"The Once and Future Violet"

The International AVSA Convention and Show  hosted by MAAVS

April 11-18, 2010

Raleigh, North Carolina

MAAVS is the host for the 64th Annual African Violet Society of America Convention and Show.  We're excited to present this beautiful and exciting African Violet event. Be sure to make your plans now for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Come see spectacular African Violets in a National Judged show, shop the Vendor Sales Room for the latest African Violet and Gesneriad varieties, listen to expert speakers on  the care and cultivation of these beautiful plants.

I-40 NC/TN Closure Information

Attendees traveling to Raleigh from the West should be informed that I-40 is closed at the NC/TN border due to a massive rockslide several months ago. The road will not be open during our convention dates. Some acceptable alternate routes are the I-81, I-26 corridor to the North around the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains or the I-20, I-85 corridor around the Smokeys to the South.  Consult your map or travel service for your appropriate route to avoid I-40 at the NC/TN border and have a safe trip to "The Once and Future Violet".

Single Day Pass

There is a single day pass available for $35 at the convention that will allow you to participate in all convention activities for a single day without having to register for the entire week. If you only want to visit the show and sales room at the convention without attending the seminars, an admission of $5 is also available.  The single day pass for $35 admits you to everything including seminars, talks and the showrom and sales room.  The $5 admission is good only for the showroom and salesroom but you can use this as a $5 credit towards membership in the African Violet Society of America if you join at the convention. Membership includes a subscription to  the full color African Violet Magazine which is published bi-monthly.

Schedule of Events

The African Violet Showroom and the Vendor Salesroom will open to the public Friday April 16 and Saturday April 17. Hours: Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Come see spectacular African Violets in a National Judged Show. shop the Vendor Sales Room for the latest African Violet and Gesneriad varieties.  The complete list of convention events is available here: AVSA Schedule of Events.

Showroom and Salesroom Hours

The African Violet Showroom and the Vendor Salesroom will open to the public Friday April 16 and Saturday April 17. Hours: Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  If you are not registered for the convention, Admission $5. The admission will be credited towards an African Violet Society of America (AVSA) membership if you join AVSA at the show. Membership includes the full color bi monthly African Violet magazine. If you want to participate in all convention activities for one day, there is a $35 single day registration available at the door.  This gives you a pass for one day without having to pay for registering for the whole week.

Speakers

We have a full lineup of African Violet and Gesneriad experts speaking at the convention. You must be registered with the convention in order to attend the lectures.  The comp;lete description of the speakers and their seminars is here:  AVSA 2010 Presentations

Location

North Raleigh Hilton front entrance
The convention will be at the Hiltom North Raleigh Hotel, 3415 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh, North Carolina.. Raleigh has a great airport nearby, airport code RDU,  with multiple airlines including American, Delta, NorthWestern, Jet Blue, SouthWest, United, US Air and a host of other carriers providing convenient air service to the entire US.

Reservations

If you're going to call the Hilton for reservations (Tel: 1-919-872-2323), the group code is AVS.  The Hilton has also created a web page for AVSA reservations. Either of the following links will take you to the Hilton AVSA reservation page where you will get the special AVSA rate from our block of rooms. They even put an African Violet on the page!!!  Of course there are some daisies and mums but we'll grant them honorary African Violet status until the end of April.

Here's the link to make reservations:

http://tinyurl.com/y98w2pj

or if you prefer a long URL, here it is:

http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/RDUNHHF-AVS-20100410/index.jhtml

Driving Directions

The Hilton North Raleigh is conveniently located near a major exit of I-440.

From the Raleigh/Durham Airport (RDU)

• Take I-40 east to Exit 289 for I-440 North/Hwy 64 Rocky Mount.  Follow I-440 North to Exit 10 for Wake Forest Rd. Make a left at the exit ramp stoplight.  The hotel is 1/4 mile north on the left directly across from Duke Hospital.

From the North (I-95)

• I-95 South to Exit 138, US64 W to Raleigh. US 64W for 45 miles to Exit 419 I-440 North toward Wake Forest/US 1. Follow I-440 North to Exit 10 for Wake Forest Rd. Make a right at the exit ramp onto Wake Forest Rd.  The hotel is 1/4 mile north on the left directly across from Duke Hospital.

From the South (I-95)

• I-95 North to Exit 81, I-40W to Raleigh. I-40W to Exit 301, I-440E/US 64E. Follow I-440E for 8.1 miles to Exit 10 for Wake Forest Rd. Make a right at the exit ramp onto Wake Forest Rd.  The hotel is 1/4 mile north on the left directly across from Duke Hospital.

From the West (I-40)

• Take I-40 east to Exit 289 for I-440 North/Hwy 64 Rocky Mount.  Follow I-440 North to Exit 10 for Wake Forest Rd. Make a left at the exit ramp stoplight.  The hotel is 1/4 mile north on the left directly across from Duke Hospital.  If coming from TN and points further West, please note that I-40 is closed in both directions at the NC/TN border due to a massive rock slide. The slide will not be cleared in time for the convention. Consult your map or travel service for alternate routes around the I-40 NC/TN border. 

From the East (I-40)

• I-40W to Exit 301, I-440E/US 64E. Follow I-440E for 8.1 miles to Exit 10 for Wake Forest Rd. Make a right at the exit ramp onto Wake Forest Rd.  The hotel is 1/4 mile north on the left directly across from Duke Hospital.

Convention Theme

"The Once and Future Violet" will pay tribute to the origin and development of the African Violet over the years. The Show Schedule features categories reflecting a timeline of the African Violet from the species to tomorrows exciting new developments in hybrids. (for those not familiar with the term, a Show Schedule is the classes and themes of the African Violet Show, not to be confused with the event schedule which is a timetable of the convention events).  The complete show schedule is available here: AVSA 2010 Show Schedule

Tours

We have a nice array of tours planned to sample some of the flavor of North Carolina. Since most attendees are plant people, we have planned an ample number of garden tours. In addition, we have some self guided tours we are going  to try this year that will let you explore at your own pace.   A  PDF  file description  of the  tours:  AVSA  Tours

Summary

The following  set of links is a summary of all the available  AVSA 2010 convention information on this website.

• Timetable of Events
• AVSA 2010 Tours
• AVSA 2010 Presentations
• Hilton Hotel Reservations
• African Violet Show Classes, Rules, Categories (Show Schedule)
• Registration Pages (pdf file to fill out and mail)

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 African Violet Society of America
Mid Atlantic African Violet Society
April 11-18, 2010
Raleigh, NC