unforum

[rose]

prices

[vortech]

Yeah. I wasn't comparing price to value; I was comparing price empirically (and also maybe price to personal budget).

[rose]

Yeah. Sorry, sometimes when I'm trying to be enthusiastic, it just comes across as lecturing.

anyway -GO ARGFest 2010!!!!

[Rogi Ocnorb]

[vortech]

[thebruce]

[imbri]

ARGFest Swagtacular Swagfest!!!

You know that huge Flynn Lives poster and really cool t-shirt? Well, we're giving them away! Three of them each week for three weeks starting last week (woo! go Dav! go Aliendial! go Toenolla!). So there are two drawings left which means you'll have two chances if you register before Sunday.

Also a reminder... the panel submission deadline is tomorrow. So if you have some thoughts, get those in ASAP. You've still got a month for the games (but earlier is better).

[wraith]

Must not look...Must resist...Must...ARRRRG!

[thebruce]

I think I'm going to have to cut my trip short to just ARGfest this year and skip on SDCC
I'm now a groomsman for my buddy's wedding in June meaning I'm extending that trip a couple of days, plus another 2 day trip the following week... if I've got the argfest trip booked for wed-mon that week, that's not leaving much holiday for the rest of the year... it hurts, but doing SDCC would also greatly increase the cost of my trip, so it's perhaps even a smart decision


Is anyone planning to arrive in Atlanta Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning? Maybe we can hook up.
I added this to my wiki item, but there's a virtual geocache by the airport that looks like good fun, which requires some vehicular skillz to spot the answer to a question while in motion - see GC1BE4.

[hmrpita]

Re: prices

[vortech]

Re: prices

[vortech]

By the way. I'm slowly filling up this page.

Also, if any of you have nice stories from or about previous ARGfests, let me know. (probably in a form of backchannel.)

[Father_Enoch]

ARGfest SF came at the end of the arg I pm'ed and I'm on the east coast. This time its in my state so I'm seriously going.

Yes, it is humid, but if you lived in GA that would only come as a slight hurdle.

[Pixiestix]

So uhm, I don't know how to say/ask this, which included a handful of complaining, but i'm just going to ramble my way thru and try VERY hard not to be my super offensive self:

Do we have a hotel yet? Because it is JUNE now, JUNE! I am having trouble scheduling other events in my life, because I don't know what kind of money I have to work with, because I don't want t just "book a cheap hotel" - I want to book the hotel everyone will be staying it. Which means I am willing to pay for that hotel - but it is mucking up my need to fill in my budget. Not to mention setting off huge flags for my anxiety disorder, not being able to properly plan for this.

I hate to be ants at a picnic here, but.... we have been getting promises of "soon" for quite a while, and now it is less than 2 months away....

[imbri]

Short answer: No. We do not. We are working on it and will let you know as soon as we can.

Long answer with more info and drama than y'all care to know:
We were talking to a hotel. We loved the hotel. It seemed ideal. We liked it so much that we thought we would see about having the entire conference there (instead of, as was our original plan, to have the conference at a separate venue... with the festival also being separate, it seemed like a good idea). We started the process - visiting the hotel, discussing space needs, etc. Everything was great. And the quote never came. I contacted her again and got an email in return that stated that we would have to reserve 100 rooms per night due to our space needs.

WHAT?!

Throughout the entire process - in person, on the phone, in emails - I had explained that while we were hoping for X people, this was a complex event with two fairly distinct periods (conference and festival) and that the festival would attract more locals, the conference more out of towners but also locals. That we have a high rate of shared rooms. Etc.

But let's say we had 250 conference attendees (which is what their largest room holds, iirc, and what we asked for for both the conference & keynote). If a third of those are local, that gives us 166 people that need housing. Let's say about 10% of those stay off site (we have a number that choose to do that for reward points or whatever). That takes us down to 150. If only half of that 150 share rooms, that is 75 rooms per nights... for the conference... the period that brings in more out of town folks. There is no way that we can reach a quota of 100.

I emailed her last week explaining that we would not meet it and asked if we would still need 100 rooms/night if we went with the original plan of having the conference at an outside venue and the evening events at the hotel. I didn't hear back. So I called. I was put on hold then told she would call me right back. She didn't. I called again. Left a message. I called again, left another message.

That is not the only egg in the basket. We still have a hold at the original conference venue. We can still book rooms at the original planned hotel. But neither of those help with the Keynote. So I have also contacted another hotel which has conference space and could hold us for the keynote. I spoke with them yesterday - the spaces are available, we could do the conference there as well as the evening events, they have rooms at a nice rate. Due to our complexity (and wanting to shuffle a few things with the rate to help you guys get the best deal) they need to crunch a few numbers, but I expect the quote within a few days and the contract signed shortly after that.

Also, I've been hesitant to spill all of this. I do not want people to worry or panic about us not having a place for the conference or events. We have space that we could use. We have holds on places that are still holding for everything but the keynote dinner. In trying to find space for the keynote dinner it effects our hotel options. And our best choices for venues for the keynote may be at a hotel and, in that case, it's better to book the rooms there to keep costs down (for you and for us). That is the delay.