Let me preface my question by saying that I've never been. Living out here on the West Coast makes going to Dayton a bit difficult. It's either the fact that I'd rather go to SEAPAC or making the argument for a trip to Orlando is easier than Dayton I'd like to attend Dayton one of these years just to see some of the radios at the flea market that would never make it out to the PNW.

Anyways, Did the shift from Hara to the Fairgrounds change the experience for you? Is Dayton/Xenia still going to be a must attend event?

I talked to some friends that are out there and it seems that there is a 50/50 split with either it's the same show or it's not the same and it's a shame.

I'm of the mind that we're seeing the sun beginning to set for many hamfests due to the aging population, change in how people buy used equipment (eBay, QRZ, etc.)and the type of new Amateurs entering the hobby (the "I bought a Baofeng from Amazon or I'm a prepper who bought a ton of new gear that I stashed away but never use" types).

Thoughts?

I haven't been in the hobby long enough to know if the hamventions are on a downhill slide.  

As far as Xenia vs Hara, I preferred Xenia.  Yeah the mud sucked but at least I didn't think I was gonna get tetnus by touching the walls.  It felt there was more room to move around in the exhibit areas and better food choices even if the lines at a couple of places were crazy long.  Pretty much everyone supporting the event was very friendly and the only sour folks were some of the attendees.  Remote parking worked very well for me.  

They really need to do something about the mud, though.

I live close to xenia and for that alone I like the new venue better. but like the previous post hara was run down and on the way out years ago. as for the future attendance will be down just like regular flea markets ebay and craigs list are killing them,

all in all I liked it better next year will be better as the committee will take notes and make improvements  bad thing is you cant control the weather

Nor have I. Only been licensed since 97 and really only started going to different gatherings in 2000. Over that 17 years, I've seen a slow slide in what is showing up, who is showing up, and why people are showing up for shows.
I was hoping that the explosion in hacker spaces, the revival of do-it-yourself electronics, and the whole small board computer craze was going to make people realize that hamfests are perfect venues for all these newly interested people.
It really hasn't and I'm afraid that everyone just keeps listening to the ARRL with their bullshit "We have even more hams this month! It's a new record.....again." I guess nerds and engineers make poor marketing guys.

I'm on the fence on whether I'll make the drive down in 2 weeks to SEAPAC.
Nothing ground breaking was released this year, I can only eat so much spaghetti at the annual spaghetti feed, and it'll be the same crowd as always complaining about the prices or some guys t-shirt.

Thanks. I'm thinking next year will the year to go. Just get it done sort of like a pilgrimage to Mecca for Hajj.

I was expecting a total mess at the new venue this year. Traffic on Friday morning was a complete and total disaster (took 45 minutes to move less than a mile), but they were able to fix that.

The flea market seemed much smaller than the usual turn out at Hara. The mud was a huge issue - it closed the flea market on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday's flea market was a complete bust with less than a dozen booths open. Rain is pretty much inevitable this time of year, but on blacktop it just ran to the drains and once the skies were clear, most of the vendors opened back up. This year there was no re-opening after the rain. Not to mention the infield smelled like horse shit. The grass was completely destroyed in a bunch of places from vehicles driving on wet grass. I think having the only vehicle entrance in the same place as the pedestrian entrance was a huge mistake - the only way in to the infield was a mud bog.

The indoor vendor spaces felt really cramped and it was a constant "excuse me" to try to walk down the aisles. The buildings were also really warm and humid.

30 minutes before opening on Friday all but one of the indoor toilets were clogged (they fixed that quickly though). Although on Saturday when I came out of one of the stalls there was a buck-ass naked guy sitting on the bench in the bathroom.

Food vendors were fantastic. The Cattlemen's Association had some of the best burgers I've ever had and Louisiana Grill (I think that was the name) had a chicken sandwich that was great. $4 tall boys of Yuengling were great. I didn't buy any kettlecorn, but the booth smelled amazing.

Next year they can apply the same traffic controls the ultimately implemented which will solve the Friday morning rush. Adding air conditioning to the buildings isn't probable, but maybe they can add some hurricane fans to the entrances and exits. The mud issue can be mitigated if they add a separate vehicle entrance away from the pedestrian entrance and prohibit vehicle traffic during show hours like the agreement says they're supposed to. If they stage bales of straw around the flea market, vendors can spread them after the rain.

For the first time inueara I didn't attend.  Probably because it was within a couple miles of my houae, also I had to work at our church festival next door to the show (yea, that was planned before Hamvention and has been that weekend for a long time but we may change it)

Listening to the chatter around town from attendees, I heard a lot of good, and apt of conplaining; bit then again. I heard a lot of complaing before it even started, but as soon as they announced the venue change.

Hopefully we will get traffic a little organized.  I wish more people would use the park and rides.  They always seem under utilized, even at Hara and I always chose them for that reason.

Dan

FYI, some of the bus drivers from the county park and ride talked up your church's festival.

I was there last and this year....
From my perspective (as a vendor with an indoor booth) it was a BETTER experience than last year.  
Seemed to me the aisles were wider and people could move more freely.  
Buildings were hot, but I can't say it was unbearable-and I HATE to sweat!!!  
There are areas where they will Have to improve (Tents, Flea Mkt, Parking, Traffic) but in my opinion, as a whole it was a success.  
Everything seemed way better than Hara.
Really Cool to meet my Arf-Brethren face to face too *a highlight....lemmie tell you when BigDaddy0004 speaks, you recognize that voice! even my buddy from HI

If you haven't already seen me posting them, we did a bunch'a shows from there with an almost overload of daily info...they're here
eta:link

The traffic was fine if you came in from the other end. Lucky for us nobody knew that. We made it in less than 20 minutes.