Convention 2000!

Well, most of us made it down! Some of our compatriots are still caught up in airport delays due to weather concerns. Damn!!! But we march on and those of us here are having a great time so far! We've all milled about at the Hotel Manager's Reception and now it's time for room-hopping! There are show and tell, for sale, and discussion events taking place informally all around the hotel. We're in for a full day tomorrow, but somehow I don't think there'll be much sleep to be had tonight! Here are a few pix from the Manager's Reception!

Mike Campbell shows off his aluminum Blick 8 during the room hopping!

Ribbon tin guru Hoby Van Deusen giving us a Friday morning seminar on what's hot and what's not!

Typing contestant Ron Ronzio was disqualified after it was found that he was using 3 hands! (just kidding!!)

Uwe Brecker shows some INCREDIBLE one-of-a-kind machines that he was kind enough to bring along. There were a few tense hours when his luggage didn't arrive until early the next morning!

And then... the BUY, SELL SWAP!!!

Followed by another Manager's Reception (read: open bar) then an exploration of South Philly by a couple dozen attendees! We dined on Philly Cheese-steak subs and celebrated Rob Blickensderfers birthday! Then some of us took a walk to the harbor while others explored what South Philly had to offer like Condom Kingdom (sorry folks, no pictures allowed- unless Lin snuck her camera in!!). Then it was back to the hotel for more room hopping. Don Sutherland was taking notes on the differences between an Underwood #1, Hammonia and Niagara (should have had another Marguerita instead!).

Saturday began with the bang of the gavel at the auction featuring the ephemera collection originally put together by the late Paul Lippman

Folks who were at the Kansas City convention in '93

And of course, the afternoon included the trip to the fabulous Russo Museum of office technology. Special thanks to Tom for hosting us!

And the evening was consumated with the Convention Dinner and more room hopping!

It was a very sad morning Sunday as we bid adieu to our friends. We met people we'd only spoken to or corresponded with and some we'd never had contact with before along with those we already knew. We have some great memories and are most certainly looking forward to the next one!!

Back Row: Tony Casillo, Uwe Breker, Mike Brown, John Ziegenhagen, Peter Weil, Jack Knarr, Ray Thomas, Martin Howard, Mike Campbell, Bruce Boyd, Jan Beck, Hoby Van Deusen, Chuck Dilts.

Middle Row: Rich Cincotta, Paul Robert, Fernando Costa, Susan Howard, Jann Dorothy, Lin Lewis, Rick Spadaro

Front: John Lewis, Don Hoke, Angie Jimenez, Dave Lewis, Jason Brown. Prostrate: Jay Respler.

Back: Don Sutherland, Dennis Clark, Bob Moran, Jack Tanner, Berkeley Rice, Larry Wilhelm, Chet Robinson, Remy Rubin, Fred Angus, Ken Gladstone, Rob Blickensderfer, Lou Schindler.

Middle Row: Herman Price, Bill Kortsch, Darlene Lewis, Luisa Lopez Gomez, Jill Moran, Nancy Van Deusen, Valerie Gladstone.

Front: Robert Nelson, Ron Ronzio, Jim Rauen, Francisco Diaz, James Siena.