I thought I'd provide a summary of the events surrounding the rescheduling of Advance the Colors '97, for the benefit of those Great Lakes members who might be curious. After the success of Advance the Colors `96, the BOD began planning for our 1997 convention.

The Radisson Hotel in downtown Dayton was a pretty good convention site, notwithstanding some minor problems with the hotel rooms, parking, and lack of nearby dining. Most of the feedback concering the site which the BOD received from attendees and dealers was positive. In addition, the BOD felt that it was important to establish some continuity by holding our 1997 event in the same place.

While working with the Radisson Hotel staff to make arrangements for the 1997 convention, there were some minor problems associated with a change in management of the hotel. This change resulted in a somewhat higher cost for the site for 1997, but the cost was still well below any other comparable site which we could find.

In February 1997 we signed a contract with the Radisson to hold Advance the Colors `97 there in September. We immediately began publicizing the con, primarily by means of flyers which we distributed at various conventions such as Cold Wars and CapCon, and to many hobby shops in the region. Of course, we also advertised the convention in the Herald.

Everything was fine (or so we thought), until the end of May, when we learned that the Radisson Hotel & Suites had been sold to the Doubletree Hotel chain. The hotel is currently going by the interim name "Dayton Inn" until they can complete a total renovation from top to bottom, at which time they will become a Doubletree Hotel. The renovation is scheduled to begin on July 1, and will include the ballroom area where we had planned to hold the convention. Initially, the hotel indicated that they still might be able to accommodate our event, despite the renovation.

However, by early June, it was clear that the hotel did not feel that they could honor the contract which their (former) sales staff had signed. Ostensibly, the hotel told us that they were reluctant for us to proceed with our event, only to be disappointed because of the renovation. It was not much consolation to learn that the hotel had broken several other contracts as well as ours. The situation was made more difficult because of frequent personnel changes at the hotel, so we were no longer dealing with the same people there. The sales staff did indicate, however, that they would work with us to try to find an alternate site for our convention.

Needless to say, this state of affairs, a scant three months before our scheduled event, caused much consternation among the BOD. Although there was some talk of taking action to enforce the contract which the hotel had signed, this idea was quickly dismissed. The HMGS-GL treasury simply would not sustain a long, costly legal battle.

We could easily envision a scenario in which we might insist that the Dayton Inn honor the contract, only to have construction crews knocking down the walls the day before the convention. It was decided that the short time remaining before our event would be better spent ensuring that we had a stable venue for the con. Thus, the BOD decided to locate an alternate convention site as quickly as possible.

The Dayton Inn sales staff was helpful in referring us to a couple of other Dayton area hotels, and our Herald editor, Brian, made numerous calls to Columbus area hotels in our search for a site. We quickly confirmed that Columbus is a much more expensive area for convention facilities than Dayton; we had found this to be true last year as well when we began planning for Advance the Colors '96. Given the critical time shortage which we faced, we simply did not have time to conduct a lengthy search.

Accordingly, after a few days of frantic effort and many, many telephone calls and e-mail messages, the BOD evaluated the potential sites and decided to book our 1997 convention at the Holiday Inn Dayton South, which is located just off I-75 at Dryden Road, south of downtown Dayton. The Holiday Inn has recently completed an extensive renovation, and is a very nice facility. Their sales staff was very helpful, and agreed to honor the terms of our contract with the ex-Radisson (including the same price, even though they normally charge more).

Unfortunately, the Holiday Inn was already booked for the month of September, but we were able to schedule our event for the first weekend of October. The BOD apologizes to anyone who is inconvenienced by the change in schedule, especially at such a late date, but we feel strongly that the possible alternative of not holding a convention in 1997 would seriously impair the growth and momentum which HMGS-Great Lakes is currently enjoying. The BOD is confident that this year's event will be at least as successful as our 1996 convention. We invite you to join us at Advance the Colors, and enjoy a weekend of quality historical miniature gaming!