A Year of change. A clean out of the roster. 101 losses. And a packed convention? Yup, that's Cubdom for ya'. In 1986, the Tribune Company (who owned the Cubs at the time) pioneered the then unheard-of idea of having a bunch of fans come together in the middle of the off-season to meet current and former players, attend a multitude of panel discussions, and of course, to buy a bunch of stuff from vendors. And it actually worked.
A couple of weeks back, the 28th Annual Cubs Convention was held at the Sheraton in downtown Chicago, and it was just as good as usual. The opening ceremony was held in the main ballroom, and it started out with some videos that had been put together by WGN. After that, the Cubs Alumni were introduced onstage, then all of the current players walked through the middle of the crowd on a red carpet. After that, the opening ceremonies were over with, and we were dispatched on an Autograph Hunt, where we would find guests spread throughout the building and see how many signatures we could get. From there, I got back upstairs just in time to get a seat for Cubs Bingo, which is just what it sounds like. There I sat with a couple from North Carolina, a father and son from the suburbs, and various other people. After Cubs Bingo, the night was over, but there was still Saturday. Saturday opened up with a forum led by the Ricketts family (the current owners of the team) where they fielded various questions asked by fans. After that, there was a session of Cubs Jeopardy, which had two teams of former players going up against each other. After that there was a session detailing the team's plans for restoring Wrigley Field. Then they had a series of live broadcasts from WGN Radio featuring interviews with players and executives. There were numerous more sessions going on throughout the day, however I did not attend them. With the exception of the panel discussions, there were also numerous interactive experiences, the dealer rooms, and a Cubs Memorabilia exhibit. Other than that, not too much else, except for an interview. As I said in the first entry, I am trying to put interviews into this blog from time to time, and this is the first one, conducted by one of the members of the couple from North Carolina.
What is your favorite part about the Convention?
My favorite part are the opening ceremony and the forums, I like to be able to ask questions and get inside the heads of the panelists a little bit.
How long have you known about the Convention?
I didn't know about it until just two years ago.
What makes the Cubs Convention a unique part of Chicago?
This Convention showcases the connection that the team has to the community, it's way more than just a business, and I feel that that is something which is unique.
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