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Indy BizCard Con 2004 Attracts 15 Collectors

Many of the attendees arrived during the day on Friday and enjoyed visiting with each other in the lobby of the Hampton Inn. Fifteen folks

At the Spaghetti Factory. (Jack Gurner photo)

attended dinner at the Spaghetti Factory Friday night. Afterwards, the group returned to the hotel, did an inspection of the convention room, and wound up visiting there for another hour or so. Jack told the story of Craig Shergold/Walter Day/John Haffner for those not familiar with it. Eventually, the group broke up, wanting to get some sleep before Saturday's big event!

Morning came early - I was at the convention room by 7am to start setting up. Others started arriving at 7:45 and were trading cards almost immediately. By 9am nearly all of the attendees were present.

The majority of attendees set up displays that were representative of their collections. It was really neat to see everyone's displays and to look at everyone else's cards. Attendees voted for the best display, and Greg Saperstein won in a landslide vote. It was evident that Greg put a lot of effort into his, so it was a great pleasure to give him a prize for

Greg Saperstein's winning display. (Jack Gurner photo)

having the best display. But not just any prize - Greg won the coveted Saddam Hussein card donated by Jack Gurner. Congrats again, Greg!

Many folks brought cards to trade and cards to give away. It was the give away cards that were so spectacular. As Ed reported, we estimated that more than 150,000 cards were brought that were "free for the taking." This included two boxes of Walter Day cards that were opened for the first time at the convention.

I must also say that Ed's post was just a tease when he reported that I shredded a lot of cards that were not taken. It's true that early in the day I was concerned about all the cards finding homes, but some real troopers stepped up who were unwilling to see a single card thrown away. I have a feeling these people might've had to ship their clothes home, what with their suitcases bulging with cards, but the cards

Everyone sorted...and sorted...and sorted!. Casey, Pucket, DeVries and Booker. (Jack Gurner photo)

found homes, and that's what is important.

Approximately 60 door prizes were given away throughout the day. In addition to many packs of cards donated by individuals, we also gave away 2 books on Business Card Design, a business card filing cabinet, a Darrell Christopher ABCC business card, a high quality sheet of uncut business cards, some metal business cards, 2 card-it punches, and a host of other great prizes that I just can't think of right now because I'm still recovering from the exhaustion of such a full, fun weekend.

Late in the afternoon, someone said something about outside, to which someone else replied "Was it daylight today?" I thought this comment really exemplified the convention - people did not leave the room - they sat and sorted and traded and sorted and traded and sorted and traded....

A good example of this is illustrated by a break we took for a group picture. Many people brought cameras, so the effort took several minutes. A couple

The back row, from left to right: Annie and Otis Casey, John Puckett (in orange shirt), Jim Richards behind him, Steve Booker, Orren Lester peeking over from the back, Jim Kitchell in white t-shirt, holding a business card, Ben Poole in the "P" hat, Ron Worth, and John Haffner. Kneeling on the front row, left to right: Jack Gurner, Ryan DeVries, Doug Sleeth, Greg Saperstein, Kevin Van Noy, and Ed Banik. (Kevin Van Noy photo)

collectors were getting antsy during this five minutes, going into card withdrawal. And I heard a rumor that at least one collector was spotted coming out of the restroom, holding business cards. ;-)

We did break for dinner and a large group of us walked across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe. Though several had tried previously, no one had been able to procure a card from the restaurant. But our waitress stepped up to the challenge and returned with a card for each of us.

After dinner, we went back to the convention room for more sorting, trading, and taking. It was a slightly smaller group at this time, and the room was quieter. I think that was because everyone was cramming now; looking at as many cards as possible before we were kicked out of the convention room. The group was spread out around the room and every so often someone would yell out - "Who collects fish?" or "Here's a card for Ryan!"

We were scheduled to be out of the room at 11pm, but

Ed Banik (right) receives the 2004 Craigie Award from Jack Gurner for his many years of contributions to the business card collecting hobby. (Steve Booker photo)

that hour came and went, and no one at the hotel seemed to care we were still there.

Exhaustion was setting in, and one by one folks started pulling themselves away from cards to get some sleep. I brought up the tail end of the last group to leave the conference room, right around 12:30am.

I could go on and on about the convention, but I think I'll wrap it up for now. I met a lot of great people and had a blast "playing business cards" with others like me for the weekend. It was great to put names with faces of folks with whom I've traded for several years. I am looking forward to the next convention, whenever and wherever it is. We did talk a little bit about the next convention and some ideas were tossed around, but nothing definitive was decided. Watch the list, because I'm sure the topic will come up again.