Do any of you know anything about the Las Vegas Mobile Home Convention in April?
Man! Tickets are a lot more than I thought they would be. If I drag my wife along it would be a thousand bucks.
If you live near Vegas, have low travel cost and want to check it out once, that’s OK. But I would feel guilty to tell you to spend thousands of dollars to attend something that has less timely content than my monthly newsletter that’s free, or Kurt Kelley’s new Manufactured Housing Review magazine, that’s also free.
I’m not saying that MHI is not a good group that does good work, We’re members of MHI. But I think they are still struggling to make the event worth the cost in a modern world. If the tickets were $50, it would be a different story. In some years we have to meet people – even top industry brokers – outside the event doors because even they refuse to pay the admission cost.
My Grandfather used to be an auto parts salesman, and he would cherish the annual conventions for auto parts. He had lots of stories and photos that I have to this day. But that was in 1940. I’m not sure that formalized meetings like this transfer well into a modern world that offers teleconferencing, skype, email and the like.
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The idea I was kicking around was to fly to Salt Lake City and rent an RV and then spend 3 or 4 days visiting the National Parks as I work my way down to Las Vegas. Then fly home from there after the show.
I am not a RV guy, but I thought it would be a good experience since I am planing on renting out my vacant lots to RVs starting this spring. It would not hurt to know a little about the business from the RVer’s side.
I thought it would be cool if some other forum guys would join me so we could talk shop, have some fun and scare the bejesus out of each other with camp fire stories about the tenants from hell. And if we could time it so we arrived at the show at the same time as you, well, that would be just great.
$300, $350 I would do. But $1,000, that’s just getting a little too soft for this hard nosed landlord.
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I, unfortunately, have to agree with Frank. It just isn’t worth the cost for a smaller operator. I say that as someone who was at the very first one long before MHI took it over and someone who goes every year.
The difference for me is that:
- I can easily afford it and it gives me a way to write the trip off my taxes;
- I have lots of friend and clients who are going and it gives us a way to socialize;
- I and my wife like Las Vegas and the action and shows.
If I were going just to learn - I would have to think long and hard about it and I was for many years one of the educational speakers at the event.
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Ken i would love to hear you speak at the conference. Why don’t you make a presentation.
Last year I went to this conference. I made some good contacts which resulted in an off market deal materializing just recently but
Many of the speeches were boring.
Some were informative ex. George Allen’s speech was excellent.
There was too much about selling homes in the community and not enough info about park operations.
There should be more vendors and booths for the $800 it cost to attend.
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It isn’t going to happen this year. There is a process for the speakers. First you have to be invited to submit a proposal (which I was) and then you have to submit the proposal (which I did not) and a MHI group makes a decision on who the speakers will be.
Maybe 2018. It has been three years since I spoke at the Congress and I had been speaking every year since 2006. It was getting tiring. I used to do over 20 state association events a year in addition to the Congress, and the RV Vegas thing and the Marine Industry Annual Meeting as well as both 20 groups and Buyers Groups. I was almost never home or in the office.
You could go without taking your wife to the Congress but still take her to Vegas. Of course once she got done doing the spas and shopping you might of wished you had paid for her to attend.
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2017 Congress & Expo Fees:
Early-Bird through 3/31/17 Regular through 4/26/17
MHI Member Attendee Registration Fee $529 $629
Non-MHI Member Attendee Registration Fee $629 $729
Exhibitor Registration Fee $479 $579
MHI-NCC Spring Forum
(Tuesday, May 2 –) $180 $230
Developing with Manufactured Housing Seminar
(Tuesday, May 2) $180 $230
13th Annual Golf Tournament
(Monday Afternoon, May 1, 2017) $175 $200
Inaugural Trap Shoot
(Monday Morning, May 1, 2017) $75 $90
Spouse/Significant Other
(Access to Exhibit Hall and Social Events ONLY) $349 $379
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