The Apolyton Convention of 2006.

[Paddy]

Nice work Dan

[PLATO]

/me readies vacation request to turn in at work

Thanks Dan!

[Arnelos]

Hunt Valley, MD?

Well, that's about 40 minutes non-rush traffic and about 3 hours in rush traffic.

Sounds very very cool.

[Ming]

If possible scheduling wise and 'interested-and-available-participant wise', a Tuesday-Thursday combination might be ideal as it should lessen traffic volume in the airways/on the roadways as compared to Mondays/Fridays/weekends and increase the likelihood of being able to make accomodations.

A Friday through Sunday might work better... Most hotels will give you a better rate because the weekdays are prime time for them, and they are less full on the weekends... plus, less vacation time for the people attending. You have them set up the special room rate for Thursday through Monday so that if people want to start early or stay late, they can get the convention rate... It also allows for better airfair rates because of a Saturday stay over...

That's how we do it for SF conventions...

Now I know that you think that it might make it harder to get the key guests you want from the game companies... but sometimes, it's easier for them to be available on a weekend.

Just a few things to consider

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Ming
A Friday through Sunday might work better... Most hotels will give you a better rate because the weekdays are prime time for them, and they are less full on the weekends... plus, less vacation time for the people attending. You have them set up the special room rate for Thursday through Monday so that if people want to start early or stay late, they can get the convention rate... It also allows for better airfair rates because of a Saturday stay over...

That's how we do it for SF conventions...

Now I know that you think that it might make it harder to get the key guests you want from the game companies... but sometimes, it's easier for them to be available on a weekend.

Just a few things to consider

Good points to consider, Ming. Dang business mindset...

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Hercules]

I am definitely interested.

Great idea.

Mings point above, about weekends makes sense.

[Hercules]

I would not dismiss a European Convention either.

There are a lot of Polish/Latvian, Finnish/Swedish, German and Spanish, Poly people as well as British and Irish (as well as other Euro citizens)who might attend a Euro event.

The low cost airlines of Easyjet and Ryanair make travel within Europe , if booked well in advance, quite inexpensive.

[DanQ]

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

There are a lot of Polish/Latvian, Finnish/Swedish, German and Spanish, Poly people as well as British and Irish (as well as other Euro citizens)who might attend a Euro event.

The low cost airlines of Easyjet and Ryanair make travel within Europe , if booked well in advance, quite inexpensive.

Indeed. A conversation of a SLeague meet in Europe began a couple of weeks or so before this one, although it may morph into a 'European circuit' of the '06 Convention. DarkCloud mentioned and referenced it earlier, but I'll re-introduce and re-reference it below:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=136449

Since DC's first note of this, they have taken note of our ongoing discussion quite recently.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[Tassadar500]

If it's during the same time, I think it would be really neat if there could be a video conversation between the two.

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by DanQ
More news folks...

3. REQUESTED SESSION
Said potential special guest would like to see a Q&A session that focuses on moddability. I have already told this individual that I didn't foresee any barrier to having such a session or it being apart of a larger group discussion, and in fact should be well received by the community here. Don't fail me now...

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Dan; Apolyton CS

P.S. I am not going to reveal this potential special guest's name at this point, but they have said that if they're available on the dates we set they would be happy to attend and participate.

Well thats extremely interesting, that "said individual", out of all the possible topics for discussion, specified that they want a Q&A on modability! Don't know exactly what you said in your invite DanQ to invoke this kind of response, but I am now interested in attending so I can be part of this discussion!

Also, as far as the hotel's offer of "high speed internet access" is concerned: what are the rates that are offered? Is it simply thrown in with the hotel room(s) cost, or are they charging a flat fee, or are they charging (like they do for long distance) out the yin-yang? If its the best route econmically speaking, I'd say that you should encourage members to bring their own video internet systems, and that we coordinate their use from there, so that 'poly members on other continents can have maximum coverage of whats going on at the conference.


D

[DanQ]

Originally posted by Lord Nuclear
If it's during the same time, I think it would be really neat if there could be a video conversation between the two.

I agree, but we might be getting in over our heads. Certainly at the moment we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves, but something to consider. Setting up a liason between ourselves and the "European crew" might be a good first step...

Uh oh, did I just volunteer?

Originally posted by Darsnan
Don't know exactly what you said in your invite DanQ to invoke this kind of response, but I am now interested in attending so I can be part of this discussion!

Originally posted by Darsnan
Also, as far as the hotel's offer of "high speed internet access" is concerned: what are the rates that are offered? Is it simply thrown in with the hotel room(s) cost, or are they charging a flat fee, or are they charging (like they do for long distance) out the yin-yang? If its the best route econmically speaking, I'd say that you should encourage members to bring their own video internet systems, and that we coordinate their use from there, so that 'poly members on other continents can have maximum coverage of whats going on at the conference.

I didn't research this point fully to that degree yet, but the impression I got after a quick browse was that the wired/wireless access within the hotel is included with the cost of the room. However, it may end up being that most if not all attendees might have to stay in other nearby accomodations if the dates we choose are booked solid room-wise, but we'll have to wait and see as more chips fall into place.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[duke o' york]

Video conversation? Don't be daft - everyone should be playing group MP against one another.

[Immortal Wombat]

Real-time MP democracy game?

[PLATO]

Hmmm...just wondering if we had any dates yet. Dan, could you suggest some possibilities that would fit into "said individual"'s availability? Perhaps we could poll several tenative dates to determine the best fit for the community's members?

Once we get dates, then people can start to commit to things and we can get the ball really moving!

Thanks again for your efforts!

[DanQ]

Originally posted by PLATO
Hmmm...just wondering if we had any dates yet. Dan, could you suggest some possibilities that would fit into "said individual"'s availability? Perhaps we could poll several tenative dates to determine the best fit for the community's members?

Once we get dates, then people can start to commit to things and we can get the ball really moving!

Thanks again for your efforts!

This "said individual" could not give me any dates, other than they plan to be taking extensive vacation time next summer. Summer is a four-month-or-so-block, so that's not terribly specific.

I like your idea about a poll, though -- see where we get from there. Watch for a new/related thread to this effect shortly.

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Dan; Apolyton CS