The very first Cubs Convention to celebrate a World's Championship is now history. Tell us how it went!
Who were you able to meet for autographs or photographs?
What is most interesting or funniest thing that happened at one of the presentations?
What did you love about the weekend?
What did you hate about the weekend?
Have your feet and legs recovered yet from standing all weekend!?
Did you spend enough money!?
If you have any photographs from the weekend that you would like to share, please email them to cubsconvention@hotmail.com and let us know how you would like to be credited.
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Seth H. shared these photos of the autograph line for David Ross on Saturday morning. The signing session was held in the hotel's parking garage, imaginatively dubbed "The Dugout." Word is that anyone not in line by 5:00 a.m. was out of luck for the Ross signing, which began at 9:00 a.m.
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| David Ross line in front of Seth |
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| David Ross line in back of Seth |
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Sackman23 reports that the line to see the trophy was long and it took him about 1:45 to get through it - just to be rushed for a quick photo in the poorly lit "Trophy Room" tent. Seeing the trophy was very cool, even if brief. What a year for the Cubs and all of us fans!
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| The trophy in all its glass-encased glory |
I was lucky enough to pull a Miguel Montero voucher for Saturday. Got Montero and Pat Hughes to sign my World Series ball. Will start on a quest for as many others I can get at future conventions and shows. What I loved was getting my picture with the World Series Trophy. Got in around 11:30am and waited about an hour in the registration line. (one of the few dislikes) :) and headed straight for the Trophy Room. Took about 45 minutes once inside, so I thought I did good. What I disliked was I set up for text alerts from the Cubs and received 0 the entire weekend. Would a nice way to communicate to fans attending, especially when got to the Sheraton at 6:30am to wait in line for David Ross, only to find out at 8am that all his vouchers were already passed out and then to find out that they were gone before 5am. Text alerts for those kind of things would be nice! I bought quite a few things and was hoping for more, but felt pretty good about my purchases. I brought money home, so that's always a good thing! :) Would also like to know some insight on the Meet and Greets with the players through Cubs Charities as well as the Social Media room. I heard people talking that players would be at the Social Media room, but again no info was given via Twitter or via text alerts. Would love to hear from others about getting connected to the Social Media opportunities as well as the Meet and Greets! Overall, loved this Cubs Convention! It was my 6th one in a row and even though I only got two autos, celebrating the World Series Champs and seeing the Trophy made it the best ever!
ReplyDeleteI signed up for Twitter specifically for the Cubs convention and follow only the Cubs. I did not get any updates either.
DeleteI was just walking in the hallway and saw a line - I asked and was told Willson Contreras was doing a meet and greet but you had to have a wristband they supposedly announced earlier on Twitter. I guess the world is passing me by since I just don't get it.
I didn't get any texts from them, either. That would have been nice. I thought the highlight of the weekend was the panels. A few of them were kind of duds (I thought the pitching one was especially tedious), but there were several others that made up for it (Kids Press Conference and Remembering '84 were great). I spent a good portion of the time across the street in the STH area. The panels over there were fantastic - I think the smaller crowds and more relaxed atmosphere helped out. The first was with Joe and Dave Martinez, the second was with J-Hey and Miggy (hilarious), and last was with Rob Zastryzny (pretty funny guy) and Brian Duensing.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot of complaints about how the autographs worked out, but I don't know how they could do it any better with the amount of people who turn up for some players. I saw a lot of people acting a little too aggressive trying to get an autograph. I was also bummed there weren't many players from the 2003 team that attended.
I don't know how the Cubs can improve this, but there was next to no access to the players. I don't know how to fix the voucher system, but it is pretty lousy for two people to pay the same price, one gets an Addison Russell auto voucher and the other gets a $5 off coupon at the gift shop.
ReplyDeleteThe autographs and crowds might be out of control, but it would be nice to release a tentative program when the convention passes go on sale. I wish you could prepare more for the event and it seemed like the Cubs were flying by the seat of their pants. The players were great though, extremely patient and kind.
I agree as to the schedule and list of players that are going to be there. I get it that they probably don't have the list "finalized" until close to the start of the convention but there is no reason they can't at least announce who will be there well in advance.
DeleteThis year was the worst yet with the announcement just 4 days before the start of the convention!
We got to convention on Friday morning and did not get any winning vouchers. There were 6 of us and no vouchers. Did not see any of the current players for autographs, other than Ross. It was like they were only there for the press conferences. We have been to many conventions for the cubs and this was the worst for autographs. They used to have kids only signing and photo sessions. None this year. That is what convention is all about is to see the players and get pictures and autograpghs. I sure hope they change it back to the way it was.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more! I get it that there are popular players who command a lottery system, but this has always been reserved for only the most popular players, not the entire current team. This was the WORST convention ever with regard to access to the current players. The Ross signing was at 9:00 am and you have to be in line by 5:00 am if you wanted to get his autograph. Justin Grimm had a signing but was also a pull tab. Ross and Grimm were the only two players on the world series roster to have signings without needing to win a voucher. (I have won my fair share of lottery autographs over the years so I'm not complaining in that regard.)
DeleteNo kids only line and no photo stages was a travesty. My boys have been able to get autographs/photos with Soriano, Rizzo, Soto, Campana, Wood and Montero and several others over the years and knowing at least they would have that access to current players was huge.
Also, the Cubs have all but done away with the Friday autograph hunt and I wish they would bring that back too.
I really hope this was just a weird convention because of the world championship and the Cubs being anxious about crowd control. As great as it was to celebrate the championship, this was the most removed from the team I have ever felt and the least fun I ever had there. And I've been to over 20 conventions!
Sad to say things won't change you want an autograph sleep downstairs line usually starts 11pm the night before like how they had the convention at the Hilton it's all about the money now not the fan experience
DeleteBring back the cubs convention to the Hilton Chicago. It was way more organized than the Sheraton
ReplyDeleteI was in line for the grab bags when I got a Twitter alert about Wilson Contreras so I sent up my kids to get a wristband. I also did get notification about the David Ross signing. What I will say is that reception is different in almost every part of that hotel - that affect some of the texts and notifications. While I got the above there were others I missed.
ReplyDeleteGot passes for Super Bowl from NFL with NFL discount codes and to my amazement I was able to save big on my tickets. Can’t describe in words how ecstatic I felt after seeing the amount getting reduced
ReplyDeleteNFL Game Pass Discount Coupon