The Apolyton Convention of 2006.

[James]

Hip Flasks at 50 paces.

Glenlivet v Glenmorangie

[JohnT]

I'm back. The day after my last post I learned that both a friend died and that I was being sued, which meant that some things had to be put aside. But things worked out OK - thanks to the Judges ruling I'm not on the hook for over $100,000. Where's that smilie when you need him? You can read all about it in the OT if you care to slog through 8,000 words.

Attached to this post is a MS Word document spelling out my vision in regards to the convention - I lifted it from some document about convention planning I found on the net. If you can, please read it and comment, adding ideas and suggestions in this thread. Dan suggested that we do panels and workshops - panels for Q&A sessions with BHG/Firaxis personnel, workshops for scenario creation and other aspects of mod design, which is such a head-slapper that I'm embarassed that I didn't think of it myself.

I asked Dan if he could set up a separate forum to discuss convention stuff... we'll see what he says. ("Yes", Dan... say "yes").

Anyway... I'm back, and this thing is starting to roll - good job Dan on the letters and the hotel find! In time I will look for volunteers - we will need to organize a 3-5 person "Convention Committee", each person charged with organizing some aspect of the convention. We'll need people to do things, for an hour or two, during the convention, we'll need people to help before things start, we'll... we'll get it done.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Sounds interesting... just have to see how much cash it takes .

I've been to a number of conventions before, and travel quite extensively within the US, so I have an idea as to what this will cost attendees. Attached is a simple quick-n-dirty MS Excel spreadsheet about estimated low, middle, and high end cost estimates for various ticket items involved in travelling and attending the convention.

Even though I put totals at the bottom of every column, it's probably best to disregard them, especially the high-end numbers, and take each line one-by-one.

[DarkCloud]

It's great that we have a date now!

I still don't know if I can make it, but I'll certainly do my best to try (since I have a strong suspicion that I'll be in America's capital city sometime in June/July!

Best of luck with this! ~DC.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by DanQ


Will do, re: contacting Sid/Brian. Whether or not Sid and/or Brian are able to attend, I believe the convention should go ahead otherwise. The itinerary would just change accordingly, of course.

Thanks for the note and offer, re: hotels. Anyone know of any reputable hotels in (or in the immediate vicinity of) Baltimore that could possibly accomodate us? I realize we don't have any idea of #'s at this point, but we have to start somewhere.



Done.

-----------
Dan; Apolyton CS

This Holiday Inn has 15,000 sq ft. of conference space. It has the added advantage of being in the same suburb as BHG and is but 6.5 miles south of Firaxis. I'll send the manager an email this weekend asking for availability, rates, and a room chart.

If you go to maps.google.com, type in 21031 (the zip code where BHG resides), get directions to 21093 (Firaxis), you'll see how close together the two companies are.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by DarkCloud
It's great that we have a date now!

I still don't know if I can make it, but I'll certainly do my best to try (since I have a strong suspicion that I'll be in America's capital city sometime in June/July!

Best of luck with this! ~DC.

Travel costs might be shared, hotel costs can be shared. If you don't mind rooming, it's an option that will save a chunk of cash.

[DarkCloud]

Dear John,

If it turns out that I'm in the area at that time and that I can attend, I'd be VERY interested in room sharing

-DC.

PS: Just sent you a PM.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Lord Nuclear
How many people would need to come to make planning this worth-while?

The document I wrote above mentions 125 people, but those were written with the assumption that many people would bring their spouses. We can pretty much keep the same plan regardless of the number of attendees, scaling up or down as needed.

Personally, I think 25-50 Apolytoners is the critical point into making this a rousing success. 100 would be fantastic but I'm not really seeing it.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Stuie


I'd even be happy with Soren or some of the other Firaxians that visit poly if Sid wasn't available.

Oh, and count me in. I mentioned it to my wife and she said "Well, you have to go." So apparently I have too....

That other guys' wife might hate Civ, but it seems that yours is just resigned to it.

Good man.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Hercules
I would not dismiss a European Convention either.

I would, if nobody volunteers to lead it. (he says, throwing down a gauntlet).

[Imran Siddiqui]

John... sometimes I'm afraid for you

[JohnT]

?? Huh? ??

[Imran Siddiqui]

You seem to have to waaaaaay too much time on your hands...

[JohnT]

We all have the same amount of time. It's how we divide it up that matters.

[Zopperoni]

I'm very interested in being part of the organizing committee. I have experience in organizing events on a local level here in Amsterdam, but organizing an international event overseas would be so cool.

I'll look into the documents tomorrow