Conventions #3

All of the artwork for these events was always prepared in store, as was the printing, except for the very large pieces that we were unable to handle. The second van would now be booked. All of this used to take up time and would obviously cut into the regular work schedule. At the ten week mark the films etc were ordered as per my previous post. Four weeks to go and the cut off date came for hotel and meal bookings and I would phone the hotel with the final numbers and choose the four courses for the evening meal, not forgetting any special needs, like a vegetarian option. I would also need to send a layout for the tables for the meal and the dealers room(s) for the following day. Some dealers would leave their booking till the last moment, which could often mean a complete reorganisation of the dealer room table plan. The Menus, the quiz sheets, Sunday programmes, auction and bring ‘n’ buy stubs, prizes and extra fun items, like the party poppers were readied as well as the ‘Dealer Names’ for the dealer tables. On Saturday morning Derek, Anne, myself and one other member of staff would start the journey to the North, as would the hire van with driver and one passenger. Arriving at mid-day we would unload the van then make sure all was ready in the dining room, adding our menus and name tags, and the projector, speakers and screen was set up and tested. The second van along with at least two more staff would arrive by 7.30pm, just in time for us to unload and give them chance to shower and change, for the dinner. It had to be this way as they were working at our shop until 5.30pm and then would make a quick getaway. Other members would make their way in their own cars, making a grand total of around twelve staff in all.  Derek prepared the film programme for both days until his death then we fortunately had the help of long time customer Robert (Bob) Nicholls, who would put the two days entertainment together as well as handle the projection. The auction on Sunday was always Derek’s ‘pièce de résistance’ but we also needed help with that after his death. No convention ever went without some problem, and some were not so easy to resolve. Members of staff were expected to stay in the dining room an Saturday evenings until the night was at an end, normally between 12.30am to 1am, and be wide awake and ready to start the Sunday by 6am. Our day at Blackpool would end around 7pm on Sunday and then we would make our way back to the Midlands and begin the process all over again. Hard work…but I kind of miss them!