A few points:
Regarding the locations where the national convention is held, remember this is a big country - I think it's important that the location moves around every year, to give more people a chance to attend. I don't know the statistics for POCI national convention attendees, but I'd be willing to bet that in any given year the vast majority lived within one days' drive of the location.
It's part of the bylaws of an organization like POCI that they are required to hold annual meetings, to go over and approve the annual budget, vote on amendments, and discuss other business matters with the members. It's one of those things that holds little interest for most people but it has to be done, so having the meeting during the convention makes sense.
Nowadays, spontaneous or popup car gatherings (like cars and coffee events) are more and more popular. I've gone to a number of them myself, and they're fun - you show up for a few hours and hang out, then go home and get on with the rest of your weekend. However, that model doesn't work for a national meet where besides setting up a show you also need to arrange lodging for people, arranging for speakers and seminars, setting up extracurricular activities like cruises, drag racing or autocross events, and so on. It needs a group of dedicated people who can spend most of the previous year setting things up.
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