Convention Review

So, I mentioned I went to NRA's Convention in Pittburg and had a good time.

The first day, getting there, was trying.  It was a Friday, so normal rush hour traffic applied.  The convention center is downtown in city not designed for that kind of traffic, either.  A good chunk of the morning was spent crawling to a parking space. 

Regardless, I love old style rust belt cities.  Especially ones that have had a renaissance and fixed themselves up.  Look how pretty it can be:

These were taken from the third floor of the convention.  That was where the press room was, and not too much else.  Getting in was a snap without standing in line and registering.  I just walked up to the entrance and asked where the press-media room was and they let me pass right on through.  Though you can get in for free by being a Life Member.

The third floor was meeting rooms, the second floor was this:

And on the first floor was a convention hall about half the size of the second floor.  It was like TWO Nations Gun Show in size.  Gargantuan.  Even wearing comfy shoes was not enough.  My feets were TIRED.  I considered renting one of those Rascal Scooters.  But I saw guys there twice my age and with a oxygen tank tube leading to their nostrils walking around and didn't want to face the humiliation of asking them to make way for the lazy out of shape guy.  Too bad.  The scooter would be good for more swag.  I ended making use of a Maxpedition dump pouch for my stuff.  That and the media badge held all the business cards I got.  Plus my jacket pockets of my Plethora of Pockets Duluth trading company jacket.  It's like a shoot me first vest, but less 'first.'

The first day I hung out with frequent commenter Bubblehead Les.  And he recognized the faces of everyone.  Very useful guy to have around.  Saw LOTS of stuff.  I'll elaborate on items of particular interest in later posts.

We couldn't buy our own beer in town at happy hour time.  Caleb and Dustin of Lucky Gunner and Iain Harrison of Crimson Trace saw to that.  Though I would have sat there parched if I had gotten free ammo and a laser grip for a J Frame instead.  Ah well.  I wonder how big a media person you have to be to get that level of swag?  And there were no hookers for media types, neither.  Probably for the best.