I'll get right to the point of this post, then I'll explain.

Short Version

I'm not planning a SilverGoldStacker meetup next year (2025).

Long Version

Year One

I love meeting my #SGS fam in real life. I also love the idea of a group of us getting together, which is where the idea for the meetup came from. I actually started planning a Vegas meetup in 2019 with Las Vegas resident, @pit-bullion. When I say planning it was more me chatting with him about how I could make it work. Then the world went bananas for a year so the meetup was put on hold.
 
In early 2021 the itch to have a sgs meetup had returned, so I started thinking about how to go about planning one again. By this time Pit-Bullion was gone from Hive so I didn't involve him. I knew that if I planned something it would be best if it was a place I knew, which is really how Las Vegas came about. Also, knowing that Vegas is a premier vacation destination helped a bit too ;)
 
I thought it was important to have something specific to do, an anchor so to speak, so that when folks told their significant other they were going to Vegas they could also say the reason, and that's when the idea of attending a coin show hit me. "Hey hon, I'm going to go to Vegas in March for a coin show...and there may be a couple folks from my silver stackers group on that crypto-blogging site I'm on." xD

So I did some digging and found there was a coin show in March and a show in August of 2022. I then sent some DMs to see if anyone at all would be interested if I were to plan something like this. Got some, kinda maybes and I realized that the only way to get others to commit was to commit myself, so I booked a room a year early and made the 2022 announcement post.

Had a little interest at that point so I let it be for a while then came back with a post with more specifics when it was six months out.

We ended up with a memorable first year with eight SGS members showing up for the fun.

Year Two

After returning from the first meetup I made this post just tossing out the idea of a second meetup, in Las Vegas again, the following year. @silverd510 was still thinking about it...

I think the reason he was still a maybe is that while we were in Vegas there was some talk about next year and where it might be held. It was just a general conversation but what I got from it was that folks would like to meet again, but in a different spot. At the time I remember thinking (and I may have said), "that's fine but I'm not planning a meetup in a city I don't know well, so if you want NY or New Orleans or wherever that's fine with me, but someone else needs to plan it."

Nothing came of that discussion xD

So a couple weeks after returning home I posted a digest of all the posts from the Vegas group and then got on with life.

At this point I had decided not to plan a second Vegas meetup. The first one was epic, but we didn't make any real decisions about the following year while together in Vegas so I thought I'd just let it go... Until I went to Nashville in September, 2022, for the HiveLive Block Party II, where @enginewitty asked me about next years Vegas meetup about 27 times xD

OK, not 27 times but he really wanted to do it again, so after returning home I DM'd around again and found that folks were interested in a second year in Vegas. Then in November, 2022, I made this announcement post and we were once again planning a Vegas meetup for 2023.

Once again the meetup was a success, I think I enjoyed it a little more than the first year as well. Maybe it was the familiarity with the group or maybe it was witnessing a sexy street performer beat the hell out of another performer with a dildo as we ate lunch outside ¯\(ツ)/¯

The Coin Show Saga & Year Three

The first year the coin show was the first weekend in March (March 4-6), so that's the weekend I picked. In 2023 the coin show moved to the last weekend in March(24th-26th), and while almost everyone still made it, the weekend proved to be difficult for most. It was later in March when folks start to get busy with spring fever, it was spring break for a lot of students, the NCAA basketball tournament was in the semi-finals that weekend I believe (Vegas is always busy as fuck during the tournaments' final rounds), and it was one of the members' kids birthday weekend! All the rooms were more expensive and it was harder to book stuff to do with all the people there.

 The Las Vegas Numismatic Club Coin Show is a show put on twice a year by the LVNC. It's a bunch of older guys, so doing things like updating websites or posting on twitter are not their strong suit! I started searching for the dates of the 2024 spring show in July of 2023. I also posted about it just to start the convo for the 2024 meetup.

I sent the numismatic club an email and tried to call a number I found somewhere, all to no avail. Even @dfinney got involved, trying to find some dates for the 2024 spring show. By late August there was still no solid date for the 2024 spring show, though dfin had gotten in touch with someone there who said the show would be in April, but there was no definite date yet!! So, after talking with some of the other sgs members, I decided to forgo planning around the show and just pick a weekend in March for the meetup, without the coin show as the anchor event :(

That was not an easy decision for me, as I love the coin show and I really thought it should be part of the meetup weekend. Anyhow we still had fun, I mean... VEGAS, DUUUUH!
 

Not sure how this turned out to be a post about the backstory on planning the previous meetups but, for what it's worth, there it is. I'm really pleased with our three year run and grateful for the relationships we forged in person, no doubt about that.

 

Future Meetups

This morning I let the folks that have been to the Vegas meetups know my plan before I posted this and they have been brainstorming ideas. I'm sure they would love some input from you too.

@silverd510 told me he's looked into half a dozen cities and everywhere is 2 to 4 times more expensive than Vegas though, so maybe Vegas is still on the table? If you have ideas or want to get in on the discussion, send @silverd510 a message or tag him in the SGS discord.

As for me nothing has really changed, other than I am stepping down from planning a meetup in March.

I'd also be real happy if HIVE would just moon-lambo so I can buy an RV and just drive around the country and see all the awesome places I want to see, and New Jersey 😂