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  • 10 months later...

I got a call today from my favorite hotel manager that we are pretty much sold out. We have no more rooms with two double beds, only rooms with one queen size bed. No worries if you are a couple of dudes, these rooms all have a sofa someone can sleep on, and the hotel will supply extra cots when requested.

But call NOW and secure your room before we run out completely. Our special show rate is $77 in a market where most rooms are over $100. We have sold out the entire hotel before. (and I really don't want whiney phone calls the day before the show that you can't get a room! LOL

And a reminder that we do not have a deal with the Parsippany Holiday Inn. We have not dealt with them for five years since we moved to Wayne. It seems that the past years they have had a special NNL East rate without our participation. This year a new manager put an end to that. Yea, I got the phone calls...

Our Hotel Web Page

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Tom Valenta and myself will be arriving Friday afternoon or early evening and we'll be staying at the Host Hotel. Looking forward to meeting a bunch of you both in the Lobby get-together and in the Tilted Kilt later on. Hope none of us get too "tilted". :lol:

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Happy to see Tom K brought this thread up top again! Yes, less than three weeks away! ACK! Most everything is done, we have our final planning meeting tomorrow and our team will stuff the Goody Bags. One point I like to make is that we do not want to grow the show larger, we feel it's the right size. Any larger and we'd lose that NNL feeling that we strive to preserve. So we don't advertise anywhere. We do our annual postcard mailing, we have our website and do mentions on the boards we all inhabit. Each year more and more folks are coming from further away, and that's the growth we want. People interested enough to travel, who will stay the whole day and participate. And with that I constantly remind our team that if people are spending their vacation money to attend, we really have to make sure it was worth their while!

So in our quest to make the show a better experience for everyone... One of the things that bothered us was the posts after the show that people didn't connect with folks they wanted to meet. Even at the show, we'd get people asking, "Can you point out Joe Smurf? He's a fat guy with gray hair." Well, we may not know that specific person, and that's the description of about half the guys there! So we added a few features this year...

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Official NNL East name tags! Everyone can have one, be sure to spot people you wouldn't recognize but would love to meet.

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We revamped our "Parking Space" . Now there are spaces so you can list where you are from, so other local guys can discover you. There's a space for your club affiliation. And most important, there's an optional spot for your cell phone number... so people can contact you during the show!

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Speaking of the largest model display in the country... we have added a dozen tables this year, adding space to categories that overflowed previously like Replica Stock, Competition - Open Wheel and Competition - Closed Wheel. We have also added a display category (remember this isn't a contest!) called "Modern Sport" AKA tuners, in collaboration with the Diversified Scalerz club of North Jersey. This is a group of younger guys who mainly build modern subjects, and we are working together to bring more young guys into the hobby and the show!

We are also looking to up the participation of folks who bring and display models. Remember the whole idea of NNL is that it's a cruise night for models! We found that there were a lot of very good modelers who just weren't bringing anything. So we're bribing ya! See below, last year we started giving out a special NNL East logo tool or toy just to folks displaying models. You get it when you turn in your registration form. Last year we gave away these spiffy NNL East Official Model Car Brushes. This year we have another great tool for you. What is it? You'll just have to register some models to find out!

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For our annual raffle to benefit the Model Car Builder's Museum, Ed Sexton had the entire project team sign a 2015 Mustang! This is a one of a kind collectible I'm sure will be a big success.

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And a new cool souvenir item this year. Hard to imagine that we've been doing the color postcards for six years now! People have asked about getting nice clean ones that the post office hasn't damaged, so we've heard ya! Here's a complete set of six in a special commemorative envelope for only $3. Proceeds go to our favorite museum too!

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And we have buttons as always! A few years ago we lost our supplier, so we went back to do the years we missed. When one of our members moved, he found extra supplies of many of the early years, so come to the club table and complete your set! We will also have our NNL East t-shirts for this year, and some going back years.

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And free swag for everyone! We have the annual souvenir license plates sponsored by Model Car Garage and you can have a souvenir pen too!

And don't forget to look inside your Goody Bag! It contains your model voting ballot, raffle ticket for our never ending kit raffle, the Show Program with floor plans of all the rooms, model display categories and exactly where your favorite vendor is! This year we asked all our aftermarket and manufacturer vendors to put something in the bag, so you never know what's in there. AND we have a cool new thing this year... We have placed a very cool NNL East Wooden Nickel in random bags, and if you are lucky enough to find one, it's worth $5 at any vendor.

So join us and have some fun! Website address is below for the latest info!

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I will be there. It will be my first NNL or contest of any kind that I have ever attended other then my model club meetings. I am only going on Saturday because of prior obligations but hoping to meet some of you, and seeing some cool models, and spending some money at the vendors tables.

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There is a bunch of us coming down from the great white north, they have been before but my first time. I am so excited, can't wait.

Looking forward to meeting you Dan. There are so many Canadians at NNL East that we've joked that Canada must be closed for the weekend! :D

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I hope I can still get a room, otherwise, I'll be nearby, but I'll be there for dinner Friday if all goes the way I'm planning.

Worst case, I'm on the road before dawn Saturday. Got some stuff to pick up from Don Holthaus.

I have really come to look forward to NNL-East. It's one of my favorite things to do all year.

Charlie Larkin

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Charlie, call the hotel NOW. I believe we have a few rooms left. I know that the rooms that were left at last tally only have one bed in them, but they have a couch that someone can sleep on, plus the hotel will give you a cot if you ask.

We do sell out the hotel.

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Days away…. days away….. My build is days away from being finished…… days away to NNL East…...

No days of sleeping…..

Tom & company have been doing a great job of keeping NNL East one of the country's primier modeling events for years now. Even the years I wasn't actively building, I think I've only missed 3 shows in the last 20-odd years. Awesome experience if your participating or spectating. See you Saturday, both me & my wife Amy with our name tags on. Great idea!

Edited by FASTBACK340
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Thanks John!

Things are going swimingly! We are full up with great vendors, we've added another 20 display tables and 1 new display category. Our Goodie Bags are full of great stuff. And our host hotel is full! Yea, we sold out the whole place except for 15 rooms that were previously promised to a tour group... God help those folks! I've already talked to the hotel about securing those rooms for next year. The new restaurant is The Tilted Kilt and they've agreed to give everyone with a hotel key 20% off their bill. I should be there sometime Friday morning.

And I do want to thank everyone who stays at the host hotel. Your patronage makes the whole thing feasible. And the sell out is a weight off my mind since I'm guaranteeing those rooms on my credit card, since most of our herd books at the last minute. Otherwise I'd have to turn back rooms at the 60 day and 30 day marks, and a travel group could grab them. It's a busy time and competition for room blocks is fierce. A lot of tour companies doing New York City trips actually put their folks in NJ hotel rooms, since NYC rooms are $300 plus a night.

This year you will be able to book your reservations for next year at the desk upon checkout. Please do so. Your patronage helps us look serious. Although we have a good track record at this property, there is new ownership this month, so we have a whole new set of management to break in! And I had the old owners in our pocket. The owner himself came to NNL East with his son the past few years.

Edited by Tom Geiger
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Okay, folks.

I didn't see one in this area or down in the shows section, so let's do the annual NNL-East check in.

So you know who to look for, run and hide from or throw stuff at (depending on your opinion of me,) this is me.

These are the best pictures of me that I have right now.

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I'm standing on the far right in the back row.

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I'm looking forward to dinner Friday, renewing acquaintances and meeting people for the first time.

Charlie Larkin

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