Fireworks Convention

The Pyrotechnics Guild International, Inc. presents

"Catch a Falling Star"

Saturday August 7 through Friday August 13, 2010

at the Wisconsin International Raceway near Appleton, Wisconsin.

Why you should attend the 2010 Wisconsin PGI Convention
by John Steinberg

1) If you care at all about PGI governance, 60% of the board, three of five members, will retire this year. You need to be there if you care about the future of Guild governance. (OK- that's the only serious part. Now, on to the fun!)

2) One of the most enjoyable conventions in recent years was the Gillette 2008 event. Similarly, we will have all our displays on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. This means that on three nights, we are going to blow the doors off the Wisconsin International Raceway. This will knock your socks off. There will be at MINIMUM a full hour of displays each of those three nights. It'll be like three Fridays except that Friday will be even better. We have a line up of demos and displays that is unsurpassed. You do NOT want to miss this display extravaganza. (Next year, in 2011, we are going back to five display evenings.)

3) On Monday, we feature an evening of JUST competition. The site will be closed to the public and ours to enjoy. Competition will be in prime time and not too late. This was a very enjoyable feature in 2008 and I think you'll like it again in 2010.

4) There will be expanded amounts of dark sky available for open shooting on Tuesday night, as well as on Saturday and Thursday - and time for a relaxing dinner with friends and to socialize on site and see what each of you have made to shoot.

5) Yes, what have you made to shoot? With a lot of hard work and creativity, we are providing two manufacturing sites as before: large device/invitation only and small devise/open to all members. Bill Bahr, Tom Sklebar, and Daryl Marmon worked really hard on getting this done and Danny Creagan has again volunteered to serve as Manufacturing Chairman. If you don't make something this year, it must be because you're enjoying something else.

6) Class C vending will have a huge area and there will be plenty of room to shoot and enjoy this to your heart's content. Class C vendors again are going to try to offer food for the stomach as well as candy for the eyes.

7) Tim Walczak, your After Glow Chair- well really, a Food and Beverage Czar - promises superb after glow meals again. They're much more than just a snack.

8) We are going to operate golf carts and other vehicles up and down "Heartbreak Hill". Of course, you can use your own cars on that part of the site as well. Getting around should be easy.

9) The trade show and inert material classes and seminars will be at what is possibly our nicest host hotel- the Radisson Paper Valley. (Better get that room booked ASAP).

10) There will be incredible live material seminars at the WIR site. Come learn from the masters- old and new!

11) This site is as close to the East Coast as any site we use, though, we are trying to develop two even closer sites.

12) Spending a week with fellow pyros at the world's largest fireworks event is always a joy - every minute of every day and of every night. You know you'll just kick yourself if you miss this one. So, start making plans and reservations now, to attend our THIRD Appleton convention. Come on up and have a BLAST!

Please check this page regularly as it will be updated with further convention-specific details when available.