The convention and all activities that comprise it (swap meet, clinics, layout visits, museum tour, banquet, movies, etc.) is open to any and all.

No membership in any organization is required to register or attend, and no membership in any organization results from your registering and attending.

However, registering will put you on our mailing list, and we will send you information about subsequent O Scale West meets for two years after which you are dropped from the mailing list if you did not attend either of those meets. Attending one of those subsequent meets starts the two year cycle again. If you don't want to receive mailings from us, just put "No Mailing List" in the address field of the registration form when you fill it out.

Registration in Advance (Pre-registration):

The registration form is on-line and can be downloaded, printed, filled out, and mailed to the convention. You will receive an email confirmation of your registration if you provide a working and legible email address in the space provided on the form. Click here to download the form. You will need the adobe acrobat program to view and print the form. Click here to download the adobe acrobat program.

Important Note: the registration form you download can be filled out while you view it on your computer's screen. To enter information into the form, click on the Highlight Fields box in the upper right hand corner. If the fields are not highlighted in blue, click again on the Highlight Fields box. Key your information into the highlighted fields that pertain to you. You may receive an advisory message that the document cannot be saved which is true; just continue entering your information. Then print and mail the completed form; you may wish to print a second copy for your records.

If you want us to send you a hard copy form, or if you want extra copies for your friends' use, please let us know.

Note: if you registered using a registration form that was available before the banquet and museum tour were finalized and put on the registration form, we will send you the current registration form to you so you can register for the banquet and museum tour.

Another Important Note: you must be pre-registered in order to access both the Grand Tour and local layout schedule and contact information pages. This is to protect the layout owners.

Paper-less Registration and Payment by Paypal:

You have the option for paper-less registration and payment. This is done via the PayPal site; you must have a PayPal account.

Go to the PayPal site and sign in. Click on the Send Money tab. Send your registration payment to info@2010oscalenational.com. Please fill out the message box with complete information about what you are paying for if you pay for more than the registration fee ($35 before June 1, $40 after June 1). Please include your mailing address in your message; we need it to add you to the access list for the secure pages that contain the layout visits location and schedules information. Note that the pre-registration cut-off date below also applies to paper-less registrations.

Walk Up Registration:

You do not need to register in advance unless you are renting tables. Just walk up to the Registration desk and register when you arrive at the convention. The disadvantage of a walk up registration is that you will pay $5 more for your registration than if you had pre-registered before June 1, and your name badge will be hand-written instead of being pre-printed.

Pre-Registration Cut-Off Date

Pre-registrations must be received (not mailed!) no later than June 23. Each registration has to be entered into our data base, a confirmation sent if the registrant provided an email address, a user name and password generated so the registrant can access the layout visit schedule and contact information, and badges printed. There is setup time involved for each of those steps, and when one or two registrations are processed, the setup time is a large percentage of the total time. All is is happening very close to the start of the convention when the usual last minute panics in other areas are happening. As a result, registrations received after June 23 may not be processed, not because we don't want to but because we don't have time. Un-processed registrations will be available for pick up at the convention registration desk; you can remove your check from the envelope and use it to pay a walk-up registration.

Any registrations made via PayPal after June 23 and that could not processed are a little more complex. If we have not had the time to process your PayPal payment, we will not know about it; we will require you to pay as a walk-up registrant which would be a duplicate payment for you. If this happens, after the convention send us the badge you received when you registered and paid as a walk up, and we will send you a refund. However, all this is complex and extra work for both you and us, so it is much much simpler if you just do not register via PayPal after June 23.

Paying Registration Fees

Payments must be made in U.S. dollars and by check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank.
International attendees do not have to pay in advance. Just register without payment and your registration and any table fees will be collected at the time you claim your packet. That way you avoid the expense of an international money order for a small amount.

Unpaid/overpaid/underpaid registrations are reconciled at Registration when you pick up your packet.

How Much Does It Cost?

Registration Fee (everybody must register):

$35 if the registration is postmarked/received by May 31, 2010.
$40 if the registration is postmarked/received after May 31, 2010.

The registration fee includes all convention activities except the Museum Tour and the Banquet, which are extra cost. The registration fee includes your spouse and all children, related or not, under the age of 18 years. There is no one day registration fee.

Exhibitor Table Rental Fee Per 30" x 72" Table:

$45 if the table rental is postmarked/received by May 31, 2010.
$50 if the table rental is postmarked/received after May 31, 2010.

Table renters (exhibitors) must register, e.g., your table rental fee does not include your registration, so one table will cost you (before June 1) $45 + $35 = $80.
There is no limit on the number of tables you may rent. There is no charge for electrical but we must know that you need it.
If you have any special requirement (electrical, location, table configuration) we need to know about it by May 1, 2010; after that date we may not be able to accommodate your requirements.
The tables will be draped (top and front covered) with white cloth; you should bring something to cover your goods when you step away from your table. Please note: the table fee and your registration fee do not include any helpers other than your spouse and children related or not under 18 years old; e.g., your helpers must register separately from your registration. If your registration lists a helper who does not register in advance, that person's name badge will be withheld from your packet and given to the helper only in trade for the name badge he/she received for their walk up registration.

Cost Comparison

Consider what other conventions/meets charge (taken from the event's web site):

Meet	Registration for Two*	Hotel for Two**	One Table***	Banquet for Two	Tour Cost for One
O Scale National Convention, Santa Clara	$35	$109	$45	$100	$60
Chicago March O Scale Meet	$20	$89	$55	No banquet	No tours
NMRA National Convention, Milwaukee	$130 - $245	$139	****	$140	$20 - $60
Lionel Collector's Club Convention, Denver	$54	$125	$65	$122	$75 - $199
National Narrow Gauge Convention, St. Louis	$85	$129	$145	No banquet	No tours

* Early multi-day registration for modeler and spouse, not including extra cost items such as clinics, shirts, etc.
** Not including local taxes, etc.
*** Including electrical
**** Normally this is several hundred dollars for a 10' x 10' professionally constructed booth, e.g., not a valid comparison with informal events

Table Renters Must Read The Following: California Sales Tax

California sales tax is administrated by the Board of Equalization, hereafter abbreviated BOE. The BOE defines the convention buy/sell area as a swap meet/flea market. The BOE further defines three types of exhibitors at swap meets and flea markets:

Occasional sellers. Occasional sellers are individuals who are not required to hold a California Seller's Permit because they will not be making a series of what the State of California calls Qualifying Sales. For example, a person who is selling used trains accumulated for their own use and who sells only those items will usually qualify as an occasional seller, providing they make sales no more than twice in a 12-month period. Occasional sellers do not need to collect and remit sales taxes on items they sell. An occasional seller may or not be a resident of the state of California. Most folks who rent a selling table at the convention are in this category. You determine whether you are an occasional seller or not.
Exhibitor-only. These are businesses and individuals, California or not, who are exhibiting only, and not making any sales.
In-business sellers. There are individuals and companies who are in business. There is no distinction between in and out of state businesses - all must collect and remit sales taxes on sales made at the convention. California businesses are familiar with this process. Out of state businesses must obtain a temporary Seller's Permit (resale number) that is used to identify the sales taxes collected by the seller when they are remitted to the state. Businesses determine from their records the amount of sales taxes that must be remitted.

The BOE tracks this using a simple form named BOE-410-D (name, address and driver's license number, check a box). This form is provided to table renters by the convention (see Table Renter Packet below), or you can download, complete, and print this form. This is not the same form as what you use to obtain a resale number - see below!

Two Forms

Be aware that there are two different forms.

One form is the form that people who need a temporary seller's permit (resale number) will use to obtain that number.

The other form is the form that every table renter will need to give the folks at registration in order to receive their registration packet. This form is BOE-410-D.

Seller's Permit (resale number) Application Form

This section provides information about the first of the two forms. If you are an occasional seller or exhibitor-only, you can skip this section.

If you are in-business at the convention, the form you need to complete and mail to the BOE can be obtained by clicking here. The Adobe Acrobat viewer program is required to view and print this form; note that you can type into the form on your computer screen to fill it in, and then you can print that completed form. Information about the sales tax process, including obtaining a resale number, can be viewed here. Note that the BOE now states that two weeks are required to obtain a permit (resale number) although the BOE notes on the application form that if you have an "urgent need" for your permit to advise them of that.

Form BOE-410-D

This section provides information about the second of the two forms.

You will need to complete sections 2, 3, and 4 of this form. Section 2 is your identifying information (name, address, driver's license number). Section 3 is your declaration of your tax status at the convention: occasional seller, exhibitor-only, or in-business (this is where you will provide your Seller's Permit number). Section four is your certification that the information you provide is correct. Table renters will receive a copy of this form in advance from the convention, and we will have spares at registration in case your dog eats the form the convention sent you. If you want to view a copy of this form or print a copy, click here. The link to download form BOE-410-D is about 1/2 way down the page. You will need a the Adobe Acrobat program to view this form; note that you can type into the form on your computer screen to fill it in, and then you can print that completed form.

The convention committee provides assistance with the temporary Seller's Permit Number process which takes about two weeks. The dog ate my homework (e.g., I forgot) is not an acceptable excuse - please don't come all the way to the convention without having gotten the number in advance as we can't let you in as a seller until you get your temporary Seller's Permit Number.

Putting it Together

OK, you know what your tax status is, your have your Seller's Permit (if you needed one), you have form BOE-410-D that was provided to you by the convention, you have completed the form, now what? You provide that form to Registration in order to obtain your registration packet (different from the Table Renter Information Packet described below). This is a trade - no form no packet. If you forget your form, we will have spares on hand. Sorry, but the there is a $10,000 fine for those (in this case the organizing committee) who are caught not following the rules.

Table Renter Information Packet

Exhibitors will receive in the first half of June a packet containing a map of the ballroom showing the location of their table(s), a hard copy of form BOE-410-D, and load in/load out information.

Help promote our hobby! The O Scale Kings is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation whose mission is to promote 2-rail O scale model railroading. For more information, click here.