I flew to Cincinnati Friday afternoon from the Philadelphia Airport. Since I had an early afternoon flight I wasn’t pressed for time getting to the airport. At this time of the day I didn’t hit any traffic on my way to Philly. Parking at the airport wasn’t bad either as I have been flying out of Philly the last couple of years and I have my own mad methods. After getting the truck parked and all locked up it was a short walk to the terminals. Sure I could have waited for a shuttle but this goes back to my mad method. Getting through security and to my gate was uneventful, a little too easy if you will. My flight was delayed about an hour due to a “Mechanical” problem, uh oh. When the plane made its way to the gate the airline staff didn’t mess around. It was a matter of “Get in, sit down, shut up and hold on”. The pilot made some of the time up while in the air and I’m sure this was at the expense of jet fuel. Now I didn’t have any place that I needed to be at a certain time so it didn’t matter to me how long the flight took. Once the plane landed I made my way out to where the shuttles and taxis sit. There are a host of choices so I usually grab the first shuttle service I see. This year it was Executive, they were offering an event special of $24 round trip which I thought was reasonable. I had what looked to be the oldest driver known to man however he got me to where I needed to be in one piece.
I stayed at the Millennium this year. While it is not the Cincinnatian by any means it is OK for event use. Check in was simple as I booked everything on line this year so I had a stack of supporting paperwork. The room was run of the mill, clean looking with the right amount of stuff in it to make you comfortable.
Saturday morning I made my way to the Duke Energy Convention Center via the sky walk that attaches to the hotel. This is nice as I didn’t have to wear a jacket and check it in at the coat check. The hallways were fairly filled with spectators prior to the doors opening. It looked like attendance was up this year compared to last year. Then again last year it snowed which may have kept those who were driving in away.
Once inside the exhibit hall I made my way to an outside row to start. From the very first row I could see that the vendor attendance was down. What was filled with booths last year was curtained off this year. Making my way around I saw several vendors sharing floor space. One would think this was done for economic reasons. I noticed a few of the mid size companies were not in attendance this year. There were several small companies that were not in attendance either. Several of the large vendors had smaller layouts this year. Several had reduced displays. Now with that said there was still a lot to see. It is always nice to see the latest and greatest stuff available for the New Year. I spent the day saying hello to those that I deal with on the phone on a regular basis. I searched for Buell related parts for the drag bike build I have going on. The event was good for this as several vendors had some firsthand knowledge of the 1125 Rotax. Making my way through the entire floor plan took every bit of the entire day and I probably missed a few things. There were several tractor trailers parked inside as well as concession stands on the floor trying to fill up the empty spaces left by the vendors.
Sunday I hit the show for a few hours to go back over anything that I had questions on from the previous day. I left the show early and went back and packed my gear for check out. I had an early afternoon flight home which worked out well with the checkout times and the Super Bowl. Why this event is held on Super Bowl weekend is beyond me. Sure not everyone is into football but hey it’s the Super Bowl.
Executive picked me up right on time and shuttled me back to the airport. Again no problems getting through and around the airport. The KY/Cinn airport is much larger and nicer than I would have expected. I grabbed a bite to eat while waiting for my flight since I had some time to kill. Again my flight seemed to be running late, no big deal. Once seated the pilot once again made some time up while we were in the air. I travelled with just my camera bag/back pack so I had no luggage to retrieve when we landed. This is where my mad method comes into play. I park in the long term lot as close as possible to the terminals. When I exit the terminal it is a short walk to the lot. This saves me the time of waiting for the shuttle and running all around the lot stopping. Within 15 minutes of landing I was in my truck headed for the Interstate. It worked out the same as last year; I missed about 7-8 minutes of the first quarter.
The event itself is still one of my favorites. At the rate it is going I fear it won’t be worth going to in a few years. I sure hope the industry turns around and we see the vendors there that we saw four years ago. The event promoter and Duke Energy Center may have to step up and do their part to help get more of the floor covered. I will attend the event next year and see how it goes from there.
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Topic: 11th Annual V-Twin Expo By Easyriders Cincinnati, Ohio Feb 5-7 2011 (Read 7293 times)