The Idle Pen - The Andrew Turnbull License Plate Gallery

7-13-2009: 2009 Erie Pa. ALPCA Convention, Part 2

June 24th was action day at the ALPCA convention. A few stragglers continued to wheel and deal in the convention center parking lot, but the real excitement was slated for the inside. At 11:00 a.m. it was time to go in, and a procession ensued.

Much like Huntsville's Von Braun Center in 2007, Erie's Bayfront Convention Center this year was a large and relatively utilitarian space. I checked in at the registration table to secure my table number and receive my laminated name badge (which I felt fortunate to receive at all, given how close I had cut the pre-registration deadline weeks before!) Somehow, in spite of being as large as it was, the space wasn't quite large enough: Every single table in the main space had been snapped up by the time I entered the doors, so I (and quite a few other collectors) were instead shunted into the next room over to set up shop. I didn't really care, though: The most exciting prospect of the day was digging in. After arranging my trading stock upon the table top (and making a resolution to check back at the top of every hour), I set out to do just that.

Inside the Bayfront Convention Center, Erie, PA

2009 Automobile License Plate Collectors' Assocation convention

I made a bit of progress at finds this day as well; though nothing was quite as earth-shattering as the scores of the day before. A New Jersey historic plate with the nifty "QQ" suffix and a couple additions to the birthyear run were probably the highlights. One collector had a bulk lot of late-issue California plates on hand, and I plucked out a few with interesting block combinations (such as 5ZZZ, 6BAY, and 6EYE) to add to my own stock of traders. While digging through the lot, I came upon a few plates in the 6EVE series. "Gee," I thought to myself, "I wonder if I can find a plate starting with 6EVE6; for a symmetrical score?" Sure enough, I did...although this unfortunately proved to be the extent of my fortuitous alphanumeric letter block finds of the day.

The center was equipped with a handful of convenient facilities, including a snack bar. While it didn't have the full quick-service food lineup (or underpriced drink refills) that the Huntsville convention hall did, it was convenient enough for what it was and alleviated the need to leave the building before dinnertime. It was also the first convention center snack bar I saw that had beer on tap; although I didn't take advantage of it.

The day went by quickly, and before I knew it it was time for the hall to close and for dinner to begin. As usual, a special "welcome reception" was planned on the spot with its own meal involved...although since the airline-quality vegetables and still-held souvenir plate of the Huntsville reception in 2007 were still fresh in my mind, I didn't bother with the special dinner ceremony this time around. Instead, I decided to join Dave Nicholson and a few of his Maine compatriots for dinner at T.G.I. Friday's at the other end of town. I ordered a strawberry "slush" beverage that was about three-quarters ice in composition; and at one point "Never Let You Go" came on the background music. All in all, it was a good day. We headed back to our respective motels afterwards, planning out our chops for the next morning...