IPMS Quad Cities, 31 March 2007
Last year the Quad Cities group was blindsided by Indianapolis moving their show date to the same weekend so it was decided to cancel the 2006 event. As a result, the group lost its prime venue for this year's event. It was held in the same building, but in a different set of conference rooms, rooms that were not as good for events of this type as we would have liked. I mention this in the preface as it comes into play later. The event coordinators are aware of these shortcomings and they were beyond their control.
As usual, Quad Cities had flyers in various shops around the region and sent previous contestants one in the mail. The fee was $1 per model, the most reasonable I've seen at any show in a while and resulted in a good turnout, despite competing with a Regional in Pittsburgh. What was not included either in the mail flyer or on their website was a copy of the model registration form, which would have been helpful and sped us through registration. As it was, registration was rather prolonged when compared to other events and more than the usual time was spent standing in line. We arrived well after the doors had opened so I'm not sure what the reason was for the delay.
Once we had paid our fees, we went to place models on the tables. Quad Cities uses AMPS style judging which means the model is judged based on a set criteria, and not against other models. This means that there are just a few basic categories. The tables were at standard height, meaning that children and those in wheel chairs would have no trouble viewing the entries. How a person in a wheel chair would get into the basement is beyond me as I did not see an elevator, though there may have been one elsewhere in the complex.
Considering that many vendors went to the Regional, there were still a goodly number of people selling things and attendees had no trouble finding things on which to spend their money. There was plenty of space between tables, even with all those large, middle-aged males wandering about.
Finding places to eat was not a problem as the hotel has a restaurant and there is a large mall a few miles away with a goodly selection of eateries.
Due to the nature of the event, the contest room was not closed for judging, though I am somewhat surprised that the judging didn't start right away. The result of this is that the awards ceremony did not start until rather late; about 4:30 pm. By that time, not only were the tables cleared of models, but some of us were eager to get on the road as some severe weather was on the way and we wanted to miss it. We didn't. The ceremony itself was rather long compared to other events, as each and every award was announced and handed out and it included honorable mentions in addition to gold, silver and bronze awards. There were few who didn't win something. The awards themselves are quite nice with certificates given for bronze and ribbons for honorable mention.
There were a few things that should be considered for the next event. The venue was rather poorly lit, a combination of not enough lights and a dark floor. This will change next year when they are back in their regular haunts. The only refreshments available were sodas from a machine at the end of a long walk to another part of the hotel and they were pricey. The group would benefit from supplying them. There were also not enough chairs for people to sit down and relax. I spent all day on my feet as those larger than I had grabbed the few available chairs and were loathe to move to let others rest. The organizers are aware of these comments and will be looking into them for next year's event.
I nearly forgot to mention the raffle. It was superb, as it always is at Quad Cities. Those that don't think that raffles make money need to reconsider. I spent a goodly sum on tickets and was rewarded with a variety of interesting kits and goodies, though truthfully, some I'll not use or build. Still, for a buck a shot, I did get my money's worth.
Quad Cities always has a nice show and I look forward to each year's event. If you live in the general area, I highly recommend attending. This year's event has 241 entries and as you've seen from the few photos I've put up, the quality was very good. See you there in 2008.
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