Okay, I've been looking over some plans and I've hit a dilemma.
Karen and I would like to go to GenCon this year. It's been nine years
since our first (and only) visit, and this is the last year in Milwaukee,
where which we'd like to do some more sight-seeing.
We'd talked about having the next Phoenyx Gathering in Boston. As the
Feldhusens paid their way down to Kansas City last year, we wanted to
return the favor and hope that a more "coastal" Gathering would attract
more people. (Besides, I'd like to see Boston... I've never been out that
way.)
Problem is, we're looking at well over $800 total for GenCon and over $500
for Boston just in airfare. We can't really afford to do both.
We were looking at having the next Gathering _at_ GenCon. It'd be a
smaller event, being overshadowed by GenCon, but it would potentially
allow a lot more people to come and give everybody a lot more to do.
Since our primary goal of the Gathering is to get Phoenyx readers to meet
each other face-to-face, a venue which maximizes the number of people who
can meet is a good deal.
Thing is, it looks like it's more expensive for Bostonites to go to GenCon
than it is for us... airfare is even higher. (Mike, is there a better
airport than BOS, or is that it?) So it seems a little unfair to ask the
Feldhusens to spend $800 to come to GenCon to save me money when they
spent a lot more than we did to come to the last Gathering. Which we held
in KC to save us money. (See a pattern. :) (Really, we held it in KC
because we couldn't take a sewing machine on the plane.)
So I'm looking for opinions, alternate solutions, an idea of who can come
to either GenCon (August 8-11) or Boston (September, probably... I'm
thinking it would coincide with one of the cons/faires that the Feldhusens
go to), and anything else that might be useful in making a decision.
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net) Gamers List Owner
[ The Fudge List -- http://fudge.phoenyx.net/ ]
We tend to judge others by their actions, ourselves by our intentions.
-Dr. Ed Cole.
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On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Carl D Cravens wrote: > Okay, I've been looking over some plans and I've hit a dilemma. > Karen and I would like to go to GenCon this year. It's been nine > years since our first (and only) visit, and this is the last year in > Milwaukee, where which we'd like to do some more sight-seeing. > We'd talked about having the next Phoenyx Gathering in Boston. As > the Feldhusens paid their way down to Kansas City last year, we > wanted to return the favor and hope that a more "coastal" Gathering > would attract more people. (Besides, I'd like to see Boston... I've > never been out that way.) > Problem is, we're looking at well over $800 total for GenCon and > over $500 for Boston just in airfare. We can't really afford to do > both. > We were looking at having the next Gathering _at_ GenCon. It'd be a > smaller event, being overshadowed by GenCon, but it would > potentially allow a lot more people to come and give everybody a lot > more to do. Since our primary goal of the Gathering is to get > Phoenyx readers to meet each other face-to-face, a venue which > maximizes the number of people who can meet is a good deal. > Thing is, it looks like it's more expensive for Bostonites to go to > GenCon than it is for us... airfare is even higher. (Mike, is there > a better airport than BOS, or is that it?) Actually, there are several airports around us, Worcester, Providence (RI) and Manchester (NH). The latter two have a decent number of flights and are usually *much* cheaper than Boston Logan. BTW, Midwest Express is a wonderful little airline that has direct flights from Boston to KC and Milwaukee (in fact, those are the *only* places they have direct flights from Boston) and will cost us about $600 for Milwaukee. > So it seems a little unfair to ask the Feldhusens to spend $800 to > come to GenCon to save me money when they spent a lot more than we > did to come to the last Gathering. Which we held in KC to save us > money. (See a pattern. :) (Really, we held it in KC because we > couldn't take a sewing machine on the plane.) > So I'm looking for opinions, alternate solutions, an idea of who can > come to either GenCon (August 8-11) or Boston (September, > probably... I'm thinking it would coincide with one of the > cons/faires that the Feldhusens go to), and anything else that might > be useful in making a decision. Two options: 1) We have the gather at GenCon this year and out here next or 2) We have two gathers. Personally, I'd like to get to GenCon in Milwaukee as well, so #1 works just fine for me. Of course, I've heard the hotels are already sold out. -- Michael Feldhusen mike_f@io.com http://www.io.com/~mike_f/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- GAMERS Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gamers/
On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Michael Feldhusen wrote:
> BTW, Midwest Express is a wonderful little airline that has direct
> flights from Boston to KC and Milwaukee (in fact, those are the *only*
> places they have direct flights from Boston) and will cost us about
> $600 for Milwaukee.
They fly direct KC to Milwaukee, too. Back in '94, they were only $99
round-trip. (Hmm. Orbitz.com lists them at $30 cheaper than Expedia.com
does. Cool beans.)
> Personally, I'd like to get to GenCon in Milwaukee as well, so #1
> works just fine for me.
If GenCon is on your list this year, that'd work out great I think.
> Of course, I've heard the hotels are already sold out.
I spoke to GenCon Housing yesterday and there were hotels available,
starting at $94. (People looking at online registration sites like
Expedia.com may be seeing all the hotels booked up because the convention
bureau has all the nearby hotels pre-reserved and you have to register
through GenCon Housing to get one.)
If you don't mind staying further out, there are still hotels in the
$55-65 range, according to Expedia.com. Karen and I are thinking about
doing that and getting a rental car. (Last time we stayed at a
GenCon-approved hotel and still were a long ways from the convention
center... and we had to ride the bus. And the bus had a 20-minute layover
on the way to the center half the time. It often took more than an hour
to get to the convention center. And we'd like to see more of Milwaukee
this time.)
--
Carl D Cravens (raven@phoenyx.net) Gamers List Owner
[ Trim Your Quotes! ]
This is my sig file. Is it not nifty? Worship the sig!
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On Fri, 15 Feb 2002, Carl D Cravens wrote: > On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Michael Feldhusen wrote: > > BTW, Midwest Express is a wonderful little airline that has direct > > flights from Boston to KC and Milwaukee (in fact, those are the > > *only* places they have direct flights from Boston) and will cost > > us about $600 for Milwaukee. > They fly direct KC to Milwaukee, too. Back in '94, they were only > $99 round-trip. (Hmm. Orbitz.com lists them at $30 cheaper than > Expedia.com does. Cool beans.) Allison checked their web site directly for pricing. > > Personally, I'd like to get to GenCon in Milwaukee as well, so #1 > > works just fine for me. > If GenCon is on your list this year, that'd work out great I think. It's on my "Wish List". It's been on my "Wish List" for a long time, but two major cons in the space of month is not something I've been able to convince employers to allow. This year, I'm seriously considering just *taking* the time and letting them deal with it. > > Of course, I've heard the hotels are already sold out. > I spoke to GenCon Housing yesterday and there were hotels available, > starting at $94. (People looking at online registration sites like > Expedia.com may be seeing all the hotels booked up because the > convention bureau has all the nearby hotels pre-reserved and you > have to register through GenCon Housing to get one.) > If you don't mind staying further out, there are still hotels in the > $55-65 range, according to Expedia.com. Karen and I are thinking > about doing that and getting a rental car. (Last time we stayed at > a GenCon-approved hotel and still were a long ways from the > convention center... and we had to ride the bus. And the bus had a > 20-minute layover on the way to the center half the time. It often > took more than an hour to get to the convention center. And we'd > like to see more of Milwaukee this time.) A rental car works. Then Allison isn't trapped if she doesn't feel like dealing with GenCon. -- Michael Feldhusen mike_f@io.com http://www.io.com/~mike_f/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- GAMERS Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gamers/
> We were looking at having the next Gathering _at_ GenCon. It'd be a > smaller event, being overshadowed by GenCon, but it would potentially > allow a lot more people to come and give everybody a lot more to do. > Since our primary goal of the Gathering is to get Phoenyx readers to meet > each other face-to-face, a venue which maximizes the number of people who > can meet is a good deal. When is GenCon? > to either GenCon (August 8-11) Thanks. I will probably not be able to make either; Kansas was actually more plausible for me. In early July sometime, my wife and I will probably go to Minnesota. If the Phoenyx gathering were in Wisconsin somewhere around there, I might be able to stop off for a day "on the way back"-- if we drove. I don't know if we're going to drive. But it sounds like I'll miss by a month in any event. -Rob ---------------------------------------------------------------- GAMERS Home Page: http://www.phoenyx.net/gamers/
