Conventionland USA: The Geography of a Latterday Phenomenon

Abstract The recent productions of social history include, among others, the staging of those ephemeral gatherings known as conventions. As one of the pioneers in this important mode of circulation and communication, the United States offers an apt case study of conventioneering's ascent and locational flux. The paper begins by defining a convention; it then (1) examines the selection of convention sites; (2) documents the surge in convention activity; (3) describes cross-sectional changes (1964–1965 to 1990–1991) in the spatial patterns of convention attendance in the United States: and (4) explores the implications of these patterns for students of social change and American metropolitan evolution. The pronounced shift from older metropolises in the Northeast and Midwest to peripheral cities in the South and West may be interpreted more nearly as a response to site-specific amenities promising pleasure and fun than to a place's position in the urban hierarchy. Staging conventions is part and parcel of the emerging Post-modern City. The conjecture is that conventions may be satisfying social needs for specialized segments of the population as well as functioning as a communication medium sui generis. Key Words: conventionsmeetingsassociationscommunicationpostmodern City