Welcome!

[JohnT]

Welcome to the ApolyCon 2006 forum! This is where we conduct all convention discussions, both official and unoffical. Feel free to start your own threads, but only as long as they pertain to the convention - take your spam to the Other Games forum where it belongs.

As I said we'll have official threads and unofficial threads - the observant man will notice that official threads will have the word "OFFICIAL" (in all caps) in the title, and that unofficial threads won't.

One thing... in an act of stunning malfeasance, Dan actually made me moderator of this forum. As per general ACS policy I won't tolerate spam, but honestly... being an OTF vet, how would I recognize it?

But seriously... in as much as it is consistent with ACS policy, there is one thing that I won't put up with and that's carping about the convention as a whole - you might think that PolyCon 06 is the lamest, dumbest, biggest and most complete waste of time in the history of Western Civilization, and you're free to say so... on the OT. Or the Community forum. Or via PM, or at your new site www.apolytonconventionistehsux.org, or a full-page ad taken out in the Wall Street Journal, or a podcast, or a blog, or by spamming 5,000,000 emails, or whatever.

Just not here. This is the place for people who want this to happen. Agreed? Agreed.

Sweet.

[Lorizael]

Most important question I have right now.

Will there be badges?

Everything will be okay, just so long as there are badges. That way, I can put them with all the rest of the badges that I've got from all the other conventions I've been to.

Actually, that's not at all important. But it would be cool.

[OzzyKP]

Just for you Lorizael, I think we can do badges.

[Lorizael]

I'm ever so grateful...

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Lorizael
Most important question I have right now.

Will there be badges?

Everything will be okay, just so long as there are badges. That way, I can put them with all the rest of the badges that I've got from all the other conventions I've been to.

Actually, that's not at all important. But it would be cool.

At least a basic "Hello, my name is" badge will be given all attendees, but nothing custom designed is planned now.

Unless somebody wants to design and produce (read: "pay for") them.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Btw, we should promote on the "Hello, my name is" badges to include both forum name and real name... well for those who have them as seperate things .

[JohnT]

Maybe we can get some leftover badges from the Multiple Personality Disorder conference happening the week prior - they'll have room for multiple names!

[Snotty]

Im note sure which thread to put this in, but

Im not convinced about paying for the meeting rooms, I have seen games clubs of greater than 25 people colonize corners of pubs, and the landlords have understandably been more than happy to accomdate us. I dont have any convention experience, but thats how I would do it based on the way Ive seen clubs in pubs run here before

But as JohnT is known for his extreme tightness, there must be a reason why we need to pay for meeting rooms.

of course Im all for chipping in for our various guests of honour, whether I end up going or not

Plus it wil be the summer , we can meet in a park or something its a holiday after all....

[notyoueither]

you might think that PolyCon 06 is the lamest, dumbest, biggest and most complete waste of time in the history of Western Civilization, and you're free to say so

Are you kidding? That's why I'm going!

Not often you can witness total debauchery and the fall of civilizations in one nice package.

[ZargonX]

Not often you can witness total debauchery and the fall of civilizations in one nice package.

I guess I should start compiling a list of local bars and liquer stores then, eh?

[duke o' york]

Originally posted by Snotty
Im note sure which thread to put this in, but

Im not convinced about paying for the meeting rooms, I have seen games clubs of greater than 25 people colonize corners of pubs, and the landlords have understandably been more than happy to accomdate us. I dont have any convention experience, but thats how I would do it based on the way Ive seen clubs in pubs run here before.

Snotty, I'd imagine that it will be far in excess of 25 people, so hiring some kind of proper venue is essential.

of course Im all for chipping in for our various guests of honour, whether I end up going or not

Hear, hear. I've said before that although I can't go, I'm happy to donate a small/reasonable amount to ensure that Mark can afford to go, and if we're paying for the guests of honour, then I'll contribute too.

[Atahualpa]

Is Baltimore a nice city?

[Colon™]

Didn't feel it was one, even though the dockside is nice.

[ZargonX]

Is Baltimore a nice city?

Didn't feel it was one, even though the dockside is nice.

Baltimore actually is a nice city, though like all cities, it does have it's bad parts. And Hunt Valley isn't actually in Baltimore, but is north of it in the suburbs. Of course, I don't know when you were in Baltimore, but a lot has changed over the past few years in terms of development and cleaning up crime.

[JohnT]

Originally posted by Snotty
Im note sure which thread to put this in, but

Im not convinced about paying for the meeting rooms, I have seen games clubs of greater than 25 people colonize corners of pubs, and the landlords have understandably been more than happy to accomdate us. I dont have any convention experience, but thats how I would do it based on the way Ive seen clubs in pubs run here before

But as JohnT is known for his extreme tightness, there must be a reason why we need to pay for meeting rooms.

of course Im all for chipping in for our various guests of honour, whether I end up going or not

Plus it wil be the summer , we can meet in a park or something its a holiday after all....

There are a number of problems doing it in a pub, including the fact that some of us will be under the legal drinking age and will not be allowed in. There is also a potential liability on the part of Apolyton/the convention organizers in that one of the official functions of the convention would have a secondary agreement to keep the attendees buying alcohol (if I read between your lines correctly - after all, a bar owner isn't going to sacrifice 1/4 of his space to a bunch of people sipping Diet Cokes) - surely not the greatest environment in which to expose ourselves in the litiguous society that we're in.

However, there are alternatives to doing this in a hotel, but like I said earlier - in a hotel, you're right there. They also have the means, experience, and manpower to quickly set up rooms for panels and workshops. Many of them will offer assistance in putting a convention together - Marriott has its own convention planning section on its website, a planning guide I'm making great and productive use out of.

In short, the reason to do it in a hotel geared for conventions is that the entire infrastructure is already in place - rooms, tables, chairs, podiums, lighting, people to set up and break down, managers to take care of problems.

Let's say we were to do it ourselves (we'll rent out a closed grocery store for a week (I once was able to rent out a 24,000 sq/ft grocery store for $1,500 for an entire month)). Somebody here would have to be responsible for getting tables and chairs, setting them up, turning on (and off!) the utilities, cleaning the bathroom(s), removing all the trash (probably rent a dumpster from Waste Management), cleaning up after the convention... everything that the hotel staff would do. It might be a little more cost efficient to do it that way, but time-efficiency and organization just goes all to hell.

Of course, the number of attendees will ultimately determine what we can do.

I appreciate the suggestion however - the meeting place is the largest component of the convention fee and any ideas on lowering it will be closely examined.