I got to this party so late but felt a need to weigh in.
I read a lot of this thread but not everything.
I'm usually annoyed by people's poor argumentation, but when it comes to something like this that goes on outside of the game it bothers me extra. If you're not convincing, thats fine, develop that. Suggesting other people are ignorant or have undeveloped opinions because they disagree with you is not. Allow me to return to the heart of this subject and respond to somethings I glanced over.
Great event. Not a great venue. Someone suggested projecting the pairings, this represents a technical and cost element but lessens runners. I suggested this as a DREAM scenario during the swiss rounds. I don't think anyone foresaw the food problem, I'm very confident we won't see a repeat of this but even an improvement could be disappointing because it was so awful before, during, and after the event. Someone said they found a great deli, and I realized if everyone else did they would have had crowd concerns. Vince made a great point about the local finds being cool for next time, but this is in hopes that businesses opt to stay open on the weekend of Nationals (yes, I know we want to put some blame on the convention center here but it still needs to be said). Holiday Inn select had some exception employees, and some clearly subpar service in other areas, someone described it as uneven and that sounds perfect. I was upset that I couldn't find a way to review the STL Holiday Inn select on their website. They have their own standards to uphold which they didn't do constantly. Enough of that, Hotel complaints aren't the bread and butter of what makes or breaks nationals.
Gouging Ground. I'm joking partially, but some of their prices were clearly too much. Their service was uneven at best from when I was there. More importantly, I never was convinced from the beginning that it was bad to have competition. I don't think vendors/dealers etc would mind being one of a limited number of selections at Pokemon Nationals. Many would invest in making the trip to develop a relationship with the Pokemon community to hopefully maintain online. I believe someone said it was a logistical nightmare to try and organize a vendor, I remain unconvinced it isn't worth the minimal trouble.
Rotating Nationals
This is a big, big, discussion. Maybe something to be seperate entirely. 'Mom makes a good point: its not up for a vote. Pokemon (I think) has paid people to think of things like this. They don't know for sure the community's feelings on something of this nature though. I made a list of cities in the US with some of my friends who don't play Pokemon of places that would be cool to go, and we crossed out expensive cities (like NYC), most coastal cities (lets say NYC again), and made sure remaining cities had airports. Our Top 4 in order were Indianapolis, Boston, Minneapolis, and Chicago. Gen Con makes the case for Indy. Minneapolis has a convention center (I've never seen it) and an airport, is also central. I've heard mixed things about Chicago, but it seems like it could meet the needs of Pokemon nationals. Boston would be great for the 3rd west coast worlds year if there is a rotating worlds. Give East Coast players a break.
On the subject of players begging for a nats convenient to them
Three of the four cities I suggested aren't convenient at all for me, and I ruled out NYC and Seacaucus (the two most selfish but doable choices I could imagine, would still put in a bid for Seacaucus if at all possible, different thread, different day). I think a rotating Nationals is a great way to shift some players from casual or locally competitive up a notch. By getting locals psyched up and exposed to the thrill of Nationals, maybe they'll realize its worth traveling to next time. If not, I still don't believe there is any harm. Bringing the excitement of Nationals is a great joy, and I think exposing more people to that more frequently is great (props to every regional PTO who rotates regionals for this reason).
