Things I missed, didnt like or wouldnt like:
1. For the Reunion Attendance to become any larger than this year. Reunion One was the best. This year seemed less intimate and more rushed. I spent less time with my friends. There seemed to be less time to mill about the hotel. Needs to go back to a Friday, Saturday, Sunday Format. Collectors
need to make this a vacation. Not a weekend off from work.
Sean, I agree completely with this observation. For Sue and I the '97 Reunion had an atmosphere of comraderie and a relaxed pace that was largely missing at Rhode Island.
I've been debating with myself about posting Reunion impressions - particularly in light of the initial gushing responses.
I'll take some flack for this but in Providence there were too many people crowded into a too compressed schedule that was punctuated by too much standing in lines with too little organization. Lots of comparisons could be made with the first Reunion, but a simple one that comes to mind: picking up a box lunch (complete with thumbnail surprise) when stepping off the bus in SD vs. the confused herding at 'Bill's BBQ'.
I agree with you that the events of Friday-Saturday should have spread across Thursday Friday and Saturday. Take half the group for half a day on the bus trip and the other half on the boat. Then flip bus and boat the next day. The remainder of the half days could be devoted to allowing folks to participate in events as they choose at a more leisurely pace. The ornament painting and chat by the Coast Guard commander as done in San Diego are examples of the type of events I have in mind.
450 people is enough - 750 is too many. This was exacerbated by the physical layout of the Westin which, imo, is not designed for a group of the size we had. In retrospect I'd trade the chance of being left out for a smaller attendee size. I'm quite certain many will disagree.
At some point I probably will do a fuller write up of recollections. The highpoint of the RI event was the boat trip - I really enjoy seeing lights from the water. And the post-event trip to Rose Island was thoroughly enjoyable.
Rgds,
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/im [you weren't disappointed we didn't have the fife and drum corp play at breakfast on Saturday morning? ;-> ]