Next week is the Nautical Research Guild conference. It’s in St. Louis this year and I actually get to go. This will be only the second NRG conference I’ve attended. My first was the one held in the San Francisco Bay Area back in 2011, I think it was. I only made it to that one because it was local. The one in St. Louis will be my first one that’s out of the area, as most of them are. However, I managed to get the trip paid for by the ship model distributor and store Ages of Sail.
As I’ve mentioned before here, I’ve been doing some work helping them out as they’re right down the road in the East Bay in San Lorenzo, CA. I basically told the owner I’d be willing to help him out with the business if he sends me to the conference. He agreed, so I’m flying out of SFO a week from tomorrow. Of course, I’m going to be working there, but it’s a 3-day conference, so I should have plenty of time to meet up with ship modeling friends and acquaintances. I’m told that it shouldn’t be a problem to pop in on a seminar or two, so I’ll target a couple and catch what I can.
The NRG is a good organization and I encourage all ship modelers to support it. You don’t have to be a member to attend, but I believe members receive some kind of discount. You can visit the NRG site for information about the Technical and General sessions and Round Table discussions: http://www.thenrg.org/2014-nrg-ship-model-convention.php
I believe we’re past the date for getting hotel discounts (the event is at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel), so you might need to find accommodations to fit your budget, but you should still be able to register for the conference itself.
Ship Modeler 