Thank you to our friends

Thank you to everyone for all the kind words and acknowledgements. We worked very hard for the past two years to make this convention a good one. Obviously a few people were not satisfied with the prizes we gave away. We made a point of announcing the names of contributors when prizes were donated and assumed everyone knew that the remaining prizes were purchased with convention funds.

The $5,000 cash in Deal or No Deal were convention funds although OLS did throw in an additional $1,000 and we truly appreciated the extra excitement Brent provided by doing it. All of the Pick-A-Prize prizes were paid with convention funds. I suggest you price dinner at Morton's Steakhouse for 7 and a Riverwalk dinner cruise for 16 catered by Boudros Texas Bistro on the Riverwalk. There were 3 laptop computers (1 Lenovo & 2 Compaq), 2 Dell desktops with 19" flat panel montitors, 5 digital photo frames, 4 printers, 3 TVs(including a big screen flat panel), 3 personal DVD players, 3 NASCAR scanners, 3 GPS Navigators, Nintendo Wiis, XBOX 360s, gift cards. These are just the things I can think of off the top of my head.

At this point, We will take the blame if there is any. After 14 conventions in which the two of us only won one large prize, we are well aware of the fact that only a few will win big prizes and made our choices for things that everyone could enjoy, win or lose. We chose to pay more for a hotel in a fantastic location with things all around that everyone could enjoy. We chose to pay for backdrops that set the mood, once again something that everyone could enjoy. We chose to pay for an absolutely fantastic speaker that everyone could enjoy and take home a little more knowledge that would hopefully enable them to win more prizes.

For those of you who do not approve of this and other choices we made, we do hope to see you next year volunteering to host a future convention yourself. It is not an easy task, and sometimes people are not appreciative. The good news is that most of the people enjoyed themselves and understand how little of the convention fees paid actually end up going towards prizes. The bad news is that others blast you in very public blogs without even attempting to obtain any facts. BTW, anyone who thinks that most of the $160 you paid went towards prizes is living in a fairy tale.

Thank you again to everyone who made us feel that it was two years of work well spent. Our sweeping friends are the best!

Robert & Gwen Beauchamp

Hey, you can't make everyone happy. I didn't get to go to the convention, but from what I read it sounds like it was great.
guru

You guys did awesome Gwen. As you know from all of your years going to convention there will always be those that are not happy. I hope you and Robert (and the rest of your team)get some much needed R&R. Please pass on kudos to the SMU IT team for their amazing AV work. Especially the blonde guy (wish I would have looked at his nametag) who purposely kept putting Panda on the screen because she would hide from him The best was on Sunday when he told her that. Let them know they were appreciated for the time and effort they put into making the convention run smoothly! My only complaint was that you stole Santa back before I could get a picture Oh well I guess there is always MALL SANTA!! Thanks for all of the hard work and dedication to the hobby!!!

I just want to express that I had a GREAT time at the convention and thought it was a real "once-in-a-lifetime" experience! It certainly is very understandable that both small and large expenses can add up QUICK--sometimes people fail to really think about all of the costs involved in such a large project!

I really appreciate your and Robert's hard work on the convention over the last 2 years--that really must be quite the project to take on! The Riverwalk was beautiful and it was neat to be able to go right out the Marriott doors and onto the Riverwalk! And it was a quick walk to The Alamo and I am happy to have gotten the chance to visit that twice during my time in San Antonio.

I heard through the "grapevine" that you and Robert would be attending Hershey and I am looking forward to seeing you there!

I think you guys did an awesome job.
I cannot imagine how difficult it is to plan and execute something that big.

Now go to the beach and rest!

As a first time national convention goer, I have nothing to compare this particular convention to but I can say that my DH and I had a great time.

The venue was nice, the speakers were interesting to listen to, prizes seemed great to me and most people seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Though we didn't win any big prizes (just the table prize and honorable mention in the cartoon caption contest), we did not feel "short-changed" in any way.

Gwen, you and Robert (and your group) did a very fine job, IMHO, and I appreciate all the effort you made into putting the event together.

Originally Posted by csandfs I heard through the "grapevine" that you and Robert would be attending Hershey and I am looking forward to seeing you there!

Not yet confirmed. But Gwen and Robert definitely know that they are more than welcome to attend. In addition, their attendance would warrant the rolling of the red carpet, which is usually reserved for KB.

Rob

Originally Posted by positivelift Not yet confirmed. But Gwen and Robert definitely know that they are more than welcome to attend. In addition, their attendance would warrant the rolling of the red carpet, which is usually reserved for KB. Rob

Ahh...thank you Rob! I spoke too soon perhaps!

It was my first convention and it was so much fun I will be going to the next one. I don't know what I expected, but it was so much more than I had hoped. The entertainment value, prizes, food and venue was fantastic. I wasn't sure if I would enjoy sitting for a long time listening to a speaker, however, I did enjoy it and found him very informative! Money well spent. Y'all did a great job! Woot!

This was my first convention and I thought it was wonderful! I can't wait for next year's convention because I was so impressed by this one.

The games were fun for everyone, participating or not, especially the Deal or No Deal. I heard everyone shouting in excitement for the contestants to either "Take the Deal" or "No Deal".

The hotel was amazing and in a great location to just about everything. It was my first time in San Antonio and I did a ton of sightseeing. And the best part was that it was all within walking distance of the hotel.

I feel it was an extremely organized event and every aspect exceeded my expectations (speakers, banquet, games, prizes, etc). I understand that you are not going to please all of the people all of the time but you definitely pleased the majority!

I can only imagine the undertaking of hosting a convention of that size and I for one feel Gwen, Robert and their team did an outstanding job!

When Gwen and Bob announced their bid two years ago, I was so thrilled! I knew it would be an unforgettable experience - and it was!!

All their crew were helpful, friendly and organized. The flow of convention was seamless and like clockwork. The hotel's location was incredibly convenient to the Riverwalk, mall, Alamo and of course, the precious Post Office.

It accomplished just what I had hoped - give my sweepstaking efforts a shot in the arm and renew friendships.

The new friends I met and fun with my club members were prizes in themselves.

Gwen and Bob, you make a heck of a planning team and should hire yourselves out as convention consultants.

Well done to the entire committee.



P.S. Gwen, I sure hope to see you on future convention itineraries doing a skills contest presentation. I had the good fortune of attending the one you did a few years back and it was truly inspiring.

P.S.S. Ignore those negative people/comments. It is easy to see that they are in the minority. It is my opnion that those people will NOT be visited by the sweeps fairies any time soon!!!

Originally Posted by SweeperSheri When Gwen and Bob announced their bid two years ago, I was so thrilled! I knew it would be an unforgettable experience - and it was!! All their crew were helpful, friendly and organized. The flow of convention was seamless and like clockwork. The hotel's location was incredibly convenient to the Riverwalk, mall, Alamo and of course, the precious Post Office. It accomplished just what I had hoped - give my sweepstaking efforts a shot in the arm and renew friendships. The new friends I met and fun with my club members were prizes in themselves. Gwen and Bob, you make a heck of a planning team and should hire yourselves out as convention consultants. Well done to the entire committee. P.S. Gwen, I sure hope to see you on future convention itineraries doing a skills contest presentation. I had the good fortune of attending the one you did a few years back and it was truly inspiring. P.S.S. Ignore those negative people/comments. It is easy to see that they are in the minority. It is my opnion that those people will NOT be visited by the sweeps fairies any time soon!!!

That's the part I don't like - people do have the right to applaud and criticize the convention. And those who organized this years convention and those who will be doing future conventions should read both the positive and negative comments. Constructive criticism is a good thing - it helps make future conventions bigger and better.

I thought the convention had some really great parts to it and some really bad parts to it - overall I had a great time.

Many won't know this....But "I" helped with sound check...hehehe !

Thank you Gwen~I had a spectacular time. Yeah, I was a little disappointed that I didn't come home with a prize but ya know, it's all in the perspective. Couldn't have asked for a greater location to take my mom, the shopping queen of America (we were the two women arguing in the middle of the mall Friday cause all she wanted to do was hang at Macys). And you know what, my kids summed it up for me as well. I came home, unpacked and unloaded my goody bag. The boys said "Mom, how come you said you didn't win anything.........you got a bag of rubber bands". Let me tell you, those kids played, and are still playing, with that bag of rubber bands. They have 87098798798 toys but the rubber bands were a hit. ROFL! Perspective folks, perspective.

Trip to the convention: dunno cause I won thru Brent yay
Wine on the plane on the way there: c'mon folks, you know me, I had to fork out the dough $14
River cruise, 5 bazillion Starbucks (shame on you Gwen for having a Starbucks there), bunch of drinks everywhere including the way cool haunted hotel: can't remember; waiting for the credit card bill ROFL
Spending time with my mom, seeing old friends and meeting some fab new ones:

PRICELESS!!!

Thanks again for putting on a great convention. And as always, thank you Brent for rocking it out like you do bubba!