NATIONAL SHOWCASE
It’s nine weeks before the start of the National Sports Collectors Convention and Mike Provenzale is compiling a master list.
One of the main jobs for the longtime production manager of sports and memorabilia at Heritage Auctions is to handle all the arrangements for the biggest trade show of the year for the largest auction house in the United States.
It’s quite a chore. And it’s gotten more rigorous every year for Provenzale. The first National that he worked was at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemount, Ill. in 2008, and he’s been at every one since. Last year’s convention was cancelled due to the pandemic.
This year’s show is back in the Chicago suburb for the seventh time in the last 13 conventions.
“When I started, we had like a 15-by-15-foot booth and we’d have three or four display cases,” Provenzale recalled. “We’d show up the day the show was going to start and set up. When it closed down, we’d take an hour to pack everything up and head out.
