Bobby2683

I am considering attending this years Bloomington Gold in IN. Anyone have any thoughts on weather it is worth the trip from NYC. If so any tips on the show. What are the pros and cons. Thanks

Z06FEVER

Yes!! Me and 2 buddies will be there this year. Suppose to be a great show with the new location. This will be our 5th year attending and have enjoyed all of them. Hope you can make it, well worth the trip.

Chance575

i was never impressed with looking at a ton of stock corvettes. If your into that, bloomington gold is for you.

Bobby2683

Thanks for the info, looking forward to going

Bobby2683

Now I am excited about the trip. Thank you.

z06clif

Attended 6 yrs ago when it was on the golf course in Bloomington. Helped a friend of mine get her Gold Certification. Drove from LI to just outside Chicago by myself on Fathers Day. Took about 14 hours. Plenty of places to stop and eat. Cant beat the Chicago area for food and nice folks. Mecum was there having an auction under a tent. many Vendors and displays. Worth doing at least once. Corvettes as far as you can see. There was a ZR1 display as that was the first year.

Clif

Bobby2683

[Thanks Clif, getting mixed reviews...I called to get a ticket in advanced but I was told that u have to be a Bloomington member for advanced tickets . I can buy a parking pass in advanced. Dont want to drive 13 hours and be disappointed.


QUOTE=z06clif;1589649976]Attended 6 yrs ago when it was on the golf course in Bloomington. Helped a friend of mine get her Gold Certification. Drove from LI to just outside Chicago by myself on Fathers Day. Took about 14 hours. Plenty of places to stop and eat. Cant beat the Chicago area for food and nice folks. Mecum was there having an auction under a tent. many Vendors and displays. Worth doing at least once. Corvettes as far as you can see. There was a ZR1 display as that was the first year.

Clif[/QUOTE]

z06clif

[/QUOTE]

probably right. My tickets were a 3 day pass and the were secured for me by a person who was getting her car judged so it might be a little different.That being said if you get advanced parking then your going to get in. My show was a Pheasants Run the new venue is at the university at Champaign. A little further on the traveling. Im thinking a reservation is in order might be tight.

Clif

RyanR0101

If you've never gone to Carlisle, go there first. Much, much better in every aspect and closer to you. I'm somewhat close (although it keeps moving farther away) to Bloomington, so it's not the drive for me that it is for you.

I've gone every year since about '98, and honestly, Bloomington is on a short leash with us at this point. It has gone downhill particularly in the last several years, and last year the show was noticeably emptier than it had been in previous years. I overheard a girl at Mid America saying they only did 1/3 the business of the prior year. Less vendors, less cars for sale...it was really quite sad. There is a guy close to us who was a 20 year vendor and he skipped last year and has basically said he's done with the show.

The new guy who bought the show from Dana Mecum I think has the best of intentions, putting in some new features, etc., but I just don't know if the staff knows how to run a show. None of the workers have any idea what's going on or what is where, and there's just a general feeling of disorganization in the swap meet and car corral, with empty space everywhere and lone vendors out on their own on the fringes. The road tour last year is a great example of this mismanagement. 26 miles of stop and go, because the cop at the front of the line went parade speed the whole time and said nobody told him it was supposed to be regular road speed! It was awful; we peeled off and went home. And now they want to charge $10 for this year's tour? No thanks. And they continued to insist late last year that the show was not moving, only to pull a 180 and move it. Sorry if you already made your plans. Talking to the Champaign area Chamber of Commerce, they said the show didn't give them a straight answer as to why they were moving. First it was the venue/construction, then it wasn't. Then it was hotels, and then it wasn't. Etc. And the lack of an auction last year, and this year too, is not good. If you were tired and wanted to sit a while, or if you went through everything that day, you could go to the auction and still have something to see. Last year we found ourselves at noon saying ok, we've seen everything, so now what?

I have a feeling this year is going to be a major make or break for them. It can't be cheap renting out Indy, and I wonder if they're betting the show on this. If they lose their tail and get the same attendance as last year, they could be in serious trouble. As I said, I've gone every year for a long time and want nothing more than for this show to succeed, but it needs a serious shot in the arm.

z06clif

Losing Bloomington Gold would be a disaster as it is a benchmark in our field of interest being Corvettes.

Clif