The AVA holds its annual convention in a different U.S. city every August. At the convention, members are able to buy, sell and trade tokens as well as attend the auction and banquet.
AVA Convention 2024
Rich Mallicote, Convention Chairman
Get ready for beignets and crawfish etouffee. The 2024 AVA Convention will be held August 1-4 in New Orleans/Metairie, Louisiana. We will begin the convention with the Executive Board meeting on Thursday afternoon, probably around 2PM. We plan to hold the auction on Friday morning and Friday afternoon will be free for you to explore. On Friday evening, we will ride the Creole Queen dinner cruise which includes jazz music and plenty of good creole food. This will give attendees the opportunity to find out what they would like to go back and see on Saturday if they do not want to participate in boursing. Boursing will be held all day on Saturday and the Business Meeting will be held on Sunday morning at 9:00AM.
As a member, you can set up a table at the Boursing for free.
The convention fee this year is $100, which includes the dinner cruise, token, ribbon, and meeting space costs. For first time convention attendees, the fee will be $75 as an incentive for people to come for the first time to enjoy our hospitality.
Also, we are looking for suggestions for the 2025 convention somewhere in the middle portion of the US. FYI – we have never held a convention in Oklahoma or Nebraska and there are a couple of railroad rides and museums there.
View our photos from past conventions.
2023 Convention
2022 Convention
AVA CONVENTION – Rich Mallicote, Convention Chairman
A great time was had by all. We had 35 AVAers attend this year’s Iowa convention. The dinner on Saturday night was great, although the heat in the train car left a lot to be desired. Since the pool was closed for maintenance, the hotel gave us all free breakfast every day we were there – which was fantastic. The meeting rooms were well set up. Overall, there were great comments by our members for our hotel and Ames, Iowa.
I was fortunate to attend the Minor League Field of Dreams baseball game on Tuesday after convention. The facility was unbelievable. It is a place you should go visit when you are anywhere near the area.
During the convention, we amended the Constitution and By-Laws of the AVA. If you would like a copy, please email me and I will send a pdf file back to you.
Tentative plans for next year are to hold the convention in Cheyenne, Wyoming (in my attempt to go to states we have not visited). We are scheduled to go west next year, and the things to do in Cheyenne look very good. When was the last time you FED and/or PETTED a bison? Cheyenne is a railroad town and has a great history. The tentative dates are August 3-6, 2023 so make your plans now to attend.
2021 Convention
