unforum

[vpisteve]

My pics (I realize now how few I took :/):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/polyman/sets/648918/

[Wolf]

[Ozy_y2k]

Re: Big thanks!

[addlepated]

I'm too lazy to go back and see if I posted my gallery link upthread.

http://gallery.addlepated.net/NYC-2005

[rose]

next one

[rowan]

Annoted Picture

[rose]

just so you know - even the weather loves ARGFest-o-con

We had great weather....

Today in the city 97 degrees.

yay us.

---

re photo: I emailed a link to the Abacus Video people. They will PM rowan with their names. They are the guys in the blue shirts who look professional.

[Giskard]

Re: Annoted Picture

[konamouse]

Yay! I learned how to Flickr (but too late did I learn that it loads the pictures backward order from upload and labeling).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33476285@N00/

Re: Las Vegas (I'm in the process of booking a conference for next April so I'm learning lots about the process and the costs).
Generally, the larger the group, the lower the price for the hotel rooms. Time of year also can affect prices. I've seen $80-160 for group rates at strip hotels. The nicest weather times are often the most expensive (because other BIG conventions are in town and take up all the rooms). Best time might be Feb or early Mar (2007, please). Our April conference, with 15 rooms expected, and about $9000 of catering, will have a rack rate average of $100 at the Palace Station Casino.

The more hotel rooms that are booked, the better the deal for the meeting space (usually requires the purchase of catered food to get the meeting room for free). But there is always the local library for free meeting space (however, that is not very close to the strip, we'd have to rent a few vans).

The hard part is right now there is really only me and Steve in this town (I think there was someone who posted during ILB, but they're not very active I think). We'd definitely need more help (Dia knows the town and has many hotel connections).

On the negative side - no subways for quick, cheap transportation. Yes, we have a monorail now, but that works for certain locations. On the plus side, plenty of taxis (up to 5 can ride) and most places are within walking distance (straight shot up and down the strip or a quick trip to downtown for an even smaller venue). On the negative side, the cheapest time of year is Aug when it is the hottest - we should avoid it. On the very plus side, most cities have very good rates for flights to Las Vegas.

These are all great ideas for the next big event; but we can still have smaller "meet & greets" without tons of organization (like the first ARGFest) - sounds like they did that in New Zealand. And hopefully someone will do one in Europe or UK.

[johnny5]

OK, here's my take now that I've had time to process everything
Using a familiar format:

The Good
Meeting everyone. People I knew, people I knew of, people I've never met, everyone. You were all great! It's good to know ya.
Meeting Jane. Yay! (Kiyash too)
Meeting the other PMs
The FestQuest. I found it to be a grand time. I think Kona's enthusiasm helped a lot, and I found the weather to be just fine.
Xnbomb is a class act. No two ways about it.

The bad
Hello? JoeyO's? It's called Air Conditioning, look into it.
The people I wanted to meet, but who weren't there.
My Gin and <whatever> mix. Ugh. Apologies to those who had to endure it. What a waste of good Gin. Manhattan needs to sell tonic water please.

The ugly
OMG!? Me on Sunday?! Whut!?
RobMag was right! I did look like death warmed over!
Requesting a takedown from Kona's flickr pix. Please?

[krystyn]

I tried so hard to drink the gin and seltzer, I really did. I ... just couldn't.

[johnny5]

[krystyn]

I expended so much effort, I took a nap. I did not drool.

[johnny5]

[bagsbee]

I cannot begin to describe how much fun that was. Even through all the stress of running around, making calls, picking up last minute items, etc, etc, I still managed to have a GREAT time.

My memorable moments:

- Will Star DJ'ing. You have no idea what we put this guy through to finally get him there, and he was a great sport through it all

- Looking at my cell phone history and noting that, of the last 100 calls, 77 were from rose

- Joe O's manager Val drunkenly asking me to "join him for a drink after the bar closes", while my wife stands next to me It was awesome.

- Watching Sin_Vraal get his freak on on the dance floor

- Dripping sweat in the hallway next to the conference room putting those beautiful posters in frames. I was chuckling softly to myself the whole time.

- The speakers. Mind Candy, Haxan/Chelsea Films/Dave, MU Team, Jane - all my base are belong to you.

- Getting an ecstatic call from Kristen after the first leg of the Fest Quest. I still can't believe we pulled that off.

- Waiting with Sin and watching the weary Questers arrive at the Fountain, a few none too pleased, most of them appreciative, and all of them hungry and tired.

- Korean BBQ. Man, that was good. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

- Spending far too much time in the Hotel Penn lobby. I now know the shift schedule in the little coffee shop.

- Eating bagels in the little park next to the Planetarium, and the subsequent walk through Central Park. That was really nice

- All the folks who volunteered to help. We didn't ask, they just knew what had to be done and took the initiative.

- Sunday night at Stout. The OPTIMATOR. Chatting about guns with the Addlepateds, greywolf and Curtis.

- Curtis - the dude is an absolute trip. I demand he be present at every future ARGFest, we'll fly him in if we have to.

- Meeting all you wonderful folks. Aside from the conferences, the Fest Quest, and the drinkering, that was what it was all about for me, the chance to finally meet the people I spend so much time online with. And every last one of you are great.

The only thing I wish was that I had more time to socialize. And if it seemed like I was less than enthusiastic when meeting you, it was only due to sheer exhaustion. I look forward to the next non-NYC ARGFest so that I can really spend some time with you folk. Through it all, though, I still managed to have a wonderful time.

Speaking of next ARGFest....might I recommend Chicago? The Midwest hasn't gotten one yet, and they were a close 2nd in the ARGFest poll. I say, Chicago '06, and Las Vegas '07. Phaedra, krystyn, et al....are you READY?

EDIT: Can everyone please PM me their photo gallery URLs? I wanna put up a page at argfestnyc.com. Also, if anyone needs a place to put photos, I have a Gallery set up at http://www.argfestnyc.com/gallery/, with loads of bandwidth, PM or email me and I'll set up an account for you.