DSC banquets 2023

[K E Johnson]

I know that there is generally an AH get together at DSC one night. what banquets nights do you usually attend?

 

[wesheltonj]

I don’t attend the banquets other than the AH one.

 

[mdwest]

We've done all of the different DSC sponsored banquets at different times/years.. To be honest, they're all mostly the same (IMO).. they just support different groups/foundations/events... but the format for each of them is very similar..

Generally what you're getting into is a nice meal.. some awards and/or recognition for someone or some group.. followed by an auction...

If I were to do one again (not likely in the near future), I'd probably attend the Life Member Breakfast that they always do on Saturday morning.. its a decent way to start the morning.. see old friends.. etc.. and go directly from there to the conference hall to see the show... They usually give away a decent gift to the life members that attend (we got a nice DSC logo'd dufflebag that we've taken on several trips at this point.)... and its a little bit more of a casual event that the other banquets..

The evening banquet where they present the Weatherby Award each year is done pretty well also.. .

Like wesheltonj... We typically don't attend the banquets anymore.. they were ok the first few years we were involved in DSC.. but we prefer to do our own thing these days... We'll attend the AH dinner most years.. maybe attend a private event or two hosted by people we know.. and this year we plan on hosting an evening event on behalf of @Bos en Dal SAFARIS one night during the show (probably early in the show.. maybe Wednesday or Thursday.. more to follow on that soon...)...

 

[MAdcox]

I always attend the AH get together and then just meet friends for dinner other nights. Too many people to see and visit in one weekend.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

We are DSC Life Members and have been for a long time. When I was still working, my business supported me sponsoring a table for all of the banquet nights. Out of all the DSC events we attended every year, we enjoyed the Life Member Breakfast the most. For us, DSC in general just isn't as enjoyable as it was a few years ago. They have made buying event tickets and hotel reservations as complicated as setting up a new phone. During our last trip to South Africa, DSC was a hot topic. Everyone agreed that it was becoming more and more like a "corporate business". Were it not for the "gathering of friends" there, we would not even attend.

 

[sierraone]

"gathering of friends"

is the big event!