing—what works and what doesn’t, AROC National requirements, projected attendance and revenue levels, and many other topics. It was an interactive session from which we learned a lot that we didn’t know. Joel and Linda will continue to help guide us as we progress—thank you, folks!