WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12
My United flight supposedly arrives at O'Hare around 9:15am. I'll catch a shuttle over to my hotel, the Hilton Rosemont. After checking in I'll head over to the convention. I'll have to see Cary Hardy at the ANA table to pick up one of the ribbons for my badge - I'm a past Glenn Smedley award winner. I'm also a Goodfellow (past convention chairman) and 25-year member. Gawd, I used to be the young kid.

Among the first tables I'll visit will be #1945, where Len Augsburger and Joel Orosz will be displaying "All Things Rittenhouse". Other early stops are likely to be numismatic literature dealers Charlie Davis (#434) and Kolbe-Fanning (#533-534).

Before the convention ends I hope to have time to visit many others as well, including:

Alan Weinberg (#1555) Harvey Gamer
Bill Burd (#1809) Chicago Coin Company
Bill Rosenblum (#1759)
Bill Shamhart (#615) Numismatic Americana
Charles Morgan and David Lisot (#1847) CoinWeek
Chris Webb (#1440) Dix Noonan Webb
Dave Perkins (#619)
David Sundman (#205) Littleton Coin Co.
Dave Wnuck (#920)
Doug Winter (#923)
Fred Weinberg (#1219)
Harvey Stack (#1105)
Jeff Zarit (#1447)
John Burns Memorial Library (#1959)
John Dannreuther (#1337)
John Kraljevich (#518)
Julian Leidman (#1215)
Kunker (#1223)
Paul Cunningham (#1860)
Phil Mussell (#519) Coin News
Pierre Fricke (#1444)
Steve Hayden (#516)
Tony TerraNova (#1024)
Wayne Herndon (#1309)
Whitman Publishing (#303)

My Wednesday schedule is fluid, but I hope to have time to squeeze in a visit to the exhibit area and some talks, including:

4PM: David Finkelstein, Workflow of the First U.S. Mint (Money Talks, Room 6)

Late evening: Hoisting a glass at a hotel bar

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13
This is my big day, with important presentations and meetings nearly all day long, including:

10am: Numismatic Literary Guild Symposium
"The Internet's Impact on Numismatic Journalism"
Moderated by Charles Morgan of CoinWeek.com

I'm looking forward to discussing this important topic with the panel and fielding questions from the audience.

11:30 am: NBS Symposium, Room 22
"The Newman Numismatic Portal".

I'll be discussing future directions for the NNP following an overview by Len Augsburger and demo by John Feigenbaum. Don't miss this one!

1:00: NBS Board Meeting, Room 24
Several club topics are on the agenda, but I'll be there to propose a revamp of the NBS web site. Members and the general public are welcome.

2:15 pm: Eric Schena - "Civil War Tokens of Virginia": Room 5
As part of the Token and Medal society general meeting, Pau Cunningham, Ernie Nagy, Eric Schena and others are giving presentations. If time allows I'll stop in to see Eric speak on Virginia CWTs.

3:00pm: John Burns Memorial Library Dedication: Booth 1959
You can't walk five feet at an ANA convention without running into someone who knew numismatic literature dealer John Burns, and everyone has a story or two. I hope to see many of John's friends at the dedication of a small but useful memorial library in his name. The books will be available for free consulting by any conventiongoer, thanks to John H. Burns Memorial Fund maintained by the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists.

4pm: (Money Talks, Room 6) Ed Moy, "Inside the US. Mint"
Former Mint Director Ed Moy is a great guy with lots of tales to tell about the inner workings of the modern U.S. Mint. This could be a great bookend for David Finkelstein's earlier talk about the first Mint.

Whew. I'll be ready to relax after all that. No specific plans for dinner, but something will turn up, I'm sure.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
I may take it slow to unwind Friday morning, perhaps working a bit on The E-Sylum before heading back out to the convention.

1:30 pm: NBS General Meeting, Room 5
Always a convention highlight for NBS members. Don Kagin will be the speaker, followed by our annual fundraising auction of rare and unusual numismatic items.

3:00 pm: Colonial Coin Collectors Club, Room 44
Great group of folks. I've been a member for years, but rarely get a chance to attend events in person.

7pm: ANA Banquet (Hyatt)
The Cocktail Hour prior to the banquet is one of my favorite parts of the convention. Here I get to mingle and chat with many old and new friends from all over the country. I'll be sitting with Pat McBride and my old Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists friends, and cheering on my fellow Nummis Nova member Dave Schenkman as he receives his induction into the ANA's Hall of Fame.

I plan to pack my famous Biblio-Tie, a necktie picturing shelves of books. Bob Van Ryzin and Gene Hessler also own one of these, and maybe we can get together for a group picture. Anyone else in our Cult of the Biblio-Tie?

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15

7:30am Rittenhouse Society (Hyatt)
Another highlight for me will be Saturday morning's Rittenhouse Society breakfast. A Who's Who of top numismatic authors and researchers, it was a true honor to become a member. The annual breakfast for members and their guests is always a delight.

After the breakfast I'll probably check out of the hotel and head to the airport where I'll likely work some more on The E-Sylum and grab lunch while awaiting my 1:15 flight.

OK, so now my friends and enemies all know where to find me. Assuming you're one of the former, please stop by!