OMGWTFRLFBBQ!!!!!1111 Poll (for the 2006 Gathering)

Kits · Post by **Kits** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:56 pm

[quote="Infin8Cyn";p="545615"]Either way.

So, let me guess, Deacon and I are stocking the wet bar?[/quote]

You will have help

. I plan on bringing a few tidbits.

Like this one

[Edited for sidescrolling hell]

StruckingFuggle · Post by **StruckingFuggle** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:57 pm

If I make it, I'll chip in to help if someone can provide Drambuie and Grand Marnier.

Infin8Cyn · Post by **Infin8Cyn** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:53 am

/me packs his absinthe, grey goose, patron and skyy (for when the goose runs dry, since it goes with everything)

Don't get me started on alcohol. I'm already an alcoholic.... ooo I should bring a flask or too to the meet...

/me packs his shiner, henieken, guiness and his ...

Post by **Martin Blank** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:38 am

OK, allow me to clarify. We had several goals, based on discussions we had with Greg and Liz, as well as some of the people at this year's Gathering.

Keep it cheap.
Face it. This place is largely a place of poor geeks. The average age guarantees that. There are some with disposable income, and some that don't have it. I'm trying to factor in as much as I can to minimize surprises to keep down costs. It's better than begging for money later on.
Make it for a week or so.
We're targeting nine days. Most of the houses for rent allow for this. The idea was to allow a lot more people to make it by giving lots of notice and spreading it out over time so that people who could not make one time period could make another one. This was, IIRC, Greg's idea. Or maybe Liz's. But I don't think it was mine or Jez's.
Make the place big, and not have to worry about people above or below.
We ran into issues with hotel neighbors this year, and we don't want to have to deal with that again. We also found that about 20 people or so is just about the max that can be dealt with at one time. Some overlap for a few hours may be OK, but trying to get more than about 20 people in at one time just isn't going to work.
Give people on the East Coast a chance to make it.
This necessitated it being in the eastern half of the US. People in Europe are just stuck for this year. We might do a European Gathering in 2007 or 2008. (No, seriously, I'm thinking about this.)
Cover as much as possible.
This time, prices will include house rental (if any), airfare and food for all hosts, as well as food (not alcohol) for all attending guests, plus a little extra for incidentals. I want to explain something on this to make things clear.

This is not an easy thing to plan. It takes a LOT more time and energy than it looks from the outside. Two years in a row, I have underestimated things, especially costs. Last year, I ended up out about $60. This year, I ended up out closer to $150. There were also issues with unexpected costs for visitors, and I want to avoid that this year. In all likelihood, the numbers I provided -- for both locations -- will go up, because I didn't factor in incidentals, and $10 per person for food may not be enough, depending on what kind of meals are involved.

As partial compensation to Jez and me, the price will cover our airfare. I'm guesstimating that before this is done, we'll have put around 100 or so hours into this, and a private bed and covering our share is all that's being asked. I will keep a tighter accounting of all monies this year, and every penny extra will go back to Greg and Liz.

The idea for lodging is simple. People will be able to buy access to segments. Each segment will cost a given amount, say $150. A segment will probably be three days long:

Saturday, Sunday and Monday
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

A given number of slots for each one will be made available. Let's just say that it's 20 for now. That allows a maximum of 60 people. At first, only one segment can be bought into for each person. This allows as many people as possible to have the chance to go.

After a certain period of time, any additional slots will be opened to people wishing to buy a second slot. Whether this will be first come, first served or be done by lottery, I don't know, but I will try to make it as fair as possible. You will be encouraged to take sequential segments, but housing in between if you take endpoints is not our responsibility.

In the final days, if there are still slots open, then anyone who wants to spend the whole set can let us know, and a similar system to the prior round will be used to determine who is able to do that.

In all cases, anyone there must pay the segment price for each and every segment in which they are present. This means that, with the above numbers, anyone staying one segment would pay $150, anyone staying for two would pay $300, and anyone staying for three would pay $450.

I'm going to go out a little ways on a limb and say for the moment that anyone not buying a segment will not be allowed to participate in the festivities. I realize that this sounds harsh, and I may get over-ruled by Greg, but I don't think it's fair to charge some people and not others, just because they can get a room in the area cheaper than we can provide. Believe me, it's not something I like to say, but I can't see any other fair way of handling it and not risk too many people coming in.

I misspoke earlier when I said northwest NC. It's central and northeast NC where we're looking. I'm also kind of favoring the Hamptons, because each segment can have a trip into NYC, but it's much more expensive than the NC houses and it's 2+ hours from JFK, the closest major airport. We've shown before, though, that it's the time that the group spends together and not what we do so much that is so defining.

I hope this makes some things more clear.

Jezebel · Post by **Jezebel** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 2:48 am

Prices would cover rental, airfare, and food for the hosts, so Blaze if he hosts it, or someone else if they do. Prices for anyone else will include the cost of the rental and food, as well as any other small things. I misread that part the first time so I wanted to make it clear to everyone.

Okay, I was confused here, please ignore this part. MOVE ALONG FOLKS NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

StruckingFuggle · Post by **StruckingFuggle** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:37 am

No chance the "25 person at a time moderately hard limit" thing is up for discussion, is there?

Jamie Bond · Post by **Jamie Bond** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 3:46 am

25 at a time at the main event doesnt mean we couldn't get together before and after doing something else nearby.

StruckingFuggle · Post by **StruckingFuggle** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:12 am

Infin8Cyn wrote:*Infin8Cyn packs his absinthe,

Okay, I want to be in the same 'day block' or whatever as you.

Post by **Martin Blank** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 4:18 am

[quote="StruckingFuggle";p="546279"]No chance the "25 person at a time moderately hard limit" thing is up for discussion, is there?[/quote]
Not really. Greg, himself, has put this cap into place.

Jamie Bond · Post by **Jamie Bond** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:39 pm

Once the dates and locations and stuff are organised, I will try to figure a way so people can meet up before and after their day slot elsewhere. Somewhere cheap, of course. Because I don't want to spend all that time/money to get wherever this is going to be, and only stay for 3 days.

Infin8Cyn · Post by **Infin8Cyn** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:50 pm

[quote="StruckingFuggle";p="546287"]

Infin8Cyn wrote:*Infin8Cyn packs his absinthe,

Okay, I want to be in the same 'day block' or whatever as you.[/quote]

Heh. I've still got a bottle and I've gotta figure out when I want to kill it...

It's been suggested as an option :-X

Jezebel · Post by **Jezebel** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 8:43 pm

Anyone that wants to organize something before or after is more than welcome to, as long as they understand that once their bought time ends, they likely won't be allowed to participate in the activities, otherwise it isn't at all fair to the people that did pay for more.

I'm working on putting together a spreadsheet comparing a lot of the different options. When I'm done I'll probably put it on a webpage and have someone set up a voting system. It takes a lot of time thought, probably 15-20 minutes for each rental. I'm going to try to have it finished by the end of the weekend.

Gowerlypuff · Post by **Gowerlypuff** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 8:58 pm

Can I... kinda... come for six, if possible? I really can't fly over a huge body of water for three days, you know? I'll also need to know the exact dates. Late(r) May is preferable for me. I might even be able to do a three day thing then, too and tie it with with other visits. Thanks

Jezebel · Post by **Jezebel** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 9:09 pm

Exact dates aren't known yet, but it will likely be sometime in April has that is when the best deals are. If we find a great deal on a nice place for later though, that may change.

Sir Spankspeople · Post by **Sir Spankspeople** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 10:29 pm

I dunno if I like the block idea so much... Of course it's probably the best way to make this at all feasable, but if I were going(which I am considering looking into, money and time-wise), I'd want to be doing it moreso for the meeting of people and less for the festivities. Splitting it into three blocks would mean I'd either end up having to see if I could afford, or even get the entire set, or I'd end up missing quite a few people.

Also, when IS Spring break? My program's set up differently than most college/university, so we go straight through from January until the end of April. And I haven't been in high school for quite some time now, so I just don't know WHEN Spring break usually is...

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OMGWTFRLFBBQ!!!!!1111 Poll (for the 2006 Gathering)

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