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MESSAGE FROM
THE PRESIDENT
The Carnival
Pump, the quarterly newsletter of ICGA,
contains a Message from the President of
ICGA in each issue. Below is the current
Message, as well as links to previous
columns.
The Power of Color
By Brian Pitman,
June 2008
 The
ICGA Annual Convention promises to be
extra-colorful this year (if that is even
possible) when we meet at the St. Louis Marriott
West in July. Now as many of you know, we have
been really amping up our display rooms over the
past 3-4 years at the convention, even having
three displays in three days one year, and this
year is even more ambitious with seven different
displays and seminars wrapped into one
convention. ICGA hasn't had this many seminars
at one convention in a long time, and whether
you are a newbie looking to learn more, or an
experienced collector wanting to see some great
glass in a variety of colors, this convention is
for everyone.
Now in addition to
the excellent educational and beautiful
offerings of our convention, Jim Seeck really
pulled a great auction out of his hat for us. He
will be selling some highly treasured pieces
from the collection of Marie Capps, as well as a
handful of sought-after pieces from Marie McGee.
Many saw a sampling of this auction at the
recent HOACGA convention, and the auction will
be pulling many in for the chance to buy. Make
sure to bring your pieces to sell in the rooms
as well, because with that many people wandering
around, itchy to buy some glass, you may find
this convention could also be a profit-maker for
you, if you are so inclined. As we saw with the
recent Keystone auction, prices in carnival are
definitely on their way back up.
You will also want
to bring your children or grandchildren to the
convention. We selected a hotel that has plenty
of fun facilities for the family (including
swimming and more); and if you really want to
have a blast, Six Flags is just down the road
from the hotel, so you can take in a roller
coaster if you really want to get crazy. We are
also near a bunch of shopping and some nice
restaurants, so those non-carnival spouses will
have plenty to do while you are running from
room to room with your price guides, your
checkbook, and your desire to go a little crazy
during your summer vacation.
One more thing
about the hotel that I want to make clear
(because we all know how much misinformation can
come from people at the hotel when making
reservations): we have cleared it for you to
have pets. The official Marriott policy is no
pets, but they made an exception for us (one of
the last exceptions they are ever going to make
as corporate has started cracking down.) Make
your reservations like normal (don't even
mention pets because the person on the phone
isn't at the hotel, and they have no idea about
our deal with the hotel). When you arrive, let
them know you have a pet, and they will have you
fill out the paperwork and pay a $75 deposit.
When it comes time to checkout, let them know
and they will come look at the room. As long as
Fluffy, Fido or Honey hasn't eaten the bed, you
will be refunded your deposit, and you will be
on your merry way. You do want, though, to try
and keep your pet happy and not crazy loud
during your stay, because if the (non-carnival)
neighbors start to freak, then I will have to
find ways to keep them from reporting you, and
those ways are never pretty.
In the end,
though, we are all going to have to realize that
pets in a hotel is going by the wayside as fast
as smoking in a hotel. Within 5 years, we will
not be able to have pets (or cigarettes) in a
hotel room at all. The powers that be have
started cracking down, and we are either going
to have to overthrow the hotel industry or deal
with it. At least pets don't give you cancer,
right?
Now Bob and Sherry
Cyza have been working huge amounts of hours to
put together a fabulous 350 piece display room
for you, and I know they still need some help,
especially with the color "Smoke." If you have a
couple of pieces you think would work, please
contact them and let them know so they can fill
the gaps. They will thank you, and I thank you.
Other wonderful
items in our convention will be our awesome ice
cream social (which has been a lot of fun and
totally bad for your health!), the hospitality
room (and again, your contributions of food,
drink or financial support is greatly
appreciated by everyone), the silent auction
(bring your donations and your desire to bid on
the items!), and yet another wonderful game by
Don and Barb Chamberlain. Those games have done
great things in the past years by bringing
people into the rooms with glass on display or
for sale, and my favorite aspect has been the
group of children asking questions and learning
more about the glass. They are a wise investment
for the future of carnival collecting...
So there it is,
our convention. It is going to be fun, there are
still a lot of surprises in the works that will
blow a lot of people away (not going to reveal
those here, you will just have to come and see),
and all attending are going to have a really fun
time. Will you be a part of that? I hope so.
See you in St.
Louis!!
Brian Pitman
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