My thought on the show moving... again

2012, Hilton Grapevine. The show just flat out grew the venue so moving was a no brainer.

2013, Hilton Anatole Dallas.

Minuses: A very nice hotel, honestly I think too upscale for TPF. Food was at the hotel waaaay expensive with limited obvious choices around the hotel (unless you were a local and knew where to go), parking sucked, I was not happy with the lighting in the game room. While the organizers will probably disagree with me I think attendance was down across the entire weekend - possibly attributed to the terrible parking situation, even though it was only 10 bucks I will agree that there is a mental block that goes with having to pay to park when in years past you haven't.

Pluses: Hotel was nice, as a vendor load in and load out was much easier than the previous venue, plenty of space,

2014, Embassy Suites Frisco. I've had extensive conversations with Ed about the new venue and I will admit that I was not in favor of moving again at first. But, after listening to the reasons I think it is the correct move.

- The quality of the hotel is basically in between what the Hilton Grapevine and Hilton Anatole were and I think that is perfect.
- The stupid idea to have to pay to park is fixed. There will be convenient, no hassle free parking.
- Room rates are comparable and you get some nice benefits with the room that were not a part of the previous hotels room reservations.
- Drive is a bit longer but in my opinion it is a small price to pay to not have to deal with Dallas traffic.
- Room size is still more that adequate.
- Lighting I am told will be fixed. One thing I really liked about Grapevine was the subtle lighting in the game room allowing the games themselves to make up the ambient lighting. Ed I am holding you to this!
- Frisco has a ton of places to eat and they are all very nice establishments. There is a huge mall right across the street within walking distance if you don't want to drive.

I am excited to go to the new venue and I hope 2014 is as successful and has the amazing collector involvement that 2013 had. Hopefully TPF has finally found a new home.

-Marc