[NW Jim]

You know, of the several conventions I have been to, the USA and Aristo booths have always been strictly display, non-selling, booths. Perhaps I'm wrong. I don't see how a state tax would involve them in this situation. As far as set-up costs, I happen to have come across some friendly strangers in the parking lot who were vendors. Since I'm local, and had a couple hours to kill, I helped them set up their booth. There were zero union guys setting up booths or moving freight. As part of my business, I do trade and public shows all over the country and am very used to the crazy fees sometimes charged. To my knowledge, I saw none of that. Personally, I think that USA, Aristo, and HLW to name a few owe us an explanation on why they backed out at the last minute. There was very little to no "energy" in the vendor hall - really too bad for those of us who wanted a good shopping/buying experience. I hope the folks in KC get a nice big non-refundable deposit from their vendors to help alleviate this from happening again...